Wheel alignment
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 753
Likes: 111
From: Barnhart, Missouri
Wheel alignment
I getting ready to have a 4 wheel alignment done. My question has anyone ever recorded when changes are made in the toe-end of the rear wheels. I guess what I'm trying to say when you move a shim from one side of the rear control arm to the other side how does it affect the toe-in. If you want to make a 1/2 degree change in toe-in how thick a shim would be needed to be moved from one side to the other. I can trig it out but if someone has previous performed the information it can save me the time.
Thanks
Thanks
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 38,923
Likes: 1,482
From: Southbound
Cruise-In II Veteran
I may be missing something here, but the technician doing the alignment should be able to answer your questions. Inner shim stacks set the toe; outer stacks simply pack space and prevent changes to the inner stack.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 753
Likes: 111
From: Barnhart, Missouri
Mike,
Yes I agree the technician should be able to answer the question. My concern is that if say for instance the toe-in needs to be changed .05 degree and the thinness shim in the set is .116 thick is that too thick to give the results needed. Today my guess would be most shop don't carry a set of shims to change as needed. What they can do is move the closest thickness and that would be the end results. The front on the other hand would be different they would have the correct sizes available. What I want to do is make sure that I have the right size shims available to give me the results that I want.
Yes I agree the technician should be able to answer the question. My concern is that if say for instance the toe-in needs to be changed .05 degree and the thinness shim in the set is .116 thick is that too thick to give the results needed. Today my guess would be most shop don't carry a set of shims to change as needed. What they can do is move the closest thickness and that would be the end results. The front on the other hand would be different they would have the correct sizes available. What I want to do is make sure that I have the right size shims available to give me the results that I want.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,347
Likes: 121
From: Kernersville NC
I asked my shop if I needed to bring a set of shims. I was told "no" as they did enough old Vetts that they had a big supply. As a matter of fact when I got there I was the second 68 done that day. This shop does not specialize in older cars so I was pretty surprised.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,428
Likes: 5
From: Japan
This may be insignificant information, but typically toe-in (or -out) is measured in fractions (hopefully!) of inches while camber and caster are measured in degrees. If any changes are made to your car and it is done on a modern laser alignment rack the printout will typically show you what your car was at when it came in, what they changed it to, what the manufacturer's recommended settings were, and how much change was made to get it where it is now...
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,375
Likes: 1,593
From: Western NY
This may be insignificant information, but typically toe-in (or -out) is measured in fractions (hopefully!) of inches while camber and caster are measured in degrees. If any changes are made to your car and it is done on a modern laser alignment rack the printout will typically show you what your car was at when it came in, what they changed it to, what the manufacturer's recommended settings were, and how much change was made to get it where it is now...
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,428
Likes: 5
From: Japan
I have a camber/caster/toe gage and a flat garage, and haven't paid anybody to do an alignment in a long time. I know that many older owner's manuals give toe recommendations in inches, same as what the older alignment racks gave their readings in.
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