4 Wheel alignment on a SPF? - Page 2

JBCOBRA · #21 (**permalink**) 02-06-2008, 01:54 PM

Hi RodgerH
I have been digging Deep trying to find the before and after alignment/corner weight specs. It has to be here someplace. I even found the Title to the car LOL
From the factory it was Way out of wack. At the time I was in a big rush to drive it to Watkins Glen for the Vintage Grand Prix. My engine install guys, Don and Tom Coon, did an awesome job, but that was as far as they got before I had to hit the road. With only a couple miles on I drove it 250 miles up to Watkins glen drove it another couple hundred miles up there and drove it home. THAT was an ill handling beast!!! After I got back I took it imediatley to my guys who build road race cars. They have all the cool toys for setting up a car. NIGHT and DAY difference LOL

RodgerH · #22 (**permalink**) 02-06-2008, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBCOBRA

Hi RodgerH
I have been digging Deep trying to find the before and after alignment/corner weight specs. It has to be here someplace. I even found the Title to the car LOL
From the factory it was Way out of wack. At the time I was in a big rush to drive it to Watkins Glen for the Vintage Gand Prix. My engine install guys, Don and Tom Coon, did an awesome job, but that was as far as they got before I had to hit the road. With only a couple miles on I drove it 250 miles up to Watkins glen drove it another couple hundred miles up there and drove it home. THAT was an ill handling beast!!! After I got back I took it imediatley to my guys who build road race cars. They have all the cool toys for setting up a car. NIGHT and DAY difference LOL

I have previously seen messages about adjusting the springs to set the wheelwell heights and I wondered how doing that would affect the corner weights. Your message hit on this and made me wonder what is really important?

Is the goal to have equal L/R front weights and equal L/R rear weights? Or do you try to get all four corner weights the same (if that is even possible)?

Thanks for helping me understand this. I have yet to have my car aligned or the corner weights checked, so I'm trying to understand what I should try to do.

Rodger

JBCOBRA · #23 (**permalink**) 02-06-2008, 06:21 PM

I am no expert, but this is what they were doing on my car.
You put the car on scales (all four wheels) disconnect the sway bars and adjust with the coilover heights and preloads. The weights are measured diagonally rr to lf, lr to rf, etc and side to side. they also had it hooked up to their alignment equipment at the same time. Then they re-hooked up the swaybars to see if they were even, They were not, so they massaged that and set them. They were at it for quite a while, like an hour and a half or so.
The alignment was set to Olthoff's recommendations

One thing is for sure, no one should just mess around with coilovers without the right tools and knowhow. Just "eyeballing" just does not work

Flyin_Freddie · #24 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 09:23 AM

With all respect, guys....were your cars NOT set up by your SPF dealer when you bought them? I find it unconscionable a reputable SPF dealer would sell anyone a car without performing a 4-wheel alignment BEFORE it was delivered to you. Of course, if you purchased a used car from an individual, I would certainly understand a mis-aligned car more easily.

I purchased #770 new from Olthoff Racing in October, 2000. The car was perfectly lined up...and each concentric was marked with red or white paint so if it were to ever need re-alignment, all someone had to do was turn the concentrics until the paint lined up again.

We need to know which dealers are selling cars without performing adequate service prior to delivery. Those are dealerships that need to be called out for thier incompetence. No one needs to do business with those folks until they understand and address their responsibilities to their customers. This is not the first time I have read of complaints by SPF owners that they found something wrong with their car that, IMHO, should have been discovered and addressed by the selling dealership prior to delivery. I know there are dealers who simply say..."Sell the car...we'll worry about what's wrong after delivery!" That kind of attitude will be the death of a dealership...no matter what brand they sell.

A new SPF in a new owners driveway should be the absolute BEST advertisement for the Superformance marque. Anything less than that is simply unacceptable.

IMHO...of course.

gt350pilot · #25 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 09:46 AM

I am posting this for any cobra guys in the Sacramento area that may need a 4 wheel alignment with a competent shop. Mark at MSI in Roseville does an absolutely fantastic job. He specializes in Corvettes so is well versed in IRS type rears such as SPF cobras. We have used him for our Lotus 19B as well as a Boss 302 T/A car and found serious gains on the track. He was a guest tech speaker last night at our Shelby Club meeting and was very helpful to our club members.
Hope this helps those of us in the Sac area.

JBCOBRA · #26 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 09:59 AM

Hey Flyin
There are guys out there who buy rollers and figure out the rest themselves. Sheesh. This thread has nothing to do with dealers anyway.

jwoodard · #27 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 10:52 AM

Freddie,

I have to agree with JBCOBRA on this. I bought my car as a roller from Doug and did the install myself. There is no way it could have had an accurate 4 wheel alignment completed without the drive train installed, you think?

Anyway, anyone that buys a turn key car should expect it to be properly aligned and I really think that is what you were referring to.

Flyin_Freddie · #28 (**permalink**) 02-13-2008, 12:03 PM

You're right, Jim....I was referring to turn key cars only. I completely understand how you cannot perform an alignment without the drivetrain being installed.

JCoop · #29 (**permalink**) 02-18-2008, 03:14 PM

I just did a 4 wheel alignment today using my friend Joe's Hunter computerized equipment at his shop. We set it to 26.875" ride height all around, then factory specs on alignment. We couldn't figure out how to adjust castor; looked like there was no provision for adjustability. Also, the rear wheel camber had to be adjusted by taking off the wheel and disassembling the heim end joint at the top, turning it in or out, locking it up, reinstalling the wheel, then install the Hunter sensors again and re-checking. It took us 4 hours to do it right. In the end, after doing toe in .125 F & B, Camber -.25 F & B, castor fell in at +4.9", which was within spec. I had wanted 2" as steering is heavy on my car with the BB in it. Starting specs were way off and the test drive confirmed it. Rides and handles like a dream. So, $400 for a proper alignment isn't unreasonable. So anyone have a hint on how to adjust castor in the SPF?
PS. Warren, the $60-$80 alignment fee you pay over there is an absolute bargain!

thudmaster · #30 (**permalink**) 02-18-2008, 03:36 PM

Same job at Sears in Yuba City Cal. $94.00 and it took awhile also. Don't know how they adjusted the castor but I watched them do the rear and saw the washers fall out (scared me) they got them back in.

RedBarchetta · #31 (**permalink**) 02-18-2008, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thudmaster

Same job at Sears

Man, you have bigger huevos than most. I won't even let Sears install a freakin' battery in any of my cars, let alone an alignment on my Cobra. I wouldn't even let them LOOK at my Cobra. But, hey, they sell decent hand tools and their return policy kicks ass.

-Dean

SF_SN888KE · #32 (**permalink**) 02-18-2008, 06:43 PM

Had my Cutting Edge Replicas done at Custom Alignment in Mt. View about 18 months ago. Inspection, ride height, alignment, about 4 hours of work, around $550 total. Changed my Woodward steering rack ratio from 2.36 to 2.08 and plan on getting an alignment and ride height done before the Cobra Bash. They know their stuff.

JCoop · #33 (**permalink**) 02-19-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thudmaster

Same job at Sears in Yuba City Cal. $94.00 and it took awhile also. Don't know how they adjusted the castor but I watched them do the rear and saw the washers fall out (scared me) they got them back in.

I hear ya. Those washers are a real pain, I lost 1 and had to substitute!

ramey · #34 (**permalink**) 02-20-2008, 09:30 PM

i am afraid until the fundamental disasters are redesigned alignment will not matter much unless you are just rolling around as a show car

the bumpsteer, kingpin, ackerman and roll centers are a fundamental disaster in these cars... its going to take a lot of work to fix (either complete suspension rebuild around an existing spindle, complicated by the narrow body requirements) or have a custom spindle made; easiest but i cant find anyone to fab the things.