Hello,
I live near Winnipeg up here in Canada. I have a 1986 Corvette Z51 and need an alignment badly. I hear its rather complicated on these cars and they use shims, from what i've read on forums these cars require a experienced alignment pro which cancels out 90% of shops.
Does anyone in Manitoba know of someone or some place that could do this? Cheap is preferable, but you gotta pay for worthwhile work. Thanks

 

[QUOTE=RallySpecEvoX;1600774958]Hello,
I live near Winnipeg up here in Canada. I have a 1986 Corvette Z51 and need an alignment badly. I hear its rather complicated on these cars and they use shims, from what i've read on forums these cars require a experienced alignment pro which cancels out 90% of shops.
Does anyone in Manitoba know of someone or some place that could do this? Cheap is preferable, but you gotta pay for worthwhile work. Thanks[/QUOTE
You might get more(a) replies if you post this on the Canadian forum.

 

Lots of Candians in the C4 section of the forum, myself included. I can't help you because i'm over in British Columbia but I'm sure someone will chime in.

 

At the a alignment shop, the manager told me that it was complicated and wanted to charge me more. The very experienced alignment tech that did the work told me no, it's the c3 rear that uses special shims and takes a lot of time. The c4 front uses the same shims as all the old GM stuff and the back is easy, it has cam bolts and tie rod ends.

 

The alignment really should be easy, so long as nothing is broken, bent, badly worn or rust frozen.

In the rear Cam bolts adjust the camber, toe rods adjust the toe. There is no caster adjustment on the rear.

In the front the tie rod (ends) adjust the toe and camber/caster is adjusted using shim plates between the upper control arms and the frame.

I really don't see why any alignment shop with proper equipment and a half decent tech couldn't handle it... its really not that hard.

Then again lots of bad tech's and rip-off shops out there.

 

On mine they hooked it up to the laser machine and did the rear, then on the front there was a lot of pounding to add remove the shims but that
is what they do. They they rotated the tires so all the screen was green . 80 cash out the door.

 

One thing I would consider doing is getting the correct shims for your Corvette (IF applicable) and taking them with you. I have a C3 which was really bad, after updating the components I took it to a local tire shop and watched the alignment tech spend ~4 hours on my Corvette. They were very happy to see that I had purchased Stainless Steel shims for the C3. The tech actually removed all the old rear shims and set it up properly with the SS shims. After over 4 hours labor I paid the standard $99 alignment charge and tipped the tech another $100 for doing it properly.

Find a shop with fixed price for a 4 wheel alignment. Talk with the alignment technicians before laying down any money. If they seem uncertain about doing a Corvette, start walking. Once you find a tech with experience go for it. The same guy did my C4 a few months later and again he did an incredible job getting it set perfectly. The most important thing is to be able to "trust the tech" that is doing the work. On your Z51 just find out the best performing alignment setup and show it to the tech. They have always set mine to whatever I tell them to set it at.

Before spending money on alignment be sure that you have replaced all the worn parts that could affect your alignment. The rear has a lot of parts that wear and is the more challenging of the two (front axle and rear axle). Both times the alignment tech commented on how many aftermarket "New" parts were on my Corvettes rear ends. He acted like it was a challenge to make me happy with my Corvettes handling. That shop was a NTB which used to be NTW and they had fixed prices no matter the work involved.

The same tech who did my car said that a lot of the Corvettes required "special knowledge" and frequently just get through by just doing the front end alignment only. Don't let a shop tell you that the rear is fine and that it doesn't need to be corrected, make them check it on a alignment rack. Finding a tech who will set it perfectly still requires some leg work and time talking to the alignment techs.
I wish you the best up there in Canada! It is a beautiful country you have up there!

Best regards,
Chris

 

I had a massive issue trying to have my C4 alignment done here in utah.

pretty much these kids saw they had to mess with shims, and their ******** puckered right up and punted me right out the door by going out of their way to **** me off.

I strongly reccomend a dashcam.
it gives you a ton of leverage with the shops management.

in the end, a member here saved me and recommended a fantastic shop.

 

So - the front end of the C4 is not really much different from most other Rear Wheel Drive Chevrolets. You add / subtract shims on the mounting bolts for the upper control arms to adjust Caster & Camber - and you adjust toe with the threaded outer tie rod ends like any other car with Rack & Pinion steering. Now - if you're really looking to get some Neg camber - you may find that you need to pull the little aluminum spacers, and do a bit of belt sanding - but that kind of neg camber is really only for track use....

If people think that the shims are too complex - go find another shop. Back in the day - before computerized alignment equipment - there was a table in the factory service manual that told you what shims you had to add or subtract to get from where you are - to where you want to be.

As for the rear end - that's where things get a bit more complicated. There are two eccentrics (one per side) that adjust rear camber. But that isn't exactly complex. As for rear toe - it's not too different from front toe.

Just a friendly suggestion - before you take the car to the alignment shop - spend a few minutes checking for slop in the front end. I would recommend:

Jacking up one front wheel. Grasping the tire at 9:00 & 3:00 and repeatedly push / pull pretty aggressively feeling for any significant slop. Then do the same - but holding at 6:00 & 12:00. A very small amount of play is normal - but If you feel slop in both planes - think front wheel hub. If at 9:00 / 3:00 - think tie rod end. If at 12:00 / 6:00 think ball joints and/or control arm bushings. Then repeat the process on the other side.

Then - to be doubly sure - get under the front end of the car with a flashlight, and have a friend start the car - and turn the steering wheel rapidly 90 degrees right - followed by 90 degrees left, and keep doing it. While he's doing that - look at the tie rod ends and steering for any "lost motion". If you find something that's sloppy - fix the defective part before going in for an alignment. I don't care how good an alignment shop is - if there is slop in the front end - the alignment won't be worth squat. If the car has a lot of miles on it - it may not be a terrible idea to replace the two outer tie rod ends before you get it aligned (If you keep track of how much you unscrew the tie rod end - you can normally screw the new one in an equal amount which will be good enough to get you to the alignment shop). - it's very annoying to pay for an alignment - then have to pay for another one a few months later after you change out a worn tie rod end....

 

I live in Winnipeg and ended up going to a GM dealer close to my house. Jim Gauthier to be exact.

I called a few other places and they weren't too confident they could do it. GM assured me it would be done properly. Bit more money but I figure they built the car so they should know how to do it.

I had it done almost 3 years ago when I rebuilt the suspension and everything is still perfect.

 

Easy peasy. Laughable and eye opening....