C3 wheel alignment
 

O.K., it's my turn to seek help. I'm looking for input/suggestions for four wheel alignment for my mostly stock '78. I finished a complete front and rear suspension rebuild early this year and had a reputable frame shop do the alignment. I was'nt real happy with highway handling so I had them re-check it, the 30 year alignment tech drove it and said it was fine but they were willing to give the front just a tad more toe-in. What I'm looking for now is for you C3 guys to give me the alignment numbers that your running for street and highway so I can compare them to mine and make some adjustments. I know it might be asking too much to see three or four examples from ya'll cause we might be accused of bloviating but I'm gonna' ask anyway. The frame shop I took it to is about 30 miles one way from my place and not open on weekends so it's not convienent to run it back and forth hoping they get it right. I already have the suggested specs from two different books and the printout of the numbers that my car is set up at so I'm interested in seeing what other folks are running and if your happy with it. I appreciate whatever you can come up with, thanks.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

I always tried to keep mine at the nominal of the factory specs.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

I was told, the narrower the tire, the more toe in. Thus, the wider the tire, less toe in. :)

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Thanks Dave, that seems to make sense 'cause they say the road friction on the tires tends to toe them out so more rubber on the road=more friction. I'm waiting to see some numbers to compare with. They set mine up with rear toe at 0 degrees, rear camber 1/8 on the left and 0 on the right, just does'nt look right compared to the books. Also thanks 73shark for your input.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

[sm=exactly.gif]Sorry I don't have any numbers for ya. [&o]

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

It's O.K. Dave, I forgive ya, I'm thinkin' outa' the halfdozen or so members we got here that some one will come through for me. See ya latter, it's past my bed time, the sun goes down early here and it's supposed to be in the 90's tomorrow, people are gonna' want their air conditioning workin' and I'll be puttin' in some long days.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Here's '73 specs from service manual: Camber = +3/4 +/-1/2 degree, Caster = +1 +/- 1/2 degree (manual) +2.25 +/- 1/2 degree (power), Toe-in 1/4" +/- 1/16". Caster and camber should be within 1/2 degree side-to-side and toe-in should be done after caster and camber. Rear camber = -7/8 +/- 1/4 degree and toe-in = 1/16" +/- 1/32".

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

What frame shop did you take it to, in Michigan, to have it done. I have always gone to Harold's Frame Shop in Novi to have my 72 done and never had a problem. Not sure where you are in relation to Novi.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Hi watwheel, I took it to Harold's in Novi, it might have been you that made the suggestion, nice folks there and they did'nt give me any trouble-its just that I'm in Ann Arbor and it's about 30 miles to Harold's and you know how bad the traffic is. Anyway it's not very convienent to get there and back durring the week without taking time off from work.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Hi 78buckshot, trying to find the correct specs nearly drove me nuts. The owners manual, the service manual and the shop manual all list different numbers and they are all in fractions.
I ended up at Goodyear and here's the printout they gave me- all in decimal equivalents.
Left Front Right Front

ActualSpecified Range Actual Specified Range
o.1-1.0 0.5 Camber 0.1 -1.0 0.5
2.1 0.5 2.5 Caster 2.1 0.5 2.5
0.22 0.13 0.38 Toe0.230.13 0.38

LeftRearRightRear
Actual Specified RangeActual -
-0.1 0.06 0.19 Camber -.010.06-0.19
0.10 0,06 0.19 Toe 0.08 0.06 0.19
This was done on 10/27/05. That was 10,000 thousand miles ago and the tiresshow no uneven ware.
I have 235-70R15's on the front and 255-60R15's on the rear. Hope this is the info you need. PG.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

The only place I ever saw a negative camber spec on the front wheels was when autocrossing. But with your wide tires, 0.1 degrees is about right.

If I'm interpreting your actuals correctly, then they are saying you have 0.45" of toe-in. Or are they giving it in degrees? Never saw that before but 0.45" is not good.

Personally I'd want at least -0.5 degrees rear camber to keep the rear end behind you. When you stand behind your Corvette,the tops of the rear tires should noticeably lean in at the top.

If it drives right and it's not chewing up the tires, then you are probably OK.

BTW, the figures I posted earlier were from the Chevy Service Manual and were in fractions.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Hi 73shark, yes everything is listed in degrees, I have no clue what it all means. I just put a straight edge from the top of therim to the bottomof the rim on therear tires and checked it with a leveland yes the top leans in, so if you can tell me what it all means, and how to go from fractions to degrees, it would help me to understand what it all means. Thanks for the help. PG

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Hey pg, I appreciate your help with the specs on your car, are you happy with the way it handles on the highway, mine is a little bit darty and I think it's because I have no toe in or negitive camber on the rear.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Hi again 78buckshot, yes I'm very happy with the way my car handles. I did pretty much the same as you did, I pulled off the trailing arms and had new bearings and bushings installed. Then I went to a shop and had the front end rebuilt with new bushings and ball joints. That was 12 -19 -01. (46,797 miles)They gave me an alignment and the car tracked fine. By October of 05 I got one flat which I had pluged and I noticed the left front was worn more on the inside than normal, so I put the rear tires on the front and got the 60's for the rear, and thats how I ended up at Goodyear. My car will do highway speed and not drift or dart. I'm sure that they will get it right for you. Enjoy your ride! PG

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

By the way, don't forget to thank 73shark as he seems tono a lot more than I do about this. PG

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Thanks to all the CF family for the responce.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

The way I set/check my rear camber is to place a piece of 2X4 that is just long enuf (about 15" w/ stock wheels) to bridge the diameter of the wheel. With the car on a level surface, the top end of the 2X4 should be 1/4" off vertical (top of wheel leaning in). This equates to -7/8 degree or 0.875 degree in decimal form. You always want to recheck after tightening the strut rod cam adjustors.

Like I posted on another forum, some alignment guys just go to get it within specs and others will try to get close to nominal. Try to find the latter.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Hey 73shark, I appreciate all the info, I think I'll try to adjust the rear toe and camber myself since I have all new stainless trailing arm shims and new bolts. Also I put on heavy duty adjustable strut rods so it will be easy to re-set the camber and record the original position if I need to go back to it, thanks Marc.

RE: C3 wheel alignment
 

Sounds good. Let us know how you do the toe-in. I never could find an easy way to do that.