In April of 2005 I had my 65 coupe aligned at a local reputable tire shop for $189.97.
At the time I remember the mechanic, who supposedly had experience in vettes, showing me how the rear wheels seem to have a lot of play in them and asked me if it was normal. I didn't know at the time because I am just learning all this stuff now as I go along.
I had posted a thread about the wobble and got all kinds of suggestions that maybe I needed to have my trailing arms rebuilt etc. Since then I'm guessing I've put on about 3K miles. I noticed it was a little funny sometimes going around corners but just assumed it was just an old car feel. Like I said I'm just learning

To make a long story short. The other day I had the tires off bleeding the brakes and noticed that half the shims were not on the trailing arms. This means either he didn't tighten the bolt holding them in or he never even touched the shims because he didn't know why there was so much play in the rear wheels.
Do you think after 3K miles I can still go back to him and explain that he didn't do a good job and ask him to do it right or should I just get some more shims (which I did) and go to another shop and get it done right.
I'm sure once the shims are in the wobble in the rear wheels will go away.

Thanks in advance for your comments, Mark

 

You are supposed to take one of the thicker shims of the pack and make it the last one you put in. It has to be driven in with a hammer before the trailing arm bolt is tightened. Otherwise, you found out what the result can be. Same thing happened to me a long time ago.

There's no reason the guy shouldn't make it good and if he's experienced in Corvettes, yours wouldn't be the first one that had play at the rear wheel bearing.

 

If your original alignment shop can do the job correctly the second time around, which probably isn't likely, go ahead and use him and see about some credit for the first visit. Otherwise you'll have to chalk it up to a learning experience. We've all been there. Marv

 

I think that $190 was a rip off in the first place so he should be glad to make good on the fact that is was not done correctly and he needs to own up. If you do not have the split aluminum shims I would buy a set and drill a hole through the frame for the cotter pin as a safety. This is two fold one your alignment guy will not have to pull the trailing arm bolt to change the shim pack. And two since they are aluminium they will not rust together like the originals. JMO... Dave

 

Or... you can do it yourself! I lost a shim and had to do something. There have been posts on how to do it and I finally tried it. I rigged up a laser pointer instead of string as recommended. I drilled holes for a pin to keep them in. Very rewarding experience!

 

bring shims and take it back. most shops don't have the shims.

 

Aluminum? Think the good ones are stainless steel and the normal ones are steel. But --- been wrong before.

Geek

 

Alignment shops not familiar with the Corvette shim setup frequently make the mistake of thinking that tightening the pivot bolt will hold the shim pack tight; it won't. The walls of the frame shim pocket are double-reinforced, and tightening the bolt will NOT collapse the walls enough to retain the shim pack. As MikeM noted above, the last shim needs to be a thick one, driven in with a hammer, then tighten the bolt and insert the cotter pin. Using the slotted shims simplifies the toe-in setting, and drilling a hole and using the '70-up long cotter pin to retain the shims is a good idea.

 

Thanks for the info guys

I'll let you know how I make out. I'm going to try to get there this Saturday.

Thanks again