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trailing arm shim placement

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Old Dec 13, 2006 | 05:47 PM
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Default trailing arm shim placement

seeing another trailing arm thread made me want to ask:

When installing trailing arm shims... are the entire shims supposed to be "inside" the pocket where the trailing arm mounts? The shims I put on my car were longer than the distance between the bolt and the outer pocket edge, and I was unable to get them back in behind the pocket edge competely... I put the bolt through the end with the hole rather than the slots. whats up with that?

Tim
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Old Dec 13, 2006 | 06:39 PM
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The hole is for the cotter pin, the slot for the bolt.
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Old Dec 13, 2006 | 06:51 PM
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Originally Posted by jpatrick636
The hole is for the cotter pin,
now I am confused... ?

why would you put a cotter pin in the hole of these shims?
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Old Dec 13, 2006 | 06:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Timbo2
now I am confused... ?
why would you put a cotter pin in the hole of these shims?
To keep them from working loose and falling out. If you put the bolt thru the hole then you will have to remove the bolt when you have the car aligned. That would be a major pain.
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Old Dec 13, 2006 | 06:58 PM
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Originally Posted by burners
To keep them from working loose and falling out. If you put the bolt thru the hole then you will have to remove the bolt when you have the car aligned. That would be a major pain.
that would explain some things... meet me.. creator of major pain.
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Old Dec 13, 2006 | 06:59 PM
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Originally Posted by jpatrick636
The hole is for the cotter pin, the slot for the bolt.

There is a hole in the frame for the long cotter pin.The cotter pin goes through all the shims and the frame next to the pocket on BOTH sides.
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Old Dec 13, 2006 | 07:00 PM
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just shoot me.
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Old Dec 14, 2006 | 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Timbo2
... I put the bolt through the end with the hole rather than the slots. whats up with that?

Tim


Bang!
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Old Dec 14, 2006 | 10:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Tom454
Bang!
thank you... now I wont have to mess with pulling all of that crap back apart and doing it right!
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Old Dec 14, 2006 | 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Timbo2
thank you... now I wont have to mess with pulling all of that crap back apart and doing it right!
Your still able to type so he must have only wounded you,1 more round should put you out of your misery.
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Old Dec 14, 2006 | 12:53 PM
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Keep in mind, it looks like you have a 68 or 69 there. They didn't put the hole in the frame until '70 and the shims used 63-69 were double hole, no slot. This requires removing the bolts to replace the shims for an aligment- hence all the rusted bolts that were never worked on and toe adjustments never made. You can do as I did on my 69 and drill the hole in the frame and use the SS slotted shims. The area where the hole is semi- hard from the welding heat so you'll need a good bit.
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Old Dec 14, 2006 | 06:58 PM
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Originally Posted by GTR1999
Keep in mind, it looks like you have a 68 or 69 there..
its actually a '71.... i had the TAs rebuilt and put them back in myself...just too stupid to put them in correctly though. I worked up such a lather getting the bolts cut out, i didnt pay enuf attention to how the shims came out I suppose.

thanks
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Old Dec 15, 2006 | 02:34 AM
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I hope you kept track of inner/outer shim stacks. Shims in trailing arm pockets set rear toe-in of your Vette, get the stacks wrong and car won't drive well at all! Time for rear alignment anyhow if you just did trailing arms.
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Old Dec 15, 2006 | 06:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Solid LT1
I hope you kept track of inner/outer shim stacks. Shims in trailing arm pockets set rear toe-in of your Vette, get the stacks wrong and car won't drive well at all! Time for rear alignment anyhow if you just did trailing arms.
thats the crazy thing...before I started taking them apart.. I ran some thin wire down and around and tied them all together so I would know how many went where.. just didnt pay attention to which direction they came out...arggh
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