Cool, my plan is to fine tune it as best I can with the string method, and then take one of those "Free Alignment Check" coupons up to the local shop to see how close I am. If I am reasonably close then I'll be good with it for now!

 

Congratulations on a job well done!

Lots of people use a string to align their track cars. If it works for 150+ MPH then it'll work for street driving.

 

Yes...and 'track cars' are more than likely checked and serviced after each race....and tires changed out due to wear. Or at least the circle track cars I helped out on were always serviced and checked all over before the next race. And when the car could be run around the track and tested...we had gauges to set the alignment...not a string. Not saying that people can use a string...it is just a method I can not use.

DUB

 

This has been a very enlightening thread! It is great to see experts helping owners take care of their Corvettes.

I first found out about bad rear wheel bearings when driving along after a Terrible downpour leaving Corvettes @ Carlisle back about 26 years ago. I got on the interstate and all the sudden the car's rear end started changing my car's heading, it scared the crap out of me when it happened. I got home pulled off Both trailing arms and sent them to VAN STEEL down in Florida. They came back perfect with their "million mile" warranty. I put them on and have never had another issue with them.

I have learned that there are some things on these cars that I can/could do but getting an expert to do it makes more sense especially when you need special tools and special knowledge. A man must "Know" his limitations.....

After the rebuilt arms were re-installed I bought two packs of Stainless Shims and took my car to get it re-aligned. The rear had been pushed out of center by some fool doing an alignment of sort, the tech spent four hours re-doing my alignment with Stainless Shims and it has been great ever since then. The Stainless shims were a great idea as the old shims were all frozen together in a mass of rust. My Trailing arms were powder coated before being assembled and they still look good after all these years.

Thanks for the great education about these pesky bearings, I now know what the parts look like apart and I have learned lots on this particular thread!

 

String method worked out great for me! I was a bit wary of it after reading quite a few different people posting saying it wasn't repeatable or accurate enough. So I decided I was gonna test it multiple times after driving to see how repeatable it could be.

Maybe my string method was a little different, but it ended up being EXTREMELY repeatable. I tied string to two jackstands at my wheel center cap height (~13.5"). I put one jackstand behind the rear wheel, tucked against the rear bumper. Then moved the other jackstand in front of the front wheel, setting it as tight as I could without putting TOO much strain on the string. I then went back to the rear tire and adjust where the string hit the BACK of the rear tire so that it was at exactly the same height as where it was tied on the jack stand (13.5") so I could ensure the string was in a straight line. Keeping the string tension taught, I slowly shifted the front jackstand in towards the car in TINY increments. The goal is to set the front jack stand so that the string is just BARELY touching the front of the REAR tire. thus making it a straight line along the angle that the rear wheel is facing. This takes many tiny movements of the front jackstand, and constantly checking how close the string is to the front of the rear tire to make sure it is perfect. Then I measured the distance from the FRONT tire center cap to the string.

Repeat the same on the other side of the car and compare the measurements. Couple that measurement with your toe measurements (which I got by setting up a simple measuring system of a 2x4 along each of the rear wheels and with the help of my wife to hold tension on the 2x4 and measure, subtract the front of the tire measurement from the rear). So then I had my toe angle and thrust angle relative to the front tires. My wheels were actually pretty far off! I had about 1/4" Toe OUT! And my thrust angle was obviously way off. So I ended up doing this same procedure 5 times (after the first time, it takes like 5 minutes to set up, no big deal!). Until I had 0 difference in thrust angle, and 1/4" Toe in. I have driven the car multiple times since then. Parked it and measured, and I always get the exact same measurements for Toe and Thrust angle, or within 1/32 according to my dial caliper, which is way more accurate than I expected!

I can totally see why the string method didn't work well for some people. You have to be meticulous about having really good string tension, and measure points along the string to make sure it is at EXACTLY the right height. You also have to be patient and move in slow incremements till the string is just barely touching the tire. And you have to be willing to drive the car a bit to reset the suspension and do it all over again. But I can't see how it wouldn't work if you are willing to put in the time and do it! If I had the disposable income I would definitely prefer to have a professional corvette shop do my alignment, but I didn't. and I'm quite happy with the results!