tmscarguy

looking at my 1978 corvette from the rear, it appears that the passenger side tire and wheel is leaning in at the top, can this be fixed with an alignment or is there a weak spring or something else?

ramseygarza

go to a good alignment shop - one that knows about trailing arms. they need to shimmy the trailing arm off the frame. avoid the 19 yr old kid from the chain shop.

i did mine this past weekend. i had -3.3 on the left and it was very obvious.

it ran around $200 bucks. the rear take more time when compared to adjusting the front.

Easy Mike

Check the strut rod bushings. They take a set with age. Are you chewing up the inside edge of the tire?

Timsride

There is a pair of bolts under your rear end cover that are setup to adjust this problem.Any shop that has rear wheel alignment capabilities can fix this problem.Good luck Timsride.

TWINRAY

Some shops may want to avoid rear adjustments on a C3 cause everything may be rusted. Square this away ahead of time especially so you avoid hoping for an adjustment you'll never get. Not saying yours is rusted.

bluthundr

You can probably get it pretty close yourself by just eyeballing it. Jack it up, loosen the nut on the back, turn the bolt a notch or two, tighten the nut back up, then drop it down and roll the car back and forth few times. I used a piece of 2x4 that I cut so it touched just the top and bottom lip of the rim and then put a 4' level on that to make sure the wheels were plumb when they were on the ground.

lars

Camber is not set with the shims - the shims control toe. Camber is set with the strut rod eccentrics, assuming your strut rod bushings are not shot. You can set rear wheel camber yourself using my rear end alignment paper which has been available to Forum members for several years.

Lars
V8FastCars@msn.com

cottoneg

I people telling me they always had too much negative camber. They could never get it to where they wanted it. Some resorted to bending the camber rods.

I had that issue and went to Guldstrand and purchased their solid rear camber arm kit. For me it was great. I was able to get really precise camber alignment, the alignment shops love it , and the solid heim joints are less prone to camber changes under stress. Since I Time Trial the car, that was important to me.

Dustup7T2

Agreed: I have Lars paper and fixin' to apply his logic soon. Explained so well even I should be successful and that ain't easy.

BTW, cool avatar.

Ride Fast

Anyone know the torque spec for the rear wheel alignment cams nuts? I've set the camber twice and the camber has drifted positive after each time.

Easy Mike

I'm thinking the torque is in the AIM. Chassis service manual should list it.

Ride Fast

Please excuse my ignorance, but what does "AIM" mean?

drwet

Assembly Instruction manual. Available from most Corvette suppliers. Your rear alignment problem is the result of one or the other or both of two problems. First, your strut rod bushings are probably shot. Replace them. While you're in there, check the end play on the output yokes at the sides of the differential. The weight of the car presses against the end of these yokes and the ends wear resulting in the yokes moving in toward the differential, causing the camber problem you are experiencing. Different guys will tell you different specs for acceptable end play, but anything over about .050" is probably too much. The solution is to replace the yokes. Once you're done, you need an alignment. Make sure all the adjustments move freely before you take it to an alignment shop or you'll be paying them to free up rusted bolts.

One79Vette

This just happened to me also. Felt a pop while driving to work this morning. Parked the car at work and notices that the drivers rear tire was leaning in at the top. Jacked up the car and I'm able to push and pull the spindle assembly. I can see the half-shaft sliding in and out of the rear diff. So I'm guess it is over the .050" the drwet is talking about. Can I adjust the camber as a short term solution to get me home, or should this thing be put on a flat bed for the 5 mile drive.

Tim81

The torque spec for my 81 is 150 ft/lbs. I just did this myself about a week ago. I replaced the strut rod bushings and aligned the rear-end camber. You can get it very close yourself.....Tim

Solid LT1

Put it onto a flatbed, you lost your circlip holding the side yoke inside the differential and can do WAY more damage if it gets into a bad spot while driving.

drwet

If your side yokes are moving in and out of the differential a noticeable amount, you probably HAVE lost the circlip, but that's not what is causing your camber problem. The circlip stops the yoke from coming out. If the tire is leaning IN at the top, the yoke has moved IN, or a strut rod bushing has let go and allowed the bottom of the tire to move OUT.

One79Vette

Thanks for the tips guys, these are all things that I will check.

My father-in-law and I got under it and took a good look at the camber bolt/washer adjustment thing(for lack of a better term for it). Looks like the washer/bolt has shifted causing the bottom of the tire to move out. Hope that makes since, I will be realigning the rear this weekend.

drwet

Yes, that makes sense. If its only five miles, you're probably ok to drive it - carefully.

One79Vette

I followed him and his 09' home, we work just a few blocks from each other and live just a few blocks from each other. The car was originally his, bought new. He gave it to my wife and I as a wedding gift.

The car is actually garaged at his house as we live in an apartment and I'm not parking it on the street.

Thanks again guys, this place is always helpful!!