Alignment questions

[san rensho]

So I had changed the alignment for the track and I'm guessing I got too much toe in the rear, with the result that after about 3k miles on the road, the rear tires have scrubbed and are at the wear limit.

Today I had the alignment done at a chain tire place and they took out a lot of toe in the rear but they also set the front camber at 0, where before I had almost 1 deg neg camber.

My question is, can I just loosen the strut mounts and adjust the camber myself, or will changing the camber change the toe?

[targa871]

Toe is always the last adjustment when doing an aligment because it does not affect the other angles. Changing Camber will more than likely affect toe.

[Topless]

Yes, sliding your struts inboard will induce a little toe-out. This might be ok depending on other settings. I wonder why you had overkill toe-in on the rear before. That is not a performance alignment I would choose.

My performance alignment targets for stock suspension:

F
-.8deg camber
0 toe
max castor

R
-1.2deg Camber
1/16th total toe-in (just a touch)

This setup results in best performance on the track and excellent tire wear. Maybe time for a Porsche performance shop to do your alignments?

[san rensho]

Originally Posted by Topless

Yes, sliding your struts inboard will induce a little toe-out. This might be ok depending on other settings. I wonder why you had overkill toe-in on the rear before. That is not a performance alignment I would choose.

My performance alignment targets for stock suspension:

F
-.8deg camber
0 toe
max castor

R
-1.2deg Camber
1/16th total toe-in (just a touch)

This setup results in best performance on the track and excellent tire wear. Maybe time for a Porsche performance shop to do your alignments?

When I went to get the track alignment, the guy said he couldn't get much negative camber out of the rears because the adjustment was at the limit, but the guy yesterday was able to get more negative camber out, and also reduce the rear toe, so yeah, I'll have to find a new alignment shop.

Anyone know of a good shop in the Miami/Ft Lauderdale area?

[Topless]

This guy gets it. If he doesn't do alignments, he knows who does good work in your area:
Service and Maintenance: Independent Porsche Service and Maintenance in South Florida

[LAP1DOUG]

Originally Posted by targa871

Toe is always the last adjustment when doing an alignment because it does not affect the other angles. Changing Camber will more than likely affect toe.

Definitely what this guy said.

Due to the control arm geometry on these cars, changing camber seems to have a large effect on toe. I would not try to change camber any without checking toe afterward.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Topless

Yes, sliding your struts inboard will induce a little toe-out. This might be ok depending on other settings. I wonder why you had overkill toe-in on the rear before. That is not a performance alignment I would choose.

My performance alignment targets for stock suspension:

F
-.8deg camber
0 toe
max castor

R
-1.2deg Camber
1/16th total toe-in (just a touch)

This setup results in best performance on the track and excellent tire wear. Maybe time for a Porsche performance shop to do your alignments?

+1. My only comment would be to get max negative camber in the front (there is reason to stop at -0.8 if you can get more).