I went for an alignment because the car is pulling. Turns out the camber is way off - .9 degrees on the drivers side, and 2.1 degrees on the passenger side. The alignment machine said to remove 8.5mm (F) and 13.5mm (R) of shims on the passenger side, and about 4mm each on the drivers side. When I looked at the passenger side, there were about 1/2 of shims on the back, which we could have removed, but no shims on the front. So how can I remove 8.5mm of shims, if there aren't any shims to remove? Do I have a bent control arm or something? -Bob Cunningham
Usually the SAI would indicate bent parts. What aligner are you using? Is it an image aligner or conventional heads?
Some sort of Hunter machine with "digital imaging technology". I'm not much of an alignment guy so I don't know more details... One of the control arms was replaced a few years ago, but maybe the new one is bent. and I didn't know it. The bushings are all in fairly-okay shape, but not perfect. In case I will need them, where can I get offset shafts? -Bob C.
Moog makes them. pn K5250 A good source for Moog parts is www.Rockauto.com. Amazon.com has 'em for $46 & free shipping They are generally used on cars that need TOO MANY shims for correct alignment, but the offset can be reversed for your situation.
Ok, cool. The image aligner are way more accurate than the old style. The new ones are self calibrating. You have to have the alignment tech look at the steering axis inclination. For example- If the SAI is correct but the camber cannot be brought into spec, you have a bent steering knuckle/ spindle. If the SAI and the camber are both incorrect by the same amount, the upper or lower control arm is bent. Its fairly easy to determine what out of whack. Any alignment tech worth his salt can figure this out pretty easily. No need to shotgun front end parts and guess.
Probably the bushings in the upper control arms. I would look for another shop, someone who could show me what was wrong and then fix it. Like Jason said, the Tech should be able to identify the problem, fairly easily. You have jacked it up and jerked around on the components and inspected to look for obvious damage and wear. For instance on the lower control arms if the bushing is completely worn out it will eventually cause the lower control arm to break and collapse... Bert
Is the tire tilted out or tilted in by 2 degrees when looking at the top of the wheel from the front of the vehicle. Tilted out is positive camber and tilted in is negative camber.
I heard they were issued to correct BB cars with "frame sag" - the frames flexed due to the extra weight. Of course this would be indicated by too many shims, or not enough bolt! :shock: - Bill
for a good "handling" car, you'd actually want camber and toe-out in the front tires. if it's just a street/strip car i'd go with 0* camber.
