question on front end alignment on 71 vette

[lstill]

Hey guys. i had my 71 vette aligned about 3-4 months ago.....it was pulling to the righ befour i had it done and now it steers straight but the new setting is causing the tires to make a high pitch squeeling when you are driving it and the inside of the tires have lost ali it's tread while the outside still looks like new....The guy that aligned it said his computer only went back to 76 but said it was the same. specs....Would excessive toe in cause this? also turning the tie-rods in or out will change the toe-in i'm told ....Anyone good on c-3 frontends offer some advice? thanks Larry.....e-mail lstill@aol.com

 

[drags1998]

Istill,Im going to make this one short & sweet,FIND ANOTHER ALINEMENT GUY!!! If you have worn out the tires in 3-4 mon. It is not right!!! Its toed out if its wearing the inside of the tires.A decent alignment tech. dosent need to rely on a computer!!!!!!! SORRY,FIND ANOTHER GUY............ :eyerole

 

[lone73]

Alignment shops

Would excessive toe in cause this? also turning the tie-rods in or out will change the toe-in i'm told ....Anyone good on c-3 frontends offer some advice? thanks Larry.....e-mail lstill@aol.com

No but excessive toe OUT would. Also camber. I would think though that if it was toe'd out so bad that it was squealing and wearing the tires down that you would easily be able to see it w/out even putting it on an alignment machine. I'd definitely try a different shop and then either replace or rotate the tires. Or better yet look into DIY alignment tools. I'm about fed up with shops that take your money for bad work.

I adjusted toe and camber on my '73 just with a 10' 2x4 and my eyeballs and I've been driving it with no prob's. Granted I need a good alignment but the point is if I can get it close with a 2x4 and your alignment tech can't do it with a $20,000 machine then you need to go somewhere else, and soon.
good luck with it
.
.
.

 

[Robin7TFour]

LONE, i like the idea of DIY alignment. where did you pick up your starting point from? and how did you accomplish the rest? i know my front end is out.i prefer to diy also. then when i complain ,at least i know someone is listening....

ROBIN

 

[lone73]

Robin,
For the toe I just bumped the straightest 2x4 I could find up against the outside of the tire on each side, eyeballed it and that gave me a rough estimate of whether it was in or out. The best way is to find the centerline of the car with a string line. Then pull 2 more string lines parallel to the center line along the outside edges of the tires, from these you can measure and adjust toe front and rear. I'd recommend driving the car onto 4 small patches of liquid detergent before setting up so that the tire's contact patch won't resist the toe adjustments (very much anyway) and cause error. The camber can be adjusted with a square and a level but that's crude. I don't know how you would get a quick-n-dirty caster measurement w/out a special tool. There are some available. The prices range from around 100 to 300 or more depending on how accurate they are. here are a few links for you to check out. I am looking real hard at this one...
http://www.intercomp-racing.com/fr_alignment.htm
and this one...
http://www.advancedracing.com/products2.php?prod=smartcam2
Advanced Racing Technologies has some nice looking laser toe equipment but its pretty expensive for DIY'er.

Here's a cheaper bubble style caster/camber gauge...
http://www.intercomp-racing.com/fr_alignment.htm

Here's one from Longacre Racing. Basically the same thing...
http://www.longacreracing.com/catalog/item.asp?id=1074&catid=5

good luck
.
.
.

 

[Robin7TFour]

LONE, thanks for the info and the sites. the 2x4 setup gave me another idea.i have a stick od 1/2 i.d. pvc here. i could shorten and cap each end. then drill and tap the cap to accept allthread on the ends. then i can have a quickly adjustable toe gauge..
ahhh, don't you just love this forum!

thank you

robin