criggy

can any one give me any pointers on how to install trailing arm shims
thanks.

birdsmith

If your car doesn't have any installed already (?!??) you will want to measure the difference between the width of the attach pocket into which the fron of the trailing arm fits, then subtract the thickness of the trailing arm at the forward attach bushing from that amount. Split that number and that will be the thickness of the shim stack that you should install on either side of the arm initially. This will most likely not give you the toe-in setting that you need for the rear of the car but it will most likely get the rearend in the ballpark so you can drive it to an alignment shop and have the rear toe properly set. Installation of the shims themselves is a pretty straightforward affair- remove the forward trailing arm bolt and drop the required number of shims onto either side of the arm, then thread the bolt back through the holes in the shims UNLESS you have the mo'betta kind of shims that have an inverted "U" shaped cut in their forward ends- in that case you can just drop themin at the front without removing the bolt and retain them to the side of the arms with a cotter pin.

Alan 71

Hi c,
Bird's info is right on.... and pray for the shims with slots.
If there are more than 2 shims on a side, I think it's a good idea to put the thinest shim between the 2 thicker shims.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

captl27

Check out Duntov Motor company Rear Suspension Alignment School it might help. see link

http://www.duntovmotors.com/technical.php

Red 69

After installing new off-set TA with new spindles and everything else on my car, I couldn't find anyone who would do a rear alignment. Frustration turned to anger which led to motivation and I did it myself. It is simple. I put an equal stack of shims on both sides of the TA in the pocket. As stated, put the thin shim in the center of the pack and leave a thick shim out on the inside where you can hammer it. You want the shim pack to be tight, so hammer the last one into place. Failure to do this will cause the TA pocket to compress when you tighten the bolt.

After you have the shims installed and shocks and struts in place, you can align the TA's with the following process. You can use a level with a laser beam, or a long straight edge. I used the laser level, so I will walk through how it is done, but a straight edge is used the same way. Also, you can use an old brake rotor, but not absolutely necessary. You need to put your level with the laser beam on the wheel flange. The studs can get in the way, so inverting a brake rotor and bolting to the flange makes a clean surface to work off of. Place the level on the flange/rotor surface and shoot the beam/straight edge down along the frame rail.

You measure the beam distance from along the frame rail. I wanted mine to be straight for drag racing, but toe in is adjusted by measuring off that beam. A protractor can be used to measure degrees, if that is what you want. Your change is made by adjusting the strut rods.When you drop the car on level ground, use a carpenter square on the wheel rim and put a level on the horizontal plane. My alignment has been perfect since I have done this and no further adjustment has been necessary.

criggy

thanks fellows, i'll give it my best shot.

Belgian1979vette

When going through the second hand sites on internet I stumbled on an alignment rack in perfect condition for € 150,00. I bought it and this makes checking things a breeze.

You would believe how many guys came in here since to do their own alignment. The rack already payed for itsself after some sessions.

Maybe you are lucky and can find something on the other side of the pond as well.

Easy Mike

If you have not yet removed the shim stacks, mark them left, right, inner, outer. Tape the stack together. They go back in the same place they came out.

If you are replacing the old stack with new shims, compare your new stack with the old, mark it, and install it in the same position as the old stack it is replacing.

Install inners first. The outer stacks only take up slack. The inner stacks determine toe.

criggy

thanks for all the help, with the new bushings i don't think all the shims will fit.i don't know if it matters its a 68

birdsmith

Apparently they haven't discovered HOA's in Belgium yet!