1960 wheel alignment process

[Greg L.]

This might be a stupid question but are there any quirks or special procedures while doing a wheel alignment on a 60?

The basic way we used to do alignments on "common vehicals" was to set the camber and caster first, center the steering wheel and then set the toe in. Now after reading a bit on the early Corvette steering I see that they make reference to a center high point in the the steering box and that the drag link and third arm must be parallel in the straight ahead position.

Is this high point and parallel relationship between the drag link and third arm critical or is it just to center the steering wheel?

I'm just trying to figure out if I need to give the guy doing the alignment a heads up or if it's pretty much straight forward.

[Edward J.]

Re: 1960 wheel alignment process

Greg, unless you have dissay. the steering box, your align guy should be able to procede with the align. when done with align. you check the center steering feel with a road test.

[John H.]

Re: 1960 wheel alignment process

Is this high point and parallel relationship between the drag link and third arm critical or is it just to center the steering wheel?

The high-point centering process is to ensure that when the wheels are in the straight-ahead position, the steering shaft and worm gear in the box are also in the straight-ahead position (chisel mark on the top end of the shaft at 12 o'clock); that's the point of minimum play between the worm gear and the sector roller. The play increases slightly in both directions from the center position by design. You want the system centered before you set the toe-in, and the steering wheel installed correctly so the turn signals cancel.