Anyone here attempted to align their own car? If so, can you tell me what adjusters there are?

It looks like the front A Arms have two sets cam adjusters on them. Should these be adjusted together or do you do them independently to affect something other than camber? Obviously, they will adjust the camber, but do they also adjust the caster or toe?

It also looks like there are some front shims on the upper arms - what are they used for?

On the rear is there only one set of cam bolts?

Any help before I tear into this?

And yes, I do have toe plates and camber measurement tools and have aligned several other cars, just never a Corvette and I want to set up for an autocross in two weeks and then change it back for the street.

 

maybe this will help

http://www.davidfarmerstuff.com/align.pdf

 

On mine I had washers rather than shims on the upper bolts in front. They can be removed, left in place, or added to as needed to make your adjustments. Castor is adjusted OEM by the lower eccentrics. Toe is adjusted the opposite on each end as the tie-rod is in front in front and to the rear in the rear. Narrowing the rod in front will toe-in where narrowing in the rear will toe-out.

I purchased the Camber Adjustment Kit from Pfadt. I believe Hardbar also sells a kit. My reason for purchase was not to insure that my settings stayed in place (which is a primary function of the kit) but to allow easy movement between race and street settings without having to spend a fortune at an alignment shop or countless hours out in the garage.

With the kit I am able to set street castor, camber and toe where I want them. Then with the removal of upper A-arm shims in the F, the replacement of lower arm spacers in the R, and counting the flats as I adjust toe F&R I set my race specs. I record what’s needed to go from one to the other and I can get back and forth in 30-40 minutes. The perfect time to make the switch is when you are changing to your race rubber as the wheels are off.

I am going to purchase longer upper studs to be able to go from -2.4 front (race) to -1.0 (street) as the easiest adjustment is to leave the bottom alone and just add or remove upper shims. I run 7.8 castor on the street setup and will check this coming weekend what it is set to with the race setup.

In the rear, I am able go from -1.8 (race) to -0.6 (street) just using the lower adjustment plate (one per side) in the kit.

Each switch between street-race-street requires setting toe. Once measured and set (for each setup) it’s a simple matter to count the number of “flats” you move the tie-rod. Over time you’ll want to periodically re-check thrust as it may get off.

One final “tool” I added were four steel plates to set under the wheels. I took some 4”x4”x3/16” steel I had, doubled per side with oil between them and place them under each side (one axle at a time) to allow the wheels to slide and turn as I make the adjustments. This saves all the time otherwise needed to roll or bounce the car to get the new settings to read correctly. They easily store in a baggy.

Otherwise, I use the David Farmer methods with the exception that I have an old Smart Level to read camber and castor. I also purchased a laser level to set trust angle as he shows.

--Dan

 

Dan,

That is very helpful. So, to make sure I understand correctly, the cam bolt eccentrics up front mostly adjust the caster and the washers/shims are what adjust the camber or do they both affect camber and caster?

Also, that is a good idea on the steel plates as the majority of the time spent doing an alignment at home is with moving the car after an adjustment so that you can get an accurate reading.

As far as adding the other parts that you mention - I wish I could but I'm running SCCA SS class for autocross and they are not allowed.

 

No, OEM the eccentrics adjust both camber and caster. I suppose you could dial-in some more caster using shims, if desired, but I believe they are normally only used to even out the alignment side-to-side.

Yes, that's what I found. I have a four-post lift and it was a real pain to roll the car around by either dropping the car each time to drive on and off the lift or to roll it in neutral while up in the air.

That's going to make it tougher as you'll need to check everything each time you move it. Maybe they're legal in ASP?

--Dan