Alignment Frustration

[BHB4408]

Took my 2010 SS to a shop (I've used for years) for an alignment after I installed some new parts. The owner is a drag racer and has restored many cars, just as I have. I've never had a problem with him, and he has the right tools.

The car was drifting slightly to the right, and has been for a number of years.
I don't remember when it started, and the drift is very slight and slowly got worse. So the 4 wheel alignment was the fix, I thought.

$150 later, the car still drifts slightly to the right. I've seen the before specs and the after spec's are almost perfect.

No brake problem, tires are new, and wheel bearings are good. Even the tires I replaced were wearing very evenly. It was doing the drift before I made these changes, so I don't think there's anything I've done to cause it.

Is there a special trick to getting it done right? Or is my car just bent somewhere causing the drift. My shop guy can't figure it out. I can't imagine since the car is like brand new.

Any help from experts is appreciated. Thanks,

BHB

[mikeman]

From my experience, you have to pay at least a few hundred to get a great on-spec alignment. Or, you can do what I did and buy the DIY tools to do it yourself. I still need to make the turn plates and get the rifle laser scopes though.

[Black_SS10]

Many times it is the crown in the road that creates a slight pull to the right. It is more apparent on some roads. It is so a vehicle goes off the road instead of veering into the oncoming lane. Next, many factory alignment settings take this into account. Check your cross camber and cross caster. Unfortunately, caster is not adjustable from factory and needs a kit. Detroit Speed sells one. Check out this link, it may help explain it better than me. I just woke up. Lol

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tiretec...e.jsp?techid=4

['10CamaroDude]

You can get an alignment was bad bushings or ball joints. When it's on the machine,
everything is steady. So, if it gets lined up with a bad control arm bushing, then it
will pull when in motion. There can be a bad wheel bearing that causes it too; it will
line up, because it's not moving. Many things can cause the after issue. Lots of
places don't aggressively look for bad parts before lining cars up. Plus, a bad bushing
just may not present it self on the alignment rack. The rear can also pull or push
the car to one side or another. LOTS of suspension failure points on these cars:
Front Stuts
Tie-Rods (Inner/Outer)
Front LCAs (Foward and Rearward)
Rear LCA
Rear trailing arm
Rear Toe rod
Rear UCA
Rear cradle bushings
Wheel Bearings
Steering Rack

Any one, or combination of those can cause drift.

[Greenhornet2]

A car will drift right with the crown of the road. Take it on the highway and go in the left lane where usually its is crowned the other way, if it drifts left or stays straight you are pretty spot on. It should not climb the crown, then something is off. Tires can have some effect on this as well. If your tires are wearing uniformly you are probably good. This is assuming you have no worn parts.

[CamaroBarb]

Heres what i wood do, check the caster angles. It will pull to the more negative side. https://www.freeasestudyguides.com/s...eady-pull.html

It may not make sense at 1st but measure both then adjust it accordingly. So the right may be +6 and the left +6 or any other combo you can dream up either take some out of the left or add to the right. This should get you what you want. Another thing to check is the wheel spacing side to side. Measure from the edge of the rear rim to the edge of the frt rim in the center of the wheels, compare each side measurements. They should be very close to each other. If not the thrust angle maybe way off causing your drift. Like the others stated the crown of the road can cause some but it should feel neutral on a good flat road. Good Luck

[RJT Impala]

I had a problem years ago with a vehicle that constantly pulled to the left; alignment didn't show anything out of spec and adjusting to the middle of the +/- specs didn't change anything either. Vehicle wasn't a complex car--straight axle rear and independent struts in front. Ultimately discovered that I had a severe case of "radial run-out". New tires resolved the issue. Just another potential area to check. Good luck.

[LCPLPunk]

Has the car been in an accident? Are tire pressures good?

[BHB4408]

Thank you All;

Crown in the road has been checked. When on the left side, opposite lane when the crown is to the left, it holds the car and no drift is present. It doesn't try to climb the crown, but doesn't drift to the left at all. I also checked it on the huge flat Boeing parking lot, and the drift is felt there too.

Tires are brand new MT skinny's. It had the same drift when my OEM tires were on it before. They were also pretty new.

All suspension parts have also been checked and found to be in good shape.

I trust my alignment guy. He spent three hours checking everything he could check, and seems to know what he's going. His normal rate on 4 wheel alignments is $220. He just gives me a deal because I've raced with him for many years, and send a lot of business his way. He's in a shop very close to my house. I will consider that he doesn't know much about these new Camaro's and is just looking a the factory spec's when he does the alignment. Maybe he is a little out of step with my car?

The car has never been in a wreck, but my son ran it off the road a couple years ago, and flattened the right front tire. I can see a little scraping on the front frame rail near the crossmember, but it's minor. I think the drift was going on before that too. Not sure.

I thought it may have bent the front swaybar because there were some scrape marks on the right side, so I disconnected it, but still has the drift. I realize swaybars don't bend, but though a rough hit might do it. All other components in the front seem straight and in good shape.

My alignment shop suggested maybe it bent the lower control arm in the front on the passenger side even thought we couldn't see it. I replaced both sides, and it also didn't help with the drift.

CamaroBarb; I like your suggestion about caster angles, and will check into that right away. That makes sense to me. I didn't think the 2010 Camaro's had a caster adjustment?

Finally, the drift is very minor. I don't have to hold the wheel to one side, so I also thought I may be just feeling the road crown. Maybe I'm too picky.

I'll do some more work to find a solution, and post back if I figure it out. Thanks again for your help. I've enjoyed this site and the people who are part of it.

BHB

[Greenhornet2]

If you want to get that picky you really need an alignment person who knows how to make the car do what you want it to do. Setting to factory specs doesn't always make the car go perfectly straight. I used to be good at it but that was 20 years ago when i was a GM tech knowledge long forgotten unfortunately.

[CamaroBarb]

Here is a kit you can use to adjust the caster https://www.detroitspeed.com/adjusta...-camaro-031730 BUT there are other things you can easily do to effect the caster settings by loosening and moving things around. Also a little slot here or there, best to look at it all and get creative. You can also easily slot the lower control arm mounts to effect the caster. Been quite a while since I was under mine but you get the idea. Also I'd check the trust angle on the rear. It may be pushing the car in such a way it feels like its pulling right. What I've done in the past when I ran into a odd problem I couldn't easily solve I tried moving things until I found results I could feel. Not always easy. My 98 Camaro pulled slightly to the right and I stopped it by moving the caster settings but on that car it had slotted lower control arm mounts. When I was done I measured the wheel distance side to side. I believe there was 3/4 of a inch difference the drivers side being shorter till it stopped pulling. This gave the passenger side enough + caster to keep it straight. Good Luck

[LCPLPunk]

Maybe dumb question, has someone else driven the car and noticed the drift?

[Black_SS10]

I'll say it again. There is no factory caster adjustment. It is in a fixed position. You cannot simply loosen, move things around, and then tighten. That will not effect caster. You need the kit from DSE or do the 6th gen lower control arm mod, look at Hamdo. Check your cross caster, like I said in my first post. If it is not set right it can cause a drift. I even gave a link that explains alignments and what causes what.

+caster = easier turn in but more effort needed to straighten wheel.

In every vehicle I have drove they have always had a slight pull or drift from the crown and the alignment settings. My s10 handles better than my camaro. I have tubular upper and lower controls arms with extended ball joints in order to get rid of the bumpsteer and add almost 8* of + caster. And it still has a slight pull or drift.

[CamaroBarb]

Originally Posted by Black_SS10

I'll say it again. There is no factory caster adjustment. It is in a fixed position. You cannot simply loosen, move things around, and then tighten. That will not effect caster. You need the kit from DSE or do the 6th gen lower control arm mod, look at Hamdo. Check your cross caster, like I said in my first post. If it is not set right it can cause a drift. I even gave a link that explains alignments and what causes what.

+caster = easier turn in but more effort needed to straighten wheel.

In every vehicle I have drove they have always had a slight pull or drift from the crown and the alignment settings. My s10 handles better than my camaro. I have tubular upper and lower controls arms with extended ball joints in order to get rid of the bumpsteer and add almost 8* of + caster. And it still has a slight pull or drift.

Not true, you can move anything you want if you know what you are doing. Some good shops even BEND things to get things right, Slot brackets etc. Sometimes it doesn't take much, just the right touch in knowing what you are doing.