I went to goodyear to get my car aligned awhile back. I went to them because they were the only ones that said they could do it because my rear wheels wear wider than the front. Anyway, they said they aligned it(i doubt correctly, or someone was asleep). Well, I drove home and it rode nice. Then, I drove it the next day and I notice it started to squeal around corners. Then, after driving about 5 miles it squealed like a Banshi just going straight down the road. Well I went home and started looking at my wheels. They were toed in and the tops of the tires were WAY out. I also notice before I drove it home from the shop there were NO shims. So, I took it back to the shop and they realigned it. This time I notice that there were shims on the passenger side but not the driver side. I also notice that the driver side tire is still tilted out at the top (pos cam?), and it still squeals when I make a right hand turn.

Does anyone think that this sounds wrong?
Also, if I add shims with the same thickness on both front and back of A-frame to bring in the top of tire, will that change any of the specs besides camber? I assume that if the car is level, and I hang a plum from the top of the rim and it touch the bottom at the same point, it has 0 deg camber. Is that right?

Sorry so long, I appriciate the help.
Tony

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obnoxious 67 camaro under construction. TH350/383 stroker w/ aluminum Edlebroc RPM heads,cam, and carb. Guldstrand mod, Hotchkis 600lbs springs. Next Hotchkis swaybar and disc brakes.This is a "Daily Driver" that still needs A LOT of work.

[This message has been edited by OBNXUS67 (edited 10-06-2002).]

Did they give you a print out of where it was at before they adjusted it? That can be a very handy thing to have. Do you have a print out of the new settings? Where is it at now?

You can add shims to both bolts and increase negative camber.
The caster should not change, but toe in will change due to the added tilt of the wheels.

You should use the Guldstrand specs on my page below, not stock specs.
David

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Check my web page for First Gen Camaro suspension info:
David's Motorsports page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Pozzi/)
First Gen Suspension Page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Pozzi/first_gen_suspension.htm)
67 RS 327 original owner. 69 Camaro Vintage Racer, 65 Lola T-70 Chev SB Can-Am Vintage Racer

thanks dave,

I gave them my (Guldstrand) specs to align it with. I wanted 0 camber. But, like I said just looking at my tire with my naked eye, it looks like the top of the tire is out (pos camber).

So, your saying my toe will change if I change the camber?

69pt,

I had the print out, and it looked pretty close to guldstrand specs. But, I could swear that the alignment is not right. The drivers tire still looks out. When I went the first time, there were O/no shims in the A-arm. The 2nd time there were shims in the passenger side, none in the drivers side. The passenger side looks O.k. and doesn't squeal. The opposite is true with the drivers side.

Tony

Was the car at correct ride height when they aligned it?
I had this problem 'cause they keep jacking the car up and lowering it and my car never settles to the normal ride height until it has been driven.
We got round this problem by having two guys bounce on it to get it to settle.
Just a thought, but the w/shop manual also makes the point of checking the alignment with weight IN the car

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68 SS

Are you certain all of your front end components are in good shape? If something has hidden wear on it there might be enough slop to throw off the alignment after driving around a bit.

I had a spindle that was so wallowed out at the lower ball joint connection that the car would "clunk" and pitch in a very tight turn (the hole was elongated -oval- and about twice normal size laterally). Once I got the a-arms apart for the rebuild I discovered that the slop had ripped all the rubber from the bushings!

My car was fine in a straight line, but those tight turns were tricky!


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See my '68 RS/ZZ4 (http://www.100megsfree.com/choptop/camaro.html)

I have 2" lower springs, so I think they would have to jack it up pretty high to to get make a difference, maybe not?

As far as components, it has all new parts, ball joints, tie rods etc.

Tony

Maybe there is some problem with your subframe?

Before I swapped out my subframe the old one had a lot of shims all on one side and almost none on the other. Turns out on the excessively shimmed side the subframe rail was bent.

I have the basically the same setup as you do and had my car aligned to the Guildstrand specs. Now there are about 3 shims on each side at the rear most bolt. No squealing or other problems.

I'm starting to think you should try a different alignment shop...

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See my '68 RS/ZZ4 (http://www.100megsfree.com/choptop/camaro.html)

i had my Nova aligned at a GM dealer a couple years ago. it handled like crap afterwords and chewed up the tires really bad. so i just used my eyeballs and got the camber the same as the rear wheels (straight up), and used some string to set the toe in against the rear wheels (1/16th in at the front). handles about 300% better now, and doesn't chew up tires. and the steering wheel is centered.
the laser alignment machine at the dealer had the toe different on each side, the camber was different form side to side, and the steering wheel was 1/8th turn off center.
don't know what my specs are now, but it works great. if i ever get an electronic angle finder, i will do my own alignments from here on out, and actually know what my specs are.

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1971 Nova(looks like 69 camaro from underneath!)
355sb, vortec heads, HOT cam,T-10 tranny, 3.70 gears 16X8" IROC wheels. 12" Corvette brakes on the way.
see pics here http://community.webshots.com/user/novaderrik