So, I have my 88 GT on the road after a few years of rebuilding and enhancing. Now that it has some nice 17" wheels and perfromance tires, poly bushings, Rodney's steering rack bushings, and some other changes to the suspension, it's time to get it aligned. Although I did a low-tech alignment when I put it together it seems to wander a little and likes to climb out of the worn part of the pavement.

I was wondering if a good alignment shop would use the stock Fiero alignment specs for castor, camber, and toe in the front and rear or some modified specs since the offset and tire width is different than stock on the front and the car sits slightly lower than stock?

Also need to know what's considered a reasonable tire pressure for the lower profile 215/45/17 front and 225/45/17 rear tires on this car? I have 30psi in the tires now and it seems a little stiff but that may be due to the poly bushings.

I have tried local alignment shops with my stock formula, and after the 4th try i demanded my money back. I am looking for the local performance place where all the Vette guys go.

The stock alignment specs are what you want to use for street use. Your modifications (wider tires and different offset wheels) don't change the alignment requirements. Check out theogre's site for the latest '88 alignment specs and compare those to what the garage's computerized alignment equipment says. If there's a difference, then use theogre's values since it means that the garage's database wasn't updated.

quote Originally posted by hercimer01: I have tried local alignment shops with my stock formula, and after the 4th try i demanded my money back. I am looking for the local performance place where all the Vette guys go.

Here there's a local place called Brevard's that does alignment work on street rods. They have a pretty good rep but have not personally tried them yet. Ask around cruise ins and car shows and that's who everyone goes to for alignments around here.

Cool! Thanks Blooz. Didn't realize alignments were covered at Ogre's cave.

[This message has been edited by SKIDMARK (edited 03-28-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Bloozberry: The stock alignment specs are what you want to use for street use..

Agreed. See this thread for more details:



N.B. "Manual Steering" = "4-Cylinder Coupe"

if you have to choose, it is more important to get cross-caster and cross-camber (i.e. the difference between sides) as close to zero as possible than it is to align each side as close as possible to the exact specs. (e.g. On a GT or Formula, if the caster on one side can be set at 5 degrees but the other side will only go to 3 degrees, it's better to just set both front wheels to 3 degrees caster.)

The stock tire pressures should be used as a starting point, and then adjusted as necessary based upon tread temperature profiles (short term) and tread wear patterns (long term). Optimum tire pressures are also affected by rim width vs. tire width. Rule of thumb: narrow rim + wide tire => lower pressure, wide rim + narrow tire => higher pressure.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-28-2011).]