[k24556]

Pulled the trigger, here it is:

2007 CTS-V Thunder Gray, really nice, 93k miles. A few issues I need help with.

1. There is a low pitch vibration only in 6th gear when you press on the accel pedal It does not occur in the other gears, but it is bat enough that the rear view mirror vibrates.
2. The steering wheel is off center on a straight road. I found the alignment procedure, and noticed a special tool A J 45845 which I think I can make but I need the recommended street alignment specs, which I could not find in this really great site. I have my own homemade alignment tools and I routinely align my Corvettes myself.. If anyone is interested in seeing my home made tools, PM me and I will send you the file, it is too big to upload on this site. You can measure camber caster, toe and rear thrust angle with the tools.
3. Owned by a smoker and the evap coil needs cleaning. Any suggestion on getting to the evap to clean it? I've cleaned up smokers before, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Moose71]

Front:
FE 4, FE 5 Suspension - Camber −0.6° ± 0.6°
Caster 5.3° ± 0.6°
Toe 0.2° ± 0.2°
Rear:
FE 4, FE 5 Suspension - Camber −1.4° ± 0.6°
Toe 0.20° ± 0.20° Individual toe–0.10° to −0.0°
Thrust angle 0° ± 0.2°

 

[jeph054]

Nice car and welcome. I have the same car but light grey. I have to say I like your shade better.... Any who... The vibration could be several things that are common with this car.
1. The carrier bearing could be starting to go bad. Options are replace the entire DS (very expensive) or have the carrier bearing replaced. According to GM this is a non-servable item. There is a guy on LS1 tech that replaces them.
2. Your CV joint could be starting to go bad causing some vibration.

Can't help you with the alignment....although my car has the same issue.

 

[BigDaddy-V]

Very nice looking car! It almost looks like a custom color to me than one I have seen before on a V1. It could be lighting or something but I do like the rim color. DO you happen to know what color and finish it is? Thinking about doing something that color on my silver 04.

BDV

 

[darkman]

Sixth gear in the Tremec is a known weakness and there are numerous previous threads on this issue. If the vibration at highway speeds is caused by sixth gear itself the vibration will not occur in fifth gear (or any other gear) at the same speed. Ironically, failure from this sixth gear weakness is most likely to occur in cars that are driven conservatively such that sixth gear is frequently used at low speeds. The remedy is to remove the transmission and replace certain internal part particular to 5th & 6th gear.

 

[dafoo102]

Welcome to the relatively rare Gen 1 Thunder Grey family. Good luck getting your concerns sorted out.

 

[k24556]

Wow this is a great forum! thank you for the prompt responses. The paint as far as I can tell is original, I couldn't find one evidence of overspray or mis-masked trim that would indicate it had been painted. I rather suspect the vibration is in the trans since it is 6th gear specific. Are the replacement parts a DIY for a good home mechanic, or is it best to have it gone thru by RTK or RPM? Also anyone know of a close by trans shop shop in the Charlotte NC area.

Since I'm new to this site, and know that keeping such great sites alive is sharing what we know with others, I'll certainly share what little I know. I've taken about every bolt and nut out of a C5 Corvette, and many on a C6, so I know my way around this GM platform and really love the LS engine platform.

Since I have a track car, alignment adjustments are fairly frequent. I used to use levels and rulers, but designed and built a set of tools that work very well. My DIY is posted here, and any one is welcome to use, copy, comment (plus or minus comments welcome), or pass my DIY on to others. I probably should upgrade my membership here, I have other DIY's that might be relevant.

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ing/3618201-homemade-diy-alignment-tools.html

Again. Thanks thanks thanks.

 

[k24556]

I measured my alignment and found the front has 0.35 deg toe out. The specs just say 0.2 +/-0.2 deg. I have about 0.2deg toe in for the rear. So my question is this, should the fronts and the rears both have toe in or am I missing something with respect to the sign conventions in the specs.

 

[darkman]

See attached. See also: http://www.cadillacfaq.com/faq/index.html under Wheels & Tires, Alignment specs -includes some track specs.

 

[k24556]

Thanks, so for a street alignment toe in for both front and rear. Interesting. I expected .2 to slightly toe out in the front for a car with the speed potential of these .

 

[kevm14]

There's a really good race-oriented alignment guy who uses all old school equipment in your area. His name is Spiro and I am finding out what/where his shop is. I had my car aligned there once and he fixed my steering wheel being off center by adjusting the rear trust angle. This was off despite having my car aligned at a regular shop with an expensive Hunter machine. He did the trust angle by EYE. Like I said, old school.

Toe out is just going to cause serious tire wear issues on a street car.

Also, I've been very happy with as much as -1d front camber (a touch more even) and like -2d rear (or a bit less).

 

[kevm14]

And this is it:
Slk Automotive Ed Grant Alignment
2625 S Tryon St
Charlotte, NC 28203
(704) 375-5559
http://www.yelp.com/biz/slk-automotive-ed-grant-alignment-charlotte

 

[rand49er]

... Ironically, failure from this sixth gear weakness is most likely to occur in cars that are driven conservatively such that sixth gear is frequently used at low speeds. ...

Let me guess. Was the car owned by an old guy?

 

[k24556]

Or a lazy one, indication is he was heavy set and a smoker, so I would guess he didn't drive hard. He never had it aligned, and I fixed an off-center steering wheel the same way, i found the thrust angle was about 0.5 degrees, almost 3/8 inch different in thrust angle from side to side. The jam nuts on the rear toe rods were almost impossible to loosen.

I've done my own alignments for some time and it is easy to do a proper 4-wheel alignment with some pretty basic equipment. Start with thrust angle, then rear camber, then toe, re-check thrust, and toe about 3 times, then move to the front after a drive. This car has -2deg rear camber and I can see inside wear, for a cruiser I would like to get it down closer to -1deg. Problem is, the camber bolts are at their limit and there is no way to shim the upper control arms.

 

[rand49er]

... he was heavy set and a smoker ...

Gross. Probably not an old guy, then.

 

[k24556]

Dawn Dish soap and scrub brushes are your friends. All we have left is the headliner. When we scrubbed the interior, all the wipe rags were yellow. And that stuff goes in the lungs of a smoker!!!!

 

[dafoo102]

When I was under my car this past weekend I did remember to look at the LCA adjustment bolts. On one side I had about 50% range to each side of the adjuster, on the other I was nearly maxed out to the positive. I didn't find my alignment sheet yet but the requested setting was -1.5 deg.

Sucks about the car being smoky. What do you plan to do to clean the headliner?

 

[k24556]

first I use a vacuum cleaner on the headliner or any cloth or leather interior component.

I'll clean the headliner with Dawn dishwashing soap, I bought a smokey truck one time and it works very well. Basically, I use about a tablespoon to a gallon of warm water and use water pressure to create lots of suds. Then just pick up a pile of suds with a very soft brush and scrub. Then take a clean white terry towel and wipe the suds off. Even though you can't see the tobacco, the rag comes up yellow from the tar and nicotene. Scrub again until it passes the wihte towel test. The yellow towels can be washed if you can talk the wifey into letting you put those nasty things in her washer. Use bleach or they will still be yellow after laundry.

Then I just leave the car in the garage with the windows open for a couple days. When it comes time to clean the AC evap, the only thing I have found it so run it on max with the car doors open and let the condensate wash off the evap coil. The stink eventually goes away. I pity smokers, when you see the yellow stuff on the rag it really hits home that people are coating their lungs with that stuff.

Regarding the rear camber adjustment, I've concluded that I need to take the suspension apart and see if any bushings are shot. I'd like to stand it up in the rear camber just a bit to cut down on tire wear.

 

[darkman]

I'd like to stand it up in the rear camber just a bit to cut down on tire wear.

All these years I have attributed my rear tire wear to engine modifications and an over enthusiastic right foot, and now I find out it may be due to a couple of degrees of negative camber - go figure.