Massive Improvement of Roadholding: Adjusting Toe, Camber and Caster (Porsche 911, 1987)

After this winter's restoration of my Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 from 1987 I continued using it intensively over the year whereas increasingly some lack of directional stability and asymmetric steering behavior began to annoy me.

Tires were brand new and the rear suspension had been adjusted with great care by myself, therefore suspicion fell on the front suspension and steering geometry which I hadn't taken care of before.

In this video I'm adjusting the height of the car as well as toe angle, camber and caster of the front axle with the most basic, traditional means of a workshop.

Many of the techniques I'm relying on in this video I learned from master mechanic Robert, the owner of

#porsche911 #classicporsche #restoration

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[GreasyFingers]

At 12:18 I say that caster was 0.8 degrees which is of course wrong. I mean 8 degrees.

[laapulsford]

Love this episode. As with all your videos, a difficult task was made easy with patience, care, and skill. My first Porsche was a 1983 911 SC Coupe in Guards Red. Your beautiful Carrara brings back some very fond memories. Thank you.

[ABROOKSH]

Love the marker over video.
Analog over digital.
Thank you so much for putting thought and effort into these videos.
Can’t wait to see the Alfa again.

[andymoser]

I for one am happy to see you give a little free publicity to those obscure british auto-journalists. If only other content creators would show as much love to the little guys.

[imrevin]

Being disappointed in the alignment shop seems to becoming a bit of an epidemic. As a previous tech myself, I have seen the shoddy work first hand, and as a result now later in life- I applaud you your DIY mentality and finding a solution on your own. Not only learning/understanding the dynamic, but creating your own tooling to get the job done correctly, A++.

[jimhatfield]

When I was a young kid I was afraid of monsters that might be under my bed at night and get me when I was asleep. As I got older that was not a thought that ever came up. BUT when people now talk about toe, camber, caster, corner balancing and car alignment I feel a little fearful.

After seeing many of your videos I felt more confident that learning about car corrections/improvements I would not get terrified; maybe a little scared but not terrified. It is because you present things simple as simple can be for understanding. You don’t dance around with BIG fancy words or phrases and your video shots help me to see what people need to see to understand a new car topic we might only know partially or not at all.

I am lucky to have a genius mechanic Dan who can fix anything. He has a tiny, tiny shop with a lift and LOTS of clients waiting for their turn with the magic mechanic. He just replaced all of my suspension bushings with new or better (I saw your video on that topic -THANKS so much), Elephant Racing brakes upgrade kit, which had Zimmerman rotors X-drilled, 1990 Boxster 4 piston calipers —original Carreras had 2 — and half again larger sized calipers; and a lot of other things but this is your video; I am just sharing with you and others examples showing that I am following along with Mr. Fingers’ thoughts and actions.

YES to not taking your car to some shop with the laser equipment and no soul. Luckily when the snow is not snowing on the mountain passes here (1 April) I will be driving my P-car up to the top of our state — Portland, Oregon — from the bottom of the state where we live (5 hour + drive) to get exact alignments and corner balancing after all the changes done by Dan. The shop is Rothsport and they might use lasers but they are tried and proven experts on racing suspensions, alignments/corner balancing (and regular cars too). They also are motor builders —they make engines for Guntherwerks, Emory Motorsports, and for you and me. Jeff (the owner) and his team are the real deal. I mention all of these people and places because if you don’t do the work yourself you really have to do some extensive research to find good workers to make sure they don't fkup your P-car. Research, listen and ask questions at Coffee and octane gatherings, for example.

Am I afraid of what I mentioned above after your video? No I am not.

“A garage without a Porsche is just a dark hole” —Walter Rohrl - Porsche Development

[DrHumorous]

So that was you the hooligan riding around the roundabout!

[Wanix]

Super gemacht mit einfachen Hilfsmitteln. Als Student habe ich solche Vermessungen auch mit Dachlatten, Schnur, Meterstab und Wasserwage gemacht. Bei sorgfältiger Arbeit gibt das wirklich ziemlich genaue Ergebnisse. Respekt!

[davidgray]

More excellent content. I have completed a basic string alignment for my C4S and it’s time consuming but satisfying. May I apologize for actually falling asleep during this one. Your voice is so mellow and then there is the music :-) I promise I will do better next time.

[domenote]

Thank you for putting together this tutorial for us DIYers. Your work in the garage & on film is inspirational.

[andresoemer]

I love all your videos, but this one is the best of them all. Awesome. German engineering education pays off.

[StevenVanLoven]

I learned something today ! Of course to do it myself need some practice ... but thanks for showing it this way .

[YogisGarage]

Glad I found your channel! Once I finish rebuilding the engine on my 996 I'm going to tackle this next! Cheers!

[ilesguran]

Wonderful video, I'm starting this project in the next few weeks -- your video makes it feel much less terrifying, thanks.

[MetHerInBaghdad]

Another brilliant video. Thanks for sharing your journey.

[rubioalejo]

A really an authentic enthusiastic Porsche driver ! Well done 👍🏻 !!😍

[sjoerdvandermaaden]

Thank you again. A wonderful video and a very clear and educational exposé. Many happy kilometers!

[Themeister]

Very helpfull, I am in the process of doing this myself, so much information available for the 911, designed to be worked on. Cheers

[neilbardsley]

Great video explaining what to set and how to do it. Unfortunately I don't have a flat floor in my garage

[vincentrolfe]

Bought a new '76 530i with poor panic braking at 50mph on the highway. Impossible to stop immediately due to caster off considerably. Finally got the zone BMW man to a Houston BMW dealer
for a tech adjustment. He put 5 washers on the front left suspension as I could see the addition. Took the car out for a braking test and it still would lose control at 50mph with a heavy foot on the brake as the car rear end would start to come around on a level stretch of highway. Apparently the front suspension mountings were no correct at the factory and Mr. BMW was not willing to go further. Neither was I and I sold the car at 9 months. 3 EGR valves, one two piece drive shaft and rubber coupling, lots of over heated spark plug-fowling, rusted out gas tank, out of balance original tires (dealer jacked up a new car and gave me those better tires), air conditioning could not keep up with Houston summers-vinyl seats made me uncomfortable, car had a miss at idle and it was not the mass air sensor. Sold the car. No more BMW's for me.