A few general comments on alignment. Camber, within about 1 1/2 degrees has
litle effect on tire wear, at least a lot les that those wheel spinning
starts & tire squealling corners do, but in general negative camber will
give you stronger cornering grip, and positive camber will promote
understeer. I tend to put 1/2 to 1 degree of negative camber in all my
vehicles when I finally get around to aligning them, to get the most
cornering grip without causing one sided tire wear.
Caster has no effect on tire wear in a straight line, but turns into
negative camber as you turn the steering away from center. Positive caster
tends to make the steering self centering and helps increase cornering grip
by giving more negative camber in a corner. Positive caster also makes the
steering heavy.
Toe, whether you choose in or out, should be very near zero. A little
bit goes a long way, I would not have more than 1/8" toe in or out, even
1/8" is a lot. For a street driven Tiger I would have as little toe in as
the "one turn only" tie rod set up will allow. I would go with camber at -1
degree, as much caster as I could get, but the same side to side to prevent
pulling. I would want it toed in, not out, for high speed stability.
Caster will cause the car to pull to the side with the least positive
caster, but the car will pull to the most positive camber. It's important
that both sides be pretty near the same, but many street cars are set up to
have a slight pull to the left to lead into the road crown, usually a 1/2
degree of camber difference. Toe in will promote stability, but toe out will
give faster cornering response at the expense of stability. No one setting
will please everyone.
And you thought there was an easy answer.
Doug Leithauser
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