This week, I took the car in for the alignment. The person told me I had 2% negative camber on both sides. The caster alignment was fixed by adjusting the tie rods.

One thing, the shop mechanic told me was that might change if I went with a lighter springs on the front. I still have the RPO hd springs installed. Would this change the camber?

Also, is 2% too much? I thought it could be adjusted by the top control.

 

Spec calls for 1/2 degree POSITIVE, plus/minus 1/2 degree. So, you're good from zero to 1 degree POSITIVE. I don't know why your guy is adjusting the CASTER from the tie rods.......They only adjust TOE. The adjustment at the top of the spindle adjusts caster/camber. Here is an article on the procedure:

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vemp_02...tte/index.html

The king pin inclination is preset to 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 degrees, which should get your caster pretty close. I doubt that you'll have any issues (other than tire wear), if you don't get it out. The camber is actually done by "bending" the kingpin. There was a tool that "hooked" the backside of the kingpin, like a 6 foot breaker bar. Dick Gulstrand (spelling) talks about "heating" them in the above article. I use an old timer here in Florida who still has all of the "old" tools, and understands how the alignment works. These young kids operating the laser alignment machines don't have a clue what they are looking at, and are just trying to get the numbers to turn "green" on the monitors.

Mike Coletta

 

Maybe it was the toe only. That was my fault.

 

Did he even KNOW how to adjust caster/camber on this car? Most people don't now days.

I think he couldn't find shims or a MacPherson strut and got flummoxed.

Doug

 

Perhaps you should bring a ST-12 to the shop. The caster & camber are adjusted by taking off the upper outer pivot bushing cap and adjusting using an allen wrench.

 

Yeah, I thought i should of brought the manual.

 

Mike
i've seen it done and had it done; the kingpin is not bent, it is the spindle support that is bent when there is not enough camber adjustment available through the cam..
Bill

 

Are you sure he/she wasn't telling you there was 2* positive caster? That would be more believable. Vintage racers the world over would give up important body parts to achieve 2* negative camber on a C1.

As for adjusting caster with the tie rods.... that's nonsense. Tie rods adjust toe-in, and nothing more.

Jim

 

I called the owner of the alignment show that I've been using since the Civil War and he says with RADIAL tires on the old Vettes, the preferred camber should be 0-1/2 positive.
With POSITIVE camber, the tire is OUT at the top, and in at the top with negative camber.
USUALLY negative camber is for road race type setups. For normal street driving--------------NO negative.
As mentioned, the camber adjustment for 53-62 Vettes (and 49-54 pass cars) is done at the UPPER-OUTER shaft. This adjustment accomplishes BOTH caster and camber.
If the adjustment at the upper-outer shaft does not provide sufficient change, then the bolts that attach LOWER-INNER shaft to the cross member can be loosened and shims installed at either the front or rear of the shaft (below). Then the upper-outer shaft can then be adjusted to achieve the desired caster/camber.



Tom Parsons

 

You're right Bill.......that's what I meant. If you bent the kingpin, it wouldn't be good.

You could probably do what Tom Parsons said also.....never thought of that!!!

Mike Coletta

 

i can see that Tom's pic would adjust caster in the same way as the tapered shim between the frame and the crossmember but i don't see it affecting camber that much.

Bill

 

Actually, you only need to remove the grease fitting.

 

By shimming either the front or the rear of the lower-inner shaft, you increase/decrease CASTER.
The upper-outer shaft is used to adjust BOTH caster/camber. By using the shims on the lower shaft to increase/decrease TOO MUCH caster, THEN you can go back to the upper-outer shaft and adjust it to reduce/increase caster/camber as needed.

The big shims between the cross member/frame tilt the cross member STRAIGHT forward. Whereas the shims between the lower-inner shaft and cross member tilt the A-frame at an ANGLE.
Do you see how that works?

Tom Parsons

 

6 mos ago I took my '58 to have it aligned and they scheduled me with their "classic car expert". I met him, politely tried to confirm that he knew how to adjust the camber/caster on these cars (mentioned the zirc fitting, allen head, etc.) and he said "yep, yep, know all about them". I waited in the waiting room for an hour and a half before he came in and said he couldn't get it to work. Went out into the shop with him where he had been unbolting stuff and banging around on it. I showed him the upper-outer shaft, removed the zirc, showed him the allen head inside and he said "oh, ok". When I tried to tell him how to adjust it, he said "yep, yep, got it". Well he was full of it again! he didn't get that you spun it round and round until you got Caster, then adjusted somewhere within a half turn or so until you got Camber. I had to draw a picture of it for him and explain how it worked before he "got it". 2 1/2 hours later, the car was aligned with .5 degrees negative Caster. I asked him if he maxed out the adjustment trying to get it to be positive, and he said he did it on purpose in order to make it easier for me to turn wheels when in parking lots, etc. but I am convinced he got it close and decided to just get while the getting was good...

Not many people know what to do with these cars and I guess pride keeps them from being willing to take advise or learn something from the people that know (especially the car owners).

All that said, I always thought the engineering/design they used for adjusting these was pretty cool....

Have a great weekend!

 

i knew that...

Bill

 

There are very few still alive that know how to align these old cars correctly. That's why I bought a FasTrax gauge and do them myself.

Jim

 

That is the truth!!!!!!!!!
FORTUNATELY, there is a place here in Okla City where the owner knows these old frontends (as well as many other old car frontends). If a new guy is doing an alignment on an old Vette that I bring in, the owner goes out and shows the guy how it's done. I also watch. These guys know that I work on old Chevys and old Vettes and that I know what they are doing and if they're doing it right. So they don't give me any grief when I go out in the shop and watch.

Tom Parsons