Wheel Alignment

Because the C4S is AWD I need to have a four wheel alignment. I want to take the car in to my local wheel place (they only do wheels and alignments) for the alignment. Is this really something that Porsche should do? Is there anything special about our cars than any other AWD car? Thanks! Rob

Any good shop can do your allignment. Make sure you get a printout of the settings BEFORE and after. You might also go in there with what the allgnment specks should be and verify them to what they are setting them to. If you have no symptoms of a misallignment and the readings are within specs, leave it alone.

Thanks for the info. I'm in desperate need of an alignment. Where would I get the alignment specs? Thanks again, Rob

I bet Loren at RennTech has them.

I'll ask, thanks!!

For those interested here are the Alignment specs that I found on RennTech (Thanks to Loren for posting them!) http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...5&hl=alignment

Here are GT3 specs... Front axle height: 115 + 5mm (115 to 120mm) Rear axle height: 128 + 5mm (128 to 133mm) Front axle: Toe unpressed (total): +8' +/- 2' Toe difference at 20� lock: -1�30' +/- 30' Camber: -1� +/- 5' Max camber difference, left/right: 10' Caster: 8� +/- 30' Max caster difference, left/right: 40' Rear axle: Toe per wheel: +13' +/- 2' Max toe difference, left/right: 5' Camber: -1�50' +/- 5' Max camber difference, left/right: 10'

Is it practical to go with GT3 specs when one doesn't have GT3 equipment on one's 996?

You won't be able to dial it into a regular C2 suspension.

Would anyone take there car to Belle Tire? They told me they use Hunter equipment. They will do the alignment for $70 in MI.

You need a 4-wheel alignment because it has a 4-wheel independant suspension. AWD is irrelevent. For full size truck with solid axle rear ends, they only get a 2-wheel alignment regardess of whether they are 2WD or 4WD. For specs, you won't be able to align your C4S to GT3 specs. Even if you could, you probably would not like the tire wear. The GT3 has adjustable lower control arms in front and different busihings. As a result, the front is camber limited. As a result of harder bushings, the GT3 has different toe specs that won't work as well on your softer C4S. Personally, I woudl go to someone who knows how to do both stock and sport alignments on these cars. I had a couple of choices locally. I chose to have Ruf Autocenter do mine with their street/track alignment. It adds camber and toe, but not enough to adversely effect tire wear. My local Porsche dealers also have experience making similar alignments.

Those specs are really vague, and your average shop will just get it to within specs and then leave it. You are really better off telling them exactly how you want it and then get it aligned. Give them the exact specs and tell them to shoot for that. The rears are going to have a minimum of 1.4 camber on a lowered car and without camber plates it's tough to get more than 1.1 in the front.

true... those specs are just a "range"... now that we are on the subject what makes for a good handling car AND great high speed stability? I recently insalled ROW 030 on my C2 and the high speed stability was dazzling... but the cornering sucked... way too much understeer... I took it to another shop with the above specs for ROW 030 sport and they fixed whatever was wrong... much much better in the corners... understeer almost gone... but high speed cruising 120mph + seems good but not as "smooth" as before... what gives? seems to be a certain "roughness" for a lack of a better word that was not there with alignment #1. (although alignment #1 had serious understeer)...

Toe out. With toe dialed out the car gets twitchy at high speeds but corners much better. Riad, unless you're a track junky (I am, and still take my car to a "regular" alignment shop) any regular alignment shop will likely suffice. Most will ask you for the settings and give a printout of before and after.

Ok, so my toeout B4 alignment was: front left: 02' front right: 01' rear left: 08' rear right: 17' after alignment front left: 05'front right: 04' rear left: 11' rear right: 12' is there more toe out or more toe in in the new setup?

If you have PSM don't forget to have the steering angle sensor on the steering column checked and recentered (if required) after the alignment. And if you use a regular alignment shop make sure to bring a printout of the torque specifications for the various suspension bolts with you. A lot of shops will just tighten down everything using the grunt method.

My dealer just quoted me $499 to align my 99 C4 Cab !!

Do these measurements look correct? Notice the BAR on left front is 2,7 and all others are 0,0

Not quite. Graphically the pointer should be very close to the center mark, at least inside the lowest depression. In the case of the left front camber it is not. Rear toe doesn't look like it is set right either. Part of the text is missing but it does appear that it was noted some values were not within specification. The question becomes why were they not in specification?

recommending an alignment for a car "THAT IS BEST" ???? is very subjective, Best for daily Best for HPDE Best of Autocross. All are different. But none are worth a hoot if you allow large ranges of tolerance. I finally got tired of hacks professing they can do it for 75.00 or 275.00 or 400.00 because Porsche so I learned how to do it myself, in the driveway. Level the car with shims under the tires I use 1/8" luan 12" squares. and doubled up walmart bags. Got a Longacre Camber / caster gauge some toe plates and a level. Whala I can get it extremely precise. and Porsche 996 is very sensitive to tight tolerances.

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The alignment was done by the Porsche dealer here with a new alignment machine. Thank you for pointing out the pointers. It looks like the front toe left is worse after the alignment. Looks like I need to take it back or get some reasonable answer to how it's set up now. Thanks so much for your help.

The last alignment I had done they dialed it in with me in the drivers seat it does make a difference, the added weight on one side. Oh yea, it was done at a local tire shop for $59 and they nailed it.

I usually buy the lifetime alignment at Firestone on my vehicles. This allow multiple alignments per year. I do a minimum of three per year on my cars. Sure it's Firstone, and yes I have had to take a vehicle back becasue the steering wheel was off center more than I would accept, but over the years the guys there know me and what I expect. The shop I use has a computerized Hunter rack. I still remember when they got it. The manager was so poroud and could not wait to take me back there. Back then I had a 964, Saleen XP8 and an Explorer Sport so they saw me or my wife often. Sadly the E350 needs specialized tools and they would not get them in for me. I think they charge $169 these days, but you can often find a coupon to knock $20 off.