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Alignment that'll work for track and street?

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Seven

Dacia Sandero
Hey all...

I ordered and received Maximum Motorsports camber plates, along with Steeda Ultralites, and will be adding them to the car and doing my first track day or two with those 2 suspension mods only, I plan to feel the car out and decide what should be added (if anything, probably something) based on my driving style and the feedback I'm getting from the car.

In any case, I'm looking for a decent set alignment specs to drive the car on the track with as well as the street, I know this is a compromise... I'm ok with it as I don't plan on having the time to change alignment settings before EVERY track day, I don't have an alignment rack and spending that type of money over and and over is very expensive for someone just looking to HPDE/have fun in the car. So I'd like something that won't wear the tires quite so bad on the street, but might not be exactly optimal on the track.

Please let me know the settings you have, how you like it, and what you'd recommend. Lastly, thanks for all the help so far BMO :)
 
1,281
3
Tulsa, OK
I have MM CC plates and Eibach pro-kit springs. I just decided to max out my negative camber at -2.6 and live with it on the street as my car isn't my daily. All other alignment specs were set to stock I believe. On the street I don't notice any ill-effects of the increased negative camber and I rotate my tires frequently enough that I haven't seen any premature wear issues.
 
I have the following alignment specs on my car. Drive my car daily (although not that many miles) and at the track. Car tracks fine although it does like to follow the cracks.

Front Camber - 2.2 degrees
Front Caster 7.2 degrees
Front Toe 0

You may want to reduce the camber a bit and add a bit of toe. On the camber, probably around - 1.5 degrees would work. Can't do much in the rear of the car so alignment is a pretty simple job.
 

Seven

Dacia Sandero
roadhouse said:
I have MM CC plates and Eibach pro-kit springs. I just decided to max out my negative camber at -2.6 and live with it on the street as my car isn't my daily. All other alignment specs were set to stock I believe. On the street I don't notice any ill-effects of the increased negative camber and I rotate my tires frequently enough that I haven't seen any premature wear issues.
My car is my DD in a manner of speaking - I use it 2-3 times a week for work, otherwise I take the bus or work from home.
I do have a square street setup so I could rotate the tires. Thanks for the feedback :)

Would like to hear more experiences :)
 
I got this info off the new boss forum..
-2* of camber, 7.5* of caster, and 0.0 Toe
His setup is on a '12 Boss with 1" shorter Ford Racing 'M5300P' Springs using the MM C/C plates.
 
my car is only street driven at this point...though I have done a fair amount of suspension 'upgrades' on the car and I maxed out the camber...my car is currently only getting about -2.4 on one side (and -2.6 on the other)...so I had the set equally at -2.4

I prefer the way the car drives with the additional camber (and the additional firmness in the suspension). I'm putting about 6-7k miles per year on the car so far...had this setup for ~4k...and don't see any adverse wear yet on the tires (I'm running corsas).
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Do you know roughly how many street miles you drive per year and about how many track days?

And what brand of tires are you running?

I run and would recommend 0.00" Toe, regardless.

If you don't put that many miles on the street, I would run max neg camber and max caster. Otherwise I would do about -1.7 to -1.9 camber and max caster...if you run high street mileage and just a few track days per year.
 

drano38

Wayne
1,130
318
Tell them to max out the camber--mine are at -2.4--and most can't take much more, but its possible.
0 toe.
Mine caster is still as sent from the factory.
It won't do much to your tires during daily driving.
 

Seven

Dacia Sandero
Grant 302 said:
Do you know roughly how many street miles you drive per year and about how many track days?

And what brand of tires are you running?

I run and would recommend 0.00" Toe, regardless.

If you don't put that many miles on the street, I would run max neg camber and max caster. Otherwise I would do about -1.7 to -1.9 camber and max caster...if you run high street mileage and just a few track days per year.
probably about 10-12k a year and probably about 6-10 track days
Will be race take-offs (likely the Continental EC-DRs - Bridgestone RE760s on street but it probably doesn't matter)
I'm thinking like 1.7-2.0 camber and 0.0 toe from what I'm hearing here.
I really appreciate the feedback guys
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
Since you are running separate sets for street and track, I'd run the max camber and caster and just rotate the square street setup as needed. I think I missed that detail in your second post.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Definitely agree with the zero toe on the street; when you dump the plates inboard (making camber more negative) at the track this will cause the wheels to toe out a little bit, giving better turn-in performance.

On the street I run my plates at "full outboard" which shows up on the alignment rack at -1.2 and -1.3 camber at my ride height. The lower you go on the front end of the car, the more camber will be imparted--but there are other suspension geometry inefficiencies that will also be imparted depending how low you go. Ultralites shouldn't be anything to worry about.

At the track I dump the plates full inboard (max negative camber achievable without touching the strut tower, can get -3.0) and run a session then shoot the front tires with a handheld IR Pyrometer to get tire temps. From there you can make camber adjustments to suit each track. Ideally you want the tire to be within 10*F across the entire surface to achieve best wear at the track.
 

batman48195

I never get tired of driving it!
I thought the Vorshlag Adjustable Camber Plates allowed you to run standard on the street and then adjust them at the track. I read that somewhere.

http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=274

Brian
 
I drive about 5k miles per year on the street and do about 15-20 track days per year. Prior to VIR last weekend, I installed camber bolts and had an alignment done. My suspension is stock and I never changed the alignment from the factory. They were able to get -2.25 on one side and -2.5 camber on the other. I had them set both at -2.25. Caster remained stock but I asked for 1/32 toe out. I was thinking it would help in the corners but and since it wasn't much it wouldn't be too bad in a straight line. I was wrong...I was very surprised how much the car wandered over 50mph on the highway and track....it was all over the place! I think the toe out was a mistake and will be having it put back to 0.00.

Maybe the shop just didn't do a good job on the alignment, but I didn't realize the slight toe out setting I requested would make so much difference when driving in a straight line.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
batman48195 said:
I thought the Vorshlag Adjustable Camber Plates allowed you to run standard on the street and then adjust them at the track. I read that somewhere.

http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=274

Brian

Those are the plates I want, but you still may need to adjust the toe after changing camber unless you have two 'pre-set' modes like mentioned below where it would be zero at your street setting and a little out for your track setting.

ArizonaGT said:
Definitely agree with the zero toe on the street; when you dump the plates inboard (making camber more negative) at the track this will cause the wheels to toe out a little bit, giving better turn-in performance.

Or try my DIY toe alignment:
https://trackmustangsonline.com/index.php?topic=3384.msg54258#msg54258
 
Grant 302 said:
Those are the plates I want, but you still may need to adjust the toe after changing camber unless you have two 'pre-set' modes like mentioned below where it would be zero at your street setting and a little out for your track setting.

Or try my DIY toe alignment:
https://trackmustangsonline.com/index.php?topic=3384.msg54258#msg54258

Grant,If you use the Vorslag camber plate like I do. If you set the car up for street w/ -1 camber and 0 toe out when you get to the track w/ about max. negitive camber of about 2.7 to 3 you will have 3/16" toe out that works fine for the track. There is no need to reinvent the wheel for a track and street driven car. Put it back when done go home and have a beer.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic
jim woodruff said:
Grant,If you use the Vorslag camber plate like I do. If you set the car up for street w/ -1 camber and 0 toe out when you get to the track w/ about max. negitive camber of about 2.7 to 3 you will have 3/16" toe out that works fine for the track. There is no need to reinvent the wheel for a track and street driven car. Put it back when done go home and have a beer.

That's exactly the type of settings I'm talking about :) Just bought enough goodies for the month...most were unplanned!
 

isrboss

ArizonaGT said:
Definitely agree with the zero toe on the street; when you dump the plates inboard (making camber more negative) at the track this will cause the wheels to toe out a little bit, giving better turn-in performance.

On the street I run my plates at "full outboard" which shows up on the alignment rack at -1.2 and -1.3 camber at my ride height. The lower you go on the front end of the car, the more camber will be imparted--but there are other suspension geometry inefficiencies that will also be imparted depending how low you go. Ultralites shouldn't be anything to worry about.

At the track I dump the plates full inboard (max negative camber achievable without touching the strut tower, can get -3.0) and run a session then shoot the front tires with a handheld IR Pyrometer to get tire temps. From there you can make camber adjustments to suit each track. Ideally you want the tire to be within 10*F across the entire surface to achieve best wear at the track.

Arizona you have some of the more helpful info I come across, thanks bro. I'm going to hit you with some specifics though. What model/size tires are you running on track? How much lower than stock are you? Are you finding the front tire temps are pretty even across after finding the right pressure with the -3*?

Any help would be great, I may be going to Sebring real soon, and taking my ir thermometer. I don't plan to run camber plates, I was hoping to slot the struts a little and take whatever the .80 of lowering in the front will give me. If I can get a tad over 2* of negative camber and get the tire temps good I'll be happy.
 
Seven said:
Hey all...

I ordered and received Maximum Motorsports camber plates, along with Steeda Ultralites, and will be adding them to the car and doing my first track day or two with those 2 suspension mods only, I plan to feel the car out and decide what should be added (if anything, probably something) based on my driving style and the feedback I'm getting from the car.

In any case, I'm looking for a decent set alignment specs to drive the car on the track with as well as the street, I know this is a compromise... I'm ok with it as I don't plan on having the time to change alignment settings before EVERY track day, I don't have an alignment rack and spending that type of money over and and over is very expensive for someone just looking to HPDE/have fun in the car. So I'd like something that won't wear the tires quite so bad on the street, but might not be exactly optimal on the track.

Please let me know the settings you have, how you like it, and what you'd recommend. Lastly, thanks for all the help so far BMO :)
I have about 14k miles on my car. About 6k are on the track. I started at -1.9 and camber bolts, but after a couple track days went with the MM c/c plates and removed the bolts. I ran the last 2 years in the -2.4 to -2.7 degree range. I now finally went to hogging the lower strut holes and set them at -3.0. I have always set toe to zero and maxed out my caster.

I'm still wearing the outside edges of my track tires faster than I'd like, and I typically run slicks which like a lot of camber so that's why I went for -3.0 degrees. I also just ordered new front tires for the street yesterday because I wore out the inside edges, which are actually the outside edges now. I flipped them on the rim late last summer, but should have done that sooner. It's obviously not ideal from a wet traction standpoint, but I really don't drive the Boss in the rain intentionally.....more because it's not that much fun versus worried about driving it in the rain.

It really comes down to a compromise on how fast you want to wear out your track tires versus your street tires. Even though I DD my Boss, I go through SEVERAL sets of track tires every year and am just replacing my street tires after two years. So I guess what I'm saying is IMO, set it up for track use and flip the fronts on the rim at some point if you're wearing the insides excessively on the street.
 

Seven

Dacia Sandero
isrboss said:
Arizona you have some of the more helpful info I come across, thanks bro. I'm going to hit you with some specifics though. What model/size tires are you running on track? How much lower than stock are you? Are you finding the front tire temps are pretty even across after finding the right pressure with the -3*?

Any help would be great, I may be going to Sebring real soon, and taking my ir thermometer. I don't plan to run camber plates, I was hoping to slot the struts a little and take whatever the .80 of lowering in the front will give me. If I can get a tad over 2* of negative camber and get the tire temps good I'll be happy.
Drew is a good dude, funny to boot.
Didn't know how truly helpful he was until I got the same car as him haha.
cloud9 said:
I have about 14k miles on my car. About 6k are on the track. I started at -1.9 and camber bolts, but after a couple track days went with the MM c/c plates and removed the bolts. I ran the last 2 years in the -2.4 to -2.7 degree range. I now finally went to hogging the lower strut holes and set them at -3.0. I have always set toe to zero and maxed out my caster.

I'm still wearing the outside edges of my track tires faster than I'd like, and I typically run slicks which like a lot of camber so that's why I went for -3.0 degrees. I also just ordered new front tires for the street yesterday because I wore out the inside edges, which are actually the outside edges now. I flipped them on the rim late last summer, but should have done that sooner. It's obviously not ideal from a wet traction standpoint, but I really don't drive the Boss in the rain intentionally.....more because it's not that much fun versus worried about driving it in the rain.

It really comes down to a compromise on how fast you want to wear out your track tires versus your street tires. Even though I DD my Boss, I go through SEVERAL sets of track tires every year and am just replacing my street tires after two years. So I guess what I'm saying is IMO, set it up for track use and flip the fronts on the rim at some point if you're wearing the insides excessively on the street.
All good info. Will be considered.
Basically with how often it rains out here, wet traction is *a little more* of a priority.
But that said, if I'm rotating on the street tires every 3-4k I should be good, I'd think.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,422
8,347
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Stick with Cloud 9 , the boy is fast and I have pretty close to the same setup with MM camber plates. Have just a little bit less negative camber up front and do still eat the outside edges as Gary does.

Never change from the street, but then always had the gut feeling that driving a car daily with the same setup as at the track leaves to better butt driving, and I am almost completely seat of the pants, ha.
 

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