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Corvette C3 Alignment Specs

Chevrolet introduced the Corvette, the first sports car manufactured by a U.S. company, in 1953. Since then, the Corvette has remained one of the most recognizable and esteemed performance cars on the U.S. market. The C3, the third generation of the Corvette, was sold from 1968 to 1982. It was commonly referred to as the Mako Shark and it replaced the popular second-generation Sting Ray. As is common with most vehicles, the alignment specs changed from year to year. The alignment specs provided here apply to all trims of the 1982 Corvette, but should not be used for aligning the wheels of any other model year of the Corvette.

Caster

Caster is basically the slope of an imaginary line drawn through the upper and lower pivot joints of a wheel when viewed from the side of the vehicle, with zero being a vertical line straight up through the center of the wheel. If the top of the slope crosses the vertical line toward the rear of the car, then the car has a positive caster. If the top of the slope crosses the vertical line toward the front of the car, then the wheel has a negative caster. Most vehicles are designed to have a positive caster -- meaning the steering pivots will be slightly angled toward the rear of the vehicle. The preferred caster on the front end of the 1982 Corvette can range from +1.75 degrees to +2.75 degrees, with the ideal setting being +2.25 degrees. The caster cannot be adjusted on the rear wheels.

Camber

The camber is the angle the top of a wheel tilts when viewed from the front of the vehicle. When the top of the wheel tilts out, it represents a positive camber. When the top of the wheel tilts in, it represents negative camber. The camber on the front end of the 1982 Corvette can range from +0.25 degrees to +1.25 degrees, with the ideal setting being +0.75 degrees. The preferred camber angle for the rear wheels is zero, but it can range in either direction by 0.5 degrees.

Toe-in

The toe of a wheel is often given in inches and represents the difference in the space between the fronts of two opposing wheels and the rear of two opposing wheels. For instance, if a vehicle has a toe-in of 1 inch, that means the fronts of the wheels are 1 inch closer to each other than the rears of the wheels. The toe-in on the front end of the 1982 Corvette should be set at +1/4 inch, but it can range in either direction by 1/16 inch. The toe-in on the rear wheels should be set at +1/16 inch, but it can range in either direction by 1/16 inch.