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From: If your not the lead dog the view never changes Boise, Id
Still pulls right
I took my 78 in to get a four wheel alignment and the kid that worked at the shop worked on it for quite a while but could not get it right. He thought the bushings on the rear controls arms Or trailing arms were causing trouble. I was told that our locale Les Schwab there is a alignment tech that knows older cars so I took it there today. He worked on it for 2.5 hours and said it all looks good but it still pulls to the right. He said he even swapped the wheels from side to side to see if it was the tires. He said the SAI looks off but that is not something he can adjust. Any ideas?
Hmmmm sai i think has to do with struts?
honestly i do not understand the computerized readout beyond what i just did on my 79..
i read cross camber as a difference from side to side after the difference of two angles per side ..not a positive negative number.
toe in rear shoulf be 1/32 inch positive and n mone..no clue what degree equivalent..
honestly i would try to take a look yourself..its cheap and pretty straightforward assuming your components are in decent shape that i assume they checked?
give it a try see my link using an ipad
i will post 79 manual specs
"IF" he measured it correctly, that would mean a bent spindle. Or a completely dead wheel bearing.
If it is truly 10 degrees off you should be able to measure the spindle angle with your smartphone and confirm.
What concerns me is he did not make a big deal about it, or maybe did not understand it......
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
I was going to suggest the control valve balance myself. Unless you took it to some old guy that knows ancient chevys or fords, then they didn’t balance the valve. Same with the alignment shops. The kids just punch in numbers and if the computer doesn’t tell them what to do, they haven’t got a clue. Ive seen more old cars go in good or close and come out real bad......
I did all my alignments the best I could myself and the tires wear good and she drives straight....no computers
......... The kids just punch in numbers and if the computer doesn’t tell them what to do, they haven’t got a clue. Ive seen more old cars go in good or close and come out real bad......I did all my alignments the best I could myself and the tires wear good and she drives straight....no computers
From another thread:
[ [color=#000000]It can be adjusted, I am not sure why they would say it cannot. BUT only if you adjust the lower/upper control arm out/in too much to compensate for another issue. You can definitely adjust it on the front and the back with both the uppers and lower control arms and have it do many different things. It can greatly effect toe out on turns or scrub but is normally overlooked and never touched. It can also change on its own with worn rubber bushings, which is normally seen as a change in camber, but if you think about it with an SLA suspension, with a change in either, you will change the otherunless it is related to a bad spindle/bent rimor some other wheel/suspension geometry issue that is not related to the "pivot points" or control arms in this instance. If the strut were the pivot point at the top and just a lower control arm at bottom, then you would only be drawing the line that would follow the strut to its end point on the knuckle/spindle at the bottom which is alot more real estate for something to happen as well as flex in the body/top strut mount, and the strut itself. That is the main issue with alignment shops not knowing what the numbers mean. They just get it in the green and slap it on the ***, another satisfied customer! You can have the camber off side to side by over 2.5* and it still "show green" or good and itll wear and drive like crap. Most techs only get taught for a day or two at the most, so they just click the mouse a few times, hit some bolts with an impact, pry a few places, and call it good. The real issue I have is 2 wheel alignments. If your thrust angle is wrong, you cannot even DO a front end alignment, so then what? ]
So you now have a list with many possibilities, including a bent frame. Eliminate the easy ones first. If you changed something recently like the valve, ly, and that is when the pull started, then start there......It will make it pull, then it can be found, and it can be fixed.
Last edited by leigh1322; May 12, 2020 at 10:30 AM.
I took my 78 in to get a four wheel alignment and the kid that worked at the shop worked on it for quite a while but could not get it right. He thought the bushings on the rear controls arms Or trailing arms were causing trouble. I was told that our locale Les Schwab there is a alignment tech that knows older cars so I took it there today. He worked on it for 2.5 hours and said it all looks good but it still pulls to the right. He said he even swapped the wheels from side to side to see if it was the tires. He said the SAI looks off but that is not something he can adjust. Any ideas?
Pulls right: check to see if the left front brake is stuck/functioning. The pistons can hang in the bore preventing the shoes from contacting the rotor.
Sorry bent spindle. IF his measurement is right.
Otherwise bad technician.
Mine measured at 7 Degrees SAI.
Your 17 Degree one is off by a lot!!!
Your Camber is really good at 0.4 both sides. So it is easier to ignore vertical. Then it is pretty much the angle between the ball joints and the rotor. Same as kingpin angle.
Car Probably hit a curb at some point.
It should be really obvious if you pull the wheels.IF it's bad. The top edge of the triangle by the ball joint would have to open up to like 2 more inches to give you 17 degrees.
Take a look at your alignment shim stacks on both sides, they should be even.
It is so far off I feel like he did not measure or hook-up something right.
Just eyeball like I did. Do they look the same? Or does one side look way larger?
I'll bet you find the SAI looks & measures OK if you do it.
He managed to change the SAI 11 degrees on one side and 7 degrees on the other? Before/after.. And he said it wasn't adjustable?
I vote for Operator error.
Other than that alignment looks good, stock specs, but good.
Last edited by leigh1322; May 12, 2020 at 09:22 PM.
From: If your not the lead dog the view never changes Boise, Id
Originally Posted by leigh1322
Sorry bent spindle. IF his measurement is right.
Otherwise bad technician.
Mine measured at 7 Degrees SAI.
Your 17 Degree one is off by a lot!!!
Your Camber is really good at 0.4 both sides. So it is easier to ignore vertical. Then it is pretty much the angle between the ball joints and the rotor. Same as kingpin angle.
Car Probably hit a curb at some point.
It should be really obvious if you pull the wheels.IF it's bad. The top edge of the triangle by the ball joint would have to open up to like 2 more inches to give you 17 degrees.
Take a look at your alignment shim stacks on both sides, they should be even.
It is so far off I feel like he did not measure or hook-up something right.
Just eyeball like I did. Do they look the same? Or does one side look way larger?
I'll bet you find the SAI looks & measures OK if you do it.
He managed to change the SAI 11 degrees on one side and 7 degrees on the other? Before/after.. And he said it wasn't adjustable?
I vote for Operator error.
Other than that alignment looks good, stock specs, but good.
thank you. So this is measured wheels off suspension hanging?
I don't see a setback measurement. If everything was measured right and going by the extreme differences in sai ill bet you have quite a bit of setback. Excess Positive setback will cause a drift to the right no matter how perfect the alignment is. Find someone who knows what they're doing. Just "making the screen green" is not a proper alignment.
From: If your not the lead dog the view never changes Boise, Id
Mr Peterbuilt thank you for those directions! I followed those instructions, and to be honest when I was done I thought “no way that small an adjustment would have an effect”. Took the car out for a drive, let go of the steering wheel and straight down the road she went.
Leigh 1322, I took pictures of the steering Assembly (hard to do laying on your back from underneath with the body on The car) and you too were right there is almost no if any difference I can see with the naked eye from one side to the other. I’m wondering if I should call Less Schwab back and have them take a second look or just leave well enough alone.
I appreciate everyone’s advice on here. Great Corvette community.
Still pulls right
