Hanging my rebuilt T/A's, Shims as I took them out. Is this a good place to start for a road track alignment?






Getting my calipers back from powdercoat tomorrow and want to bottom tap bleeder threads before install. Looks like 5/16-24????? Need to purchase that size tap

 

oh, BTW, I have more shims

Shimmy

 

[QUOTE=subseawellhead;1603124533]
Hanging my rebuilt T/A's, Shims as I took them out. Is this a good place to start for a road track alignment?

No way to know,

1. What tires & sizing for track days. (track or street tires)
2. What suspension type. Factory / Mods / Shocks.
3. Track configuration etc.

Do you plan on DIY Alignments ???

Without measurements moving shims won't help.

First you need to get the front / rear thrust angles correct. Both axles pointing in the same direction.
Caster angles for high speed stability
Camber for best tire wear
Toe settings for best turning response / high speed braking stability.


If you cannot measure these , then anything is just a guess costing excessive tire wear.

 

The newer shims with the slots are much more user friendly

 

So, having spent many hours adjusting the alignment on my 72 after the recent rear end upgrades, it looks as though you may be a tad thin on the inbd shims. You might want to try somewhere around .150-.200 on the inbd sides. Now, once the car is on the ground and everything tight, you can start really dialing in the alignment. You can buy toe plates from amazon for under $100. They work, I made my own, using some steel plate, a sheet metal brake, some bungee cord and 2 9' tape measures. $45 total. I also use 4 jackstands to run parallel strings from the front of the car to the back of the car on either side. I measure 5" from the center of each wheel bearing cap to the string. I'm very meticulous. This way I can measure how much toe in or out each wheel has. Measuring from the tire about halfway up on the bead to the string, front and back of each wheel will give you an idea how far off you are. Example, Left rear measures 2 3/4" front of wheel to string, 2 5/8" from rear side of the wheel bead to string tells you that you have 1/8" toe in on that side. Lets say your right side wheel measures 3" from the bead to string on the front and only 2 1/2" on the rear side, well thats 1/2" toe in. Your left side is close, your right side way out. You will need to transfer shims from the outbd side of the trailing arm to the inbd side. The strings tell you which way the wheel may be out. The toe plates can be used for fine tuning. If you are meticulous, measure correctly and consistently, you can end up with an alignment better than the pimple faced kid at the local muffler/alignment shop. I also own a longacre digital alignment gauge. You can set camber in the rear and camber and caster in the front. Its not for everyone. But Im pretty much a diy guy and have yet to let anyone touch my car, save for final paint and the machine work on my latest engine. My cars alignment is set up to 1/8" toe in total on the rear, 1/16' total toe in on the front. Each wheel is exactly 1/2 deg neg camber (top of wheel slightly in compared to bottom of wheel) and caster set at 4 deg positve. The car drives awesome on the street. The stock specs given in the service manual do not apply to todays tires. Depending on when your car was made may have come with bias ply tires, and simply are not correct for todays radial tires, especially if you have gone to wider rubber. Good luck, hope I have helped you, and not confused you too much.

 

[QUOTE=cagotzmann;1603124711]The shims are as I removed them, just trying to get the car back on the ground to go to my old school alignment shop. Just seemed strange the inboard side was so skinny. Car is a fully modified road racer

This is what I have

Probably start w/ .200 inboard and fill up the outboard before I go for alignment and final adjustment. Have copy and pasted your specs, thanks.

 

[QUOTE=subseawellhead;1603126160]If you are not doing the alignment then just put them back as you found them, but if

you want to learn DIY here is what I have done for many years. I started down the DIY path because I mainly use my 78 for track days.

have a read.

My DIY Alignment method - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion

 

[QUOTE=cagotzmann;1603127746]Great read, I am a DIY type of guy also.
Thanks, Bill

 

[QUOTE=subseawellhead;1603131314]ditto here too; DIY, 99%

thought 4U,
just did TA rebuilt myself on 68 coupe and reinstalled TA shims close to how they came out. I am going to take it to Darren Blanchard at Ross Downing in Hammond. Darren runs a separate speed shop and is very knowledgeable on vintage Corvettes