Alignment with new wheels?
 

I just picked up a set of Carrera lights and the rear tire alignment really looks odd. It's almost as if they are toed in a little and have excessive camber. Should I have it aligned since I have the new wheels? They are a tad wider than the stock but carry the same offsets. Or is it just an illusion because they stick out a little further?

Anytime you change wheels that aren't the same specs as you last set you should get an alignment.

Why is that?

Yeah... why is that? :confused:

They are 18's with 50/47 front/rear offsets which is the same as the 18's Turbo look I took off. The only difference is the rear is a little wider by 0.5". To me it doesn't make sense but I've been wrong before... ;)

It isn't really necessary, but if it has been a awhile since your last alignment it won't hurt. If you feel vibrations while driving as well you might want to get one also. Is you car lowered? The Toe is what you should be worried about, not the neg camber... that will only help your handling.

I agree with easyc for the most part.

Just changing wheels doesn't change your alignment settings at all. But like easyc says, if it's been a while, you might be due. It'll help keep the new tires from wearing prematurely/unevenly.

If you do alot of autocross and/or spirited twisty driving, some negative camber is a good thing, it helps with stability and actually does promote even tire wear, also as easyc says. However, if your driving is mostly straight line, highway type stuff, you'll get earlier wear on the inside of the tires because the loads will be concentrated there, especially with a stiff sidewall 18" tire.

Sammy, I guess they don't know you do A LOT of autocross, huh?

My vote is get a four wheel laser alignment if you put new rubber on those sweet new rims to fend of premature tire wear. What rubber are you running anyway?

You should not need an alignment with wheel replacement. and the camber should be that neg in the back.

when I did set ups on porsches the back had almost 1-1.4 deg neg camber and the front had .5-.75 deg neg camber..

the fact that they are wider than the originals might make the camber look worse, but it wont change it...

Unfortunately I've only been able to do 4 autocrosses this year; however, I have at least 3 left. :D

I had an alignment done 7k miles ago right after I put the Goodyear F1's on the car (I transfered the F1's to the new rims). There isn't any handling difference or any vibration so I'm guessing that the alignment is just fine. Since the wheels stick out a little more I think it is just an illiusion.

BTW - Thanks Randall... ever since I saw your car at the TOD I have been obsessed! Instead of keeping up with the Joneses, I'm keeping up with Randall. ;)

BTW2 - Randall, have you done any autocrosses? NickCats and I have been having a blast this year despite the limited amount of events.

Sammy, I seem to have that effect on people. My wife is amazed I wasn't standing in line to get an iPhone to make all my friends jealous. I still don't have one!

I have yet to autocross. I just don't have the time and cash for it right now. Hopefully, 2008 will be the year I both autocross and do a high speed DE... we finally finished our outrageously priced renovation work and the checkbook will have recovered by then.