Carfixer Alignment Specs

T

tddpop

Contributing Member
I am having new tires put on my car on Friday, and I want to do an alignment at the same time while it is there. I want to use Carfixer's alignment specs, but the reviews section of MM.net seems to be completely gone.:( When I click on the review link all I get is a blank page.

Does anyone know or have the specs on hand that they can post here or PM to me? Thanks in advance!!!:D
 
Courtesy of Carfixer

The inside edge wear of the front tires is caused by 2 things: negative camber and negative toe (toe out). Caster is not a tire wearing angle. The outside edge wear can be caused by excessive toe in and aggressive cornering.

Factory camber spec is -.5 degrees or- .75 degrees
Factory toe spec is -.15 degrees or- .20 degrees
(BTW, this info came from their website which is updated periodically and may differ from previously published material, such as cd's and paper manuals)

That means your alignment could have -1.25 degrees of camber and toe out of -.35 degrees and still be in the "green". This will wipe out the inside edges in <20K miles IMO.

All of the MM's I've aligned (about 10) had at least -1.0 degrees of camber and always toe out of -.10 degrees or more from the factory. That's why almost all MM's you see have excessive inside edge tire wear.

For best tire wear, here is what I use on all MM alignments:
Camber: 0 to -.3 degrees.*
Toe: Zero degrees.
Caster: 5-6.5 degrees positive with .3 degree lead on the right side.

*Camber can affect cornering feel. The more negative camber you have, the better it will handle corners. Most drivers will never feel the difference, especially on the street.
 
alignment

I'm not sure that this realignment from factory spec is a good thing. It may relieve inner tire wear, but handling does not seem improved to me - steering seems so much more loose, and now the steering wheel vibration (started immediately after the alignment) is intolerable, even with new tires. Considering going back to the factory alignment. Obviously, the factory had their reasons for spec'ing the factory alignment, knowing that excessive inner tire wear would result, but this may just be the inherent shortfall of the CV/MM/GM platform as it was engineered.

grampaws said:
Courtesy of Carfixer

The inside edge wear of the front tires is caused by 2 things: negative camber and negative toe (toe out). Caster is not a tire wearing angle. The outside edge wear can be caused by excessive toe in and aggressive cornering.

Factory camber spec is -.5 degrees or- .75 degrees
Factory toe spec is -.15 degrees or- .20 degrees
(BTW, this info came from their website which is updated periodically and may differ from previously published material, such as cd's and paper manuals)

That means your alignment could have -1.25 degrees of camber and toe out of -.35 degrees and still be in the "green". This will wipe out the inside edges in <20K miles IMO.

All of the MM's I've aligned (about 10) had at least -1.0 degrees of camber and always toe out of -.10 degrees or more from the factory. That's why almost all MM's you see have excessive inside edge tire wear.

For best tire wear, here is what I use on all MM alignments:
Camber: 0 to -.3 degrees.*
Toe: Zero degrees.
Caster: 5-6.5 degrees positive with .3 degree lead on the right side.

*Camber can affect cornering feel. The more negative camber you have, the better it will handle corners. Most drivers will never feel the difference, especially on the street.
Click to expand...
 
hbarrett said:
I'm not sure that this realignment from factory spec is a good thing. It may relieve inner tire wear, but handling does not seem improved to me - steering seems so much more loose, and now the steering wheel vibration (started immediately after the alignment) is intolerable, even with new tires. Considering going back to the factory alignment. Obviously, the factory had their reasons for spec'ing the factory alignment, knowing that excessive inner tire wear would result, but this may just be the inherent shortfall of the CV/MM/GM platform as it was engineered.
Click to expand...

I have the Carfixer alighnment and do not have the same experiance. A vibration would be caused by a wheel out of balance. Check that first. My new front tires are wearing great! I have reputable shop in Edgewood, MD I would recommend. PM me if you want to have them check your balance.

BTW, I spotted you out and about the other day. You were N/B on 136 at 543. Funny thing is, I got my partner spotting MMs now - he saw you before I did! Thought that was funny.
 
hbarrett said:
I'm not sure that this realignment from factory spec is a good thing. It may relieve inner tire wear, but handling does not seem improved to me - steering seems so much more loose, and now the steering wheel vibration (started immediately after the alignment) is intolerable, even with new tires. Considering going back to the factory alignment. Obviously, the factory had their reasons for spec'ing the factory alignment, knowing that excessive inner tire wear would result, but this may just be the inherent shortfall of the CV/MM/GM platform as it was engineered.
Click to expand...

I have the opposite experience. After Carfixer alignment, car was less 'twitchy' and much more well behaved. Also, 'rut' steer was reduced on the country roads I frequent. I have almost 25K on Nitto 555's (tread wear 300) on the front vs 13K on BFG KDWS (tread wear 400)!
 
DEFYANT said:
I have the Carfixer alighnment and do not have the same experiance. A vibration would be caused by a wheel out of balance. Check that first. My new front tires are wearing great! I have reputable shop in Edgewood, MD I would recommend. PM me if you want to have them check your balance.

BTW, I spotted you out and about the other day. You were N/B on 136 at 543. Funny thing is, I got my partner spotting MMs now - he saw you before I did! Thought that was funny.
Click to expand...


I too had mine aligned with carfixers specs when I got my new fronts.....car road feel was awsome....rode like it was on rails....but now the rears are wearing pretty thin so her a** is all over the place....gonna squeez as many miles as I can out of the original rears....38,4xx now on them..... :drive:
 
alignment

Not the same experience for me. Doesn't feel like on rails at all, more like a loose floating CV/GM. The steering was much firmer when it had the factory alignment. If I can't slove this problem, I may return to the factory spec. At least it wont be shimmying so much, I hope.
SID210SA said:
I too had mine aligned with carfixers specs when I got my new fronts.....car road feel was awsome....rode like it was on rails....but now the rears are wearing pretty thin so her a** is all over the place....gonna squeez as many miles as I can out of the original rears....38,4xx now on them..... :drive:
Click to expand...
 
I had the Carfixer setup done about 5 months ago and now the outside edge of my front tires are wearing a little bit. So I would take his specs as a base then modify them do your liking. Some shops will charge a flat "lifetime" fee and you can get as many alignments as you own the car. I have this on my Mustang and sometimes I'm in 2-3 times a year. I do drive fairly agressive so I'm thinking that might be the cause of the outer wear.
 
Here's the best review I can tell you. Carfixer did my alignment personally on Saturday. I had the inner tire wear problem but no pulling or drifting. Steering is now tight, accurate and I need to learn how to drive the car again - it made THAT kind of difference in my car! It feels like they shaved 3 feet off the wheelbase.
 
Carfixer's alignment is within factory specs!

Carfixer's alignment is within factory specs! Your problem is most likely your mechanic. If he test drove your car like he should have, he would have found your problem and fixed it before allowing you to take the car. Better check for loose lug nuts, to start with.

hbarrett said:
I'm not sure that this realignment from factory spec is a good thing. It may relieve inner tire wear, but handling does not seem improved to me - steering seems so much more loose, and now the steering wheel vibration (started immediately after the alignment) is intolerable, even with new tires. Considering going back to the factory alignment. Obviously, the factory had their reasons for spec'ing the factory alignment, knowing that excessive inner tire wear would result, but this may just be the inherent shortfall of the CV/MM/GM platform as it was engineered.
Click to expand...
 
I do my own wheel alignment and found that negative front camber does help a lot with cornering. The factory specs for the 98-02 Panthers for camber is -0.5* +/- 0.75* and I have mine set for about -3* each side (using a hub mounted bubble gauge). For caster, I maxed mine out while keeping it even. By maxed, I mean I maxed out the caster as much as possible w/o affecting the camber adjustment due to the design of the upper control arm. However I am running into a problem with the toe settings. I originally had my Vic set to toe-in and after about 2 years the outer edges of the tires are more worn than the inner edge. I plan to re-adjust the toe today and try Carfixer's suggestion of zero toe. BTW toe-in feels pretty stable on the highway but rufts in the road (caused by heavy vehicles on soft asphalt) will start shifting my steering, and the road grading also affects my steering.
 
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I have aligned at least 6 MM's w/ Carfixers specs and all had improvements in tire wear and handling. As previously stated, tire shimmy is a seperate issue but could be masked a little with alignment. Many times it was difficult to get the camber where you want it as some seem to run out of adjustment with the cam. This was usually solved with a well placed pry bar! I still recommend these specs. Customers averaged an additional 8-10k miles out of front tires (usually about 26k depending on driving habits).
 
I don't understand how switching to a lower-performance alignment that is set up for best tire wear is making people think their car handles better. If anything going to a zero toe, zero camber alignment is going to make the cornering measurably worse. More camber equals better cornering.

I am going to use this alignment because I don't want to keep burning up tires, but I certainly don't expect that the handling is going to get better, I figure cornering is going to suffer but that's the price you pay.
 
Zero

i bought my car with 1000 mi on it and both frnt tires were chewed up badly on the inside with factory in spec alignment, put spare tire rubber on both front rims (and one of the spare rubber was bought from j clancy after he had loaned it to logan for running on the rear while he had his rims widened, nuff said there. i had my toe set to zero my camber set to zero and caster pushed forward slightly from factory but still "in spec" and that was at 7,000 miles, i now have 30 k and have done several track sessions at texas world and motorsports ranch and the tires are evenly worn, no scallops, and about 50% down to tread markers. i run 41 psi cold all the way around in both cars and had Linda's front end set up the same way immediately after i did mine, however her car was an 5-03 build and the toe and caster were not nearly so neg. as mine (6-02) and her tires were not chewed up at all. her car seems to drive a little easier than mine, by that i mean not as "twitchy" (i don't like that phrase but everyone seems to relate to it). mine is more of a driver, by that i mean you should pay attention to the road, ruts, grade...etc not try and ride with one finger on the bottom of the wheel and cruise while your looking for your favorite cd. i particularly like the way mine feels at 80+ mph because you can track the road so easily, it just sets up for a corner with so much less effort at the wheel and power drifting out from the apex is all natural as you go back to wide open throttle. would recommend giving it a try:D
 
when I found out about the inside edge wear, I just have the front tires flipped from right to left and vice versa. this way you get to wear out the outter edge which is now on the inside. I'm at 37,000+ miles and still have alot to go before she's bald. I'm not sure if I want to have my alignment played with when I have to get new fronts. Honestly, I like the fact that I can take a cloverleaf ramp at 65mph and not get thrown into the guard rail. that's just me though.
 
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