Quick question about alignment

[6290988]

So I was told by a guy at an alignment shop that I need to adjust my torsion bars first to get the height I want.

Next adjust camber with the cam bolt near the rear of the front tire to get it where I want.

Last adjust the cam bolt in front of the front tire to get the tire toed even.

Does this seem right? I'm also putting new shocks on so I'll do that first before I align it.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

Not quite, but close.
1. Set ride height with torsion bars.
2. Adjust caster AND camber using the upper control arm bolts/cams.
3. Adjust toe at the tie rod ends.

 

[oldbee]

Here's the height procedure.

 

[6290988]

Here's the height procedure.

View attachment 429895 View attachment 429896

Thanks, that helps a lot with the height adjustment.

 

[6290988]

Not quite, but close.
1. Set ride height with torsion bars.
2. Adjust caster AND camber using the upper control arm bolts/cams.
3. Adjust toe at the tie rod ends.

Okay. This helps also, thanks.

One question though. Do you mess with each bolt until you get caster/camber right or do you mess with the rear bolt first, front bolt 2nd? I was going to use a square against the tire to get those adjustments right and use a tape measure for toe.

 

[Zeppelin264]

its a give and take on the two bolts. So you have to play with them.

 

[RT K_line]

He's right about getting the height adjustment that you want first then find a shop that will align it as it sits. Before I worked at a shop with an alignment rack I replaced the lower control arm bushings and idler arm then took it to be aligned they basically took a short cut to adjust the camber by raising the torsion bars and set the toe. When I went to pick it up I noticed the front end much higher than before. I told them I wasn't going to pay for that. They didn't know that I knew how to align an old car. Camber changes with ride height. I told the manger that I wanted the car aligned as it sat before and explained what the tech was supposed to do not just crank up the T bars. He didn't know what to say. Of course I made sure there were other customers around to hear so he couldn't try to fast talk me. I said his tech needed to get as much caster as possible 1/2 degree less on the driver side then work on adjusting camber while keeping the caster split then finally toe. The thing is finding a tech that can/will do it right. Also with today's radials they can deal with a little more negative camber on these old cars and not wear the tires.

 

[Cranky]

With the morons around here, I ended up learning to do my own alignments!

 

[miller]

Gotta love it!

I aligned mine using...a square, degree wheel, plumb bob, and measuring tape.

 

[6290988]

He's right about getting the height adjustment that you want first then find a shop that will align it as it sits. Before I worked at a shop with an alignment rack I replaced the lower control arm bushings and idler arm then took it to be aligned they basically took a short cut to adjust the camber by raising the torsion bars and set the toe. When I went to pick it up I noticed the front end much higher than before. I told them I wasn't going to pay for that. They didn't know that I knew how to align an old car. Camber changes with ride height. I told the manger that I wanted the car aligned as it sat before and explained what the tech was supposed to do not just crank up the T bars. He didn't know what to say. Of course I made sure there were other customers around to hear so he couldn't try to fast talk me. I said his tech needed to get as much caster as possible 1/2 degree less on the driver side then work on adjusting camber while keeping the caster split then finally toe. The thing is finding a tech that can/will do it right. Also with today's radials they can deal with a little more negative camber on these old cars and not wear the tires.

I've owned this car maybe 2 weeks. I think the previous owner adjusted the torsion bars for ride height but never messed with camber/caster/toe.

There is an old mechanic that only works on old cars. I was told yesterday he may have an old school rack for alignments.

I'm going to throw the new shocks on and adjust torsion bars for height.

So RT, if I'm reading what you said correctly I should mess with caster next. Work on camber after. Last toe. I figure if I can get it close I can bring it by that guy and have him throw it on his rack...if he even has one.

I don't have a degree gauge. I do have a square and any other tool needed for this but I'm lacking that gauge. Is it necessary for the caster? Or can I just eyeball it?

 

[miller]

All you need is one of the plastic 360 degree drawing types...that's what I used. Of course, need the car on a flat/level surface, to start. With a square, and plumb bob, using the degree wheel, and a little common sense, it can be set.
Get into the service manual...it will show you the correct order, to set each, and how.

Last time I set one, using those items, then took the car to an alignment shop, just to check. Everything was right on. The guy didn't even charge me!

 

[RT K_line]

I've owned this car maybe 2 weeks. I think the previous owner adjusted the torsion bars for ride height but never messed with camber/caster/toe.

There is an old mechanic that only works on old cars. I was told yesterday he may have an old school rack for alignments.

I'm going to throw the new shocks on and adjust torsion bars for height.

So RT, if I'm reading what you said correctly I should mess with caster next. Work on camber after. Last toe. I figure if I can get it close I can bring it by that guy and have him throw it on his rack...if he even has one.

I don't have a degree gauge. I do have a square and any other tool needed for this but I'm lacking that gauge. Is it necessary for the caster? Or can I just eyeball it?

You can adjust camber close enough with your square then set toe with a tape measure. Caster will need special equipment to read and check after adjustments.

 

[Cranky]

The last time I had my Belvedere 'checked' after doing it myself for the first time, it went to an old time alignment guy too and he said everything looked fine after I told him the specs I was after but he said the toe was a bit out. Thought that was somewhat odd since that's one of the easy things to do and not all that hard to check. Well, don't know what he was reading when he adjusted it but the car felt like it wanted to turn over on the way home. Turns out that he set it at 1" toe in! That was the last time my car ever saw an alignment shop. Had a Dodge pickup where some moron turned the upper control arm adjusters 360 degrees! He flared the dang fits that the cam adjusters fit in! Heck, I don't even remember what those are called. That happened on a 79 when it was only a few years old....