Z4Ccoupe

The SLP suplimental owner's manual that came with the Camaro SS's in '96 warned that the cars are subject to trough wander. Has anyone experimented with front end suspension settings (camber, caster, toe in/out) to find which suspension settings minimize the effect?

JakeRobb

I'm not familiar with the term "trough wander," but I think it's the same as tramlining, which is where the contour of the road can steer the car.

Not a direct answer to your question, but I'm guessing the factory settings are pretty ideal in that regard.

I have found that tires make a huge difference. In general, cheap tires will tramline more. My current tires (Continental ContiExtremeContact DW in 275/40/17) are MUCH better than the Goodyears I had before these.

Injuneer

Can also be sensitive to tire inflation pressure.

Tire Rack has some good info:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=47

Z4Ccoupe

Thanks guys. All of that makes sense re: tire brands, tire wear etc. It seems logical that increased caster would be a help reduce the effect, somewhat. When I was road racing, we always wanted negative camber and a small bit of toe out. It made the car turn in better. But those characteristics probably make tramlineing worse. I drove someone else's 97 SS the other day and it seemed to have very little tramlineing compared to mine. It had the OEM tires with 19K miles on them. OTOH, a friend's 2002 WS6 has always been really bad and it has had numerous front end alignments and several sets of tires in it's 130k mile history. Just trying to figure something out how to make it more manageable.