66 rear suspension & alignment

[Gary Schisler]

In a previous post I mentioned that my 66 acted a little "loose" in the rear end while driving down the highway. It would sometimes give a little wiggle (for lack of a more descriptive word), almost as if the tire were riding on one of the small ridges in asphalt that heavy trucks make, and then fell off that ridge. Today, I spent some time underneith the car and I noticed that the left trailing arm has all of the shims on the outboard side of the front pivot, with no shims on the inboard side. The right trailing arm only has two very small shims (about 1/32" to 1/16") on the outboard side and most of the shims on the inboard side. These trailing arms are relatively new, about one year old, and I don't recall any problems before I replaced them and had the four wheels aligned. I followed the suggestions from various members on things to look for but all appears normal other than the alignment shims.

Do any of you out there have any experience in rear alignments? I can't for the life of me think that this is a normal setup. Have any of you actually measured the suspension angles yourself prior to taking it in for toe in and camber asjustments?

It seems that the shop where I took it to has an older gentleman who was well versed in this setup and mentioned that he spent a good deal of time setting my suspension up properly. I felt comfortable after talking with him before he started working on the car. I plan on taking it in on Monday to another shop and see what I can come up with. In the meantime, any ideas would be helpful

[Don]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

Hello Gary,Not sure what your problem might be,but on the question of the shims being all on one side, our unrestored 44,000 mi 64 has all the shims on the out board side on the right trailing arm and it drives great.If your trailing arm bushings are good and your bolts and shims are tight,you may want to check another area of your rear suspension.

[Don]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

Hello Gary,Not sure what your problem might be,but on the question of the shims being all on one side, our unrestored 44,000 mi 64 has all the shims on the out board side on the right trailing arm and it drives great.If your trailing arm bushings are good and your bolts and shims are tight,you may want to check another area of your rear suspension.

[Gene M.]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

Gary,

I agree with ya it does not seem normal to shim biased to one side like that. Your ride seems to conferm that. Where wer the shims on the original setup? I think your on the right track seeking another shop's opinion.

[Gene M.]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

Gary,

I agree with ya it does not seem normal to shim biased to one side like that. Your ride seems to conferm that. Where wer the shims on the original setup? I think your on the right track seeking another shop's opinion.

[Gary Schisler]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

The shims that I took out were more or less evenly spaced on both left and right trailing arms. Of course, that doesn't mean a thing since the car was only driven about 1500 miles a year and unusual wear on tires wouldn't show up for a few years. I have two repair shops within 25 miles that do alignment work on Corvettes. I will be calling them.

Later

[Gary Schisler]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

The shims that I took out were more or less evenly spaced on both left and right trailing arms. Of course, that doesn't mean a thing since the car was only driven about 1500 miles a year and unusual wear on tires wouldn't show up for a few years. I have two repair shops within 25 miles that do alignment work on Corvettes. I will be calling them.

Later

[Steve]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

It sounds possible that the alignment could be correct in toe, camber, and caster, but the car is not aligned in track. That is to say that the car's rear end could be tracking offset (not in line) with the front. Imagine if your car was on a surface where the tires would leave a light mark. You would want the car to roll and leave only two lines from your rear tires rolling over the exact lines as the front. Your rear end can be "aligned" and yet not "track" in the same lines as the front. I would like to know what you come up with,so keep us posted and good luck.

TheSVDThe@aol.com

[Steve]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

It sounds possible that the alignment could be correct in toe, camber, and caster, but the car is not aligned in track. That is to say that the car's rear end could be tracking offset (not in line) with the front. Imagine if your car was on a surface where the tires would leave a light mark. You would want the car to roll and leave only two lines from your rear tires rolling over the exact lines as the front. Your rear end can be "aligned" and yet not "track" in the same lines as the front. I would like to know what you come up with,so keep us posted and good luck.

TheSVDThe@aol.com

[Gary Schisler]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

When I had my 66 aligned last year, after all new rear traiing arms and u-joints, the old guy who aligned it insisted I drive it with him. Straight as an arrow with hands off of the steering wheel. During braking, same thing - straight! As far as track goes, this will be a tough one to check out. I will keep you posted as soon as I get another alignment shop to look at it.

[Gary Schisler]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

When I had my 66 aligned last year, after all new rear traiing arms and u-joints, the old guy who aligned it insisted I drive it with him. Straight as an arrow with hands off of the steering wheel. During braking, same thing - straight! As far as track goes, this will be a tough one to check out. I will keep you posted as soon as I get another alignment shop to look at it.

[Tony H.]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

Gary,

You might be able to roughly check the tracking by wetting the tires (tread) with water and looking at the tracks left behind on the driveway. I've never tried it myself but have heard of this method used as a quick and dirty method. Hope it helps.

Tony

[Tony H.]

Re: 66 rear suspension & alignment

Gary,

You might be able to roughly check the tracking by wetting the tires (tread) with water and looking at the tracks left behind on the driveway. I've never tried it myself but have heard of this method used as a quick and dirty method. Hope it helps.

Tony

[Wayne M.]

Re: 66 Alignment/Tracking

Gary, Tony --- Checking for tracking is a snap; just wait for the next snowfall.

[Wayne M.]

Re: 66 Alignment/Tracking

Gary, Tony --- Checking for tracking is a snap; just wait for the next snowfall.