hp365

Hi to all as this is my first post.....I have recently rebuilt the 3.7 posi & fitted new bushes to the rear end of my 64 vette. My question is should the wheels be hanging in on an angle? I think I put all the trailing arm shims back in the correct position! any advice would be greatly appreciated......Thanks in advance... Craig

TJefferson2020

Do you mean they are tilted (camber) when the car is off the ground? The shims can only go in one place - can you post a pic? Do you have an assembly manual? (AIM)

Procrastination Racing

If you have the car in the air on a lift or jackstands, the rear wheels will typically hang such that the tops are to the outside.

With weight on the tires and after rolling around (driven), the tops will often be to the inside.

How much depends on if the camber adjustment (strut) rods are adjusted right or not.

On a stock rear suspension, there are two camber adjustment cams under the differential in the bracket. You may have not realized they adjust the camber and thought they simply hold the rods.

Loosen the nut on the bolt, then use a big wrench to turn the head of the bolt to move the bottom of the tire in or out to acheive proper alignment. Correct setting is -0 deg 20 min +/- 30 min.

However, people tend to set this based on what they want to achieve. More gives better cornering but more tire wear in normal driving. If you have a protractor level, you can set it for a degree or two and get both good wear and good cornering. Check the autocross section for what others are using.

Procrastination Racing

I should have mentioned that the toe-in of the wheels will also affect the alignment. There is no guide of "put 4 shims inside, 5 outside" for this. You have to put them in and measure, then move them until it is right. The easiest is to put the same ones where they were when you found them, THEN begin to align it.

I think the correct spec is 1/16 +/- 1/32 inch.

JohnZ

If the inboard ends of the camber strut rods don't have the little "caps" installed on both ends of the bushing sleeves before inserting the rod ends into the bracket below the diff, you won't be able to adjust the camber. The shim packs for toe-in on both sides of the trailing arm bushings are determined with the car on an alignment rack; if you have radial tires, you want 1/16" TOTAL toe-in (1/32" per side, split equally across the thrust centerline). Rear toe-in is the most critical alignment setting on a C2.

hp365

Thanks guys for the replies......I have removed the camber rods as an assemley & it can go back on only one way (bolt keyed) so I don't believe this is a problem. The car is currently set back on the ground but the wheels are hanging in at the bottom considerably, I need to mention that I have not driven it at all since I put the rear back together.....is it possible that it will resettle when I drive it ??? as for the toe in shims I may or maynot have put them in the correct place but this shouldn't make the wheels hangin should it?? Thanks again Craig.

MasterDave

Roll it back and forth a few times and it will settle down. If the body is off you'll have to add weight to the frame back there.

JohnZ

The toe-in shim packs at the trailing arm bushing will have virtually no effect at all on camber angle.