guys,
a while back i saw an article on here about what you needed and how to do it,
i've done a search and can't find it,
does anyone know where it is???
the reason i'm gonna have to have a go myself is cos no one round here can do it,
thanks,
natt

 

I don't know which article you're referring to as I'm new to the forums, but I've seen one at a place I order parts from. Here's the link

http://www.fastcorvette.com/AlignmentSchool.htm

I've done spindle bearings and rear suspension work to my vette and have yet to do the alignment because I want to replace the front suspension. If you end up doing it yourself let us know how it goes.

 

Whatever the method mentioned it can't be as good as a real alignment.

Isn't there anyone in your area that does alignments? Vettes shouldn't be special. Any place that does alignments should be able to do this mass produced american car.

 

To align my front wheels I just set the toe using a piece of string/twine. Start by tieing the twine somewhere under the car so that you can run the string around the middle of the rear wheel past the front wheels. Adjust the toe in until the edges of the front wheel touch the string at the same time. Each time you make an adjustement to the tie rods, roll the car back and forth a couple of times for a couple of feet. This should get you in the ball park for toe in until you can get an alignment.
Hopefully this makes sense. If not, I can run out and take a pic of what I did to get mine in the ballpark to get it to the alignment shop.

 

So what's a "real" alignment. Just because a shop has a computerized alignment rack doesn't mean the monkeys working it know what they're doing. Anyone with a basic understanding of geometry, can read a level, and some string can set up a Vette.

My .02

 

110% correct there, I did print out all the information some long time ago...and have to look for it, since it's print out, I think there maybe a URL on it....have to check....

yup, here it is....from a pile of dust enough to make me blow the snot outta my nose...

www.vettenet.org/align.html
and then the wheel diameter to inches off level incline depending on wheel diameter....long list....it's trig, but you can figger it out, not rocket science....
www.vtr.org/maintain/diy-alignment.html


give that a shot, if the sites are still up, that's cool....if not,...
my doc scanner hasn't been used in years now....but if you give me your wheel rim diamteter I can tell you how far off the level will be...

I have done my own wheel alignments to much BETTER specs than any damn garage around here....don't give a tschit WHAT gear they have...

evidence great tire wear patterns, and super handling....


OH, one more thing, the wheel centerlines, tracking width is wider in rear than front, so off the hubs of the wheels, you need adjust the fishing line for 3/8 inch closer in the rear PER SIDE than the rear, as the ront track is listed as 58.7 inches, and the rear at 59.5 inches....
so subtract the two, then divide by two getting .4 per side, I use a scant over .375 or 3/8 inch....

you be really careful, and you CAN do a better job than most garages....

and for ONE THING< YOU WILL LEARN WHAT IN HELL IS INVOLVED AND THE FACTS ARE "IT"S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE">>>>>



GENE

 

thanks for the replies so far guys,
keep em coming,
the more info the better,
natt

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...um_id=3&arch=1

 

Ok so you convinced me.
I'm wrong.
The only problem I see with this is I don't think I'll be able to find that one tool, the patience one mentioned.

 

Do you have patience to sit in the waiting rrom for an hour?

Do you have patience to go back knowing you'll have to wait another hour to get the job done right??

Eastwood has a good cheap toe tool it works very good.

http://www.eastwood.com/shopping/pro...=1&keyword=toe

 

A friend of mine who races circle track has an alignment tool he bought for $120 and loaned it to me. It worked great. I still had to set the toe using a tape measure, but the camber and caster were not difficult. Once you remove the dust caps from your spindles, it attaches magnetically, It has a series of bubble levels in it in which you can dial in and set camber and caster. The instructions are very clear and made a big difference in the way my vette handles and tracks. I didn't have any shims though, so I made my own using large washers I cut into U shapes. It's probably not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it, especially since it didn't cost me anything. I didn't mess with the rears, but probably could have.

 

Having worked for the company that makes a lot of those fancy computerized alignment systems, all I have to say is this: if you have a mechanic with at least half of a brain, the computerized system will do a far more accurate job than a piece of twine. A lot of the guys that worked there would do the twine thing to set up a car they were working on, then come in and use the company's training equipment on their lunch hour for fine-tuning.

 

Theres a bar within walking distance of the garage so waiting ain't a problem.

I have the same problem finding patience on the internet as I do finding motivation. The thing with patience or this job is you don't have to do it all in one day.

 

I hear you Batty, but the facts are the gear in most shops is not gone over and recallibrated all that often, and since they do it for a living it wears, and needs be done over about once a month, so I understand....
at least that's what the station owner said of the gear HE had up north, where Tony's vette shop did alignments at....
I use monofilament fishing line, far better than any string....

GENE

 

I aligned my rear suspention at home with sticks and string. When I took it to the the "real" alignment place, it was dead on. One of the tricks I used was taking two floor tiles, put some grease between them and placed it under each wheel. I allowed the tires to move with adjustments. I amazed my wife by moving the car 3 or 4 inches sideways with one hand.

 

http://www.fastcorvette.com/AlignmentSchool.htm

I used this method but replaced the string with a cheap laser pen attached to a piece of wood. The wood sits inside the wheel rim and the laser is shone up towards the front wheel and onto a ruler resting on the centre cap.
My car has covered 1500 miles since and the tire wear and handling is normal.
A computerized system is only a good as the **** using it !!

 

I recently got new tires and an alignment on my 78.....problem is, the car handled great BEFORE the "alignment" and now handles like poop. The turn-in is way too sharp/twitchy, and because of/in addition to this, the rear end feels loose like it wants to come around in anything resembling an enthusiastic corner. It used to feel nice and planted, but now nearly impossible to turn smoothly, and it's downright scary to corner at highish speeds.

So my question is, can I just bring this spec (linked earlier) to the alignment shop and tell them that's what I want:

Alignment is one thing I really don't feel like screwing with myself....so just curious if others return good results with these figures. Also, where it says "0.3 Degrees Rear," I'm assuming that's positive?

 

Awsome articles!

 

The paper you're referring to may be one of my tech papers. I have a detailed paper showing how to do a very good at-home alignment on the rear end. For a copy, send me an e-mail request for the Rear End Alignment Paper and I'll send it out to you.
Lars
V8FastCars@msn.com

 

The last alignment I had done professionally made the car worse than it was before.

The twit running the million dollar alignment machine had every adjustment out of spec, " but they are just a little bit out"