Alignment help

[the4x4pig]

I just installed cpp upper and lower arms on the 55. I have disc brakes, standard spindles and a 605 box. I have about 1/8" toe in.

The car now wanders worse than before. I have not yet had it aligned. I just put them on and hoped for the best. Looks like it is going to the alignment shop.

Seems like many of our local shops are hesitant to align these older cars. Does anybody have any recomendations as to the specs I should be looking for with my setup. I just want to be prepared when the aligment guy looks at me and says he has never aligned a car this old before.

If I get it aligned and still am not happy with the steering I plan on getting the 500 box.

Thanks in advance.

[557B210]

This is a quote from CCI's catalogue..."When installing the 605, 670 or rack and pinion steering conversions, a different set of alignment specs must be used to avoid wandering and oversensitive steering" There's a chart as well...These are the specs listed for a 55: Caster +2 1/2 to 3 1/2, Camber pass -1/4 driver 0, Sreering Axis Inclination 3 1/2 +/- 1/2, Toe-in 1/8 to 3/16...This should get you driving straight down the road

[the4x4pig]

Thank you, I will bring those numbers in when I get it aligned. Unfortionatly it will have to wait a few days. I tore all the teeth off of the lower timing gear and broke the timing chain the other night.:confused::eek: Got the parts ordered and ready to install so hopefully be back up in a few days.

[flash]

I just installed cpp upper and lower arms on the 55. I have disc brakes, standard spindles and a 605 box. I have about 1/8" toe in.

The car now wanders worse than before. I have not yet had it aligned. I just put them on and hoped for the best. Looks like it is going to the alignment shop.

Seems like many of our local shops are hesitant to align these older cars. Does anybody have any recomendations as to the specs I should be looking for with my setup. I just want to be prepared when the aligment guy looks at me and says he has never aligned a car this old before.

If I get it aligned and still am not happy with the steering I plan on getting the 500 box.

Thanks in advance.

[henrys57wagon]

Having had my car done and a friend's done ask if they have any experience with older cars, as some of the newer guys do not have a clue how to do some of the older cars. Henry.

[the4x4pig]

Thats what I am finding out. Our area seems to lack folks that will touch a car this old. I am sure there is someone around, just have to find them.

[Jalapeno]

You might try tightening the center link plug to trap the pitman arm ball stud a little tighter. Remove the cotter pin and go another 1/2 turn of the plug, see if that helps. Don't forget to reinsert the cotter.

You didn't mention the type of tires you have, but radials are much better than bias ply tires in regards to steering wander.

[557B210]

Jalepeno....What are the proper procedures for adjusting that center link plug?

[the4x4pig]

You might try tightening the center link plug to trap the pitman arm ball stud a little tighter. Remove the cotter pin and go another 1/2 turn of the plug, see if that helps. Don't forget to reinsert the cotter.

You didn't mention the type of tires you have, but radials are much better than bias ply tires in regards to steering wander.

I have radials front and rear. I will look at that plug. It might be a good time to replace all that stuff anyway. Seemed fine to me but Ill look at it again.

[auggie56]

Thats what I am finding out. Our area seems to lack folks that will touch a car this old. I am sure there is someone around, just have to find them.

Where's their sence of adventure ? When I was in the trade, I always took on something old or new just for the experience. Remember Corvairs ? We had them lined up at the door, because in our area, only the dealer would touch them. It's really not that hard to align one of these cars.

[Rick_L]

I don't understand this deal about young techs not knowing how to align a 55-57.

What do those same techs do when a pickup or Suburban rolls in? They are virtually the same to align.

The only real problem I see with a 55-57, especially a lowered one, is that you can't hang the usual mirrors or laser targets on the rear wheels to align them. But what's the point, there's no rear wheel alignment adjustment anyway. And no real need for it.

I think this shows that ANY car is in dangerous hands with somebody like that. But if a guy predicts that he can't do it or he'll screw it up - he has a good chance of making that come true.

[the4x4pig]

Ya alot of them want to be able to access the rears along with the fronts. That is when 90% of all the 55's out there become a pain since seems like almost all of them are lowered. Ill find someone to do it, got to get the motor back together first. :(

[puzzley]

When I finished rebuilding the front end of my 57, (all stock except for a sway bar and disk brakes) I took it to the local Chevy dealer. They still had the original 57 specs available. No problems at all, and the alignment guy was half my age....

[Belairmark]

Just read this thread. I have had my car for four years, but since the rebuild when I changed the ball joints and A-arm bushes (and managed to miss-place the shims!!) and the steering is poor. I had the toe-in adjusted and that improved thing no end; and tightening the steering box did more.

However, how do you measure the caster and camber on the front? There is no datum to use.

I can only think to make a jig to touch onto the ball joints with the correct dimensions for the angle required and then use a level to check.

Any thoughts?

[Rick_L]

Years ago I made a simple tool to do alignment with on my 67 Nova. This after two attempts at getting a decent commercial alignment and also having the traditional alignment eccentric slipping problem that these cars have.

Basically it's a couple of pieces welded up to hold up to the edges of the wheel rim and have a place to put a digital level, though you could use a regular torpedo level. With the wheels straight ahead, you can measure the camber. I turned the wheels 20º to measure caster. There is a formula for getting the caster in degrees from that, I lost it some time ago. But if you use half the reading on the level, that's close. Turn the wheels to the right to measure the caster on the left wheel, and turn the wheels to the left to measure caster on the right wheel. I used a piece of sheet metal for a "turntable" under each front wheel. I made a "20º" mark on the floor to aid me in getting that angle right, and for repeatability.

If you jack the car up to make an adjustment, you have to make sure that setting the tires back on the ground does not bias that reading by either pushing on the front suspension a few times by hand or by rolling the car out into the driveway and back in. I made marks on the floor so I could return to the same spot and line up the "turntable" marks. Making shim adjustments on a 55-57 should not require any of this, but you may have to for toe-in.

[MikeKy55]

I learned on Bee-Line equipment years ago. This is a picture of the truck version of the manual alignment equipment they make. It's basically the same for car only in a lighter and smaller size.

http://www.beeline-co.com/images/pic_manualalignment.jpg

[the4x4pig]

I learned on Bee-Line equipment years ago. This is a picture of the truck version of the manual alignment equipment they make. It's basically the same for car only in a lighter and smaller size.

http://www.beeline-co.com/images/pic_manualalignment.jpg

That looks like a nice setup. Wonder how much that setup runs. It would be nice to have.

[Rick_L]

Homemade pieces that look like that are basically what I use for my setup. Your ingenuity and effort in making those pieces accurate and repeatable is what can make a difference.

You can get a camber/caster gauge that goes on the spindle from Speedway Motors and other sources. I'm sure they have a toe-in gauge that looks like that too. Eastwood sells things like that too.