Shims for Setting Camber and Castor

[Sheldon S.]

After completely rebuilding the front suspension on a 71 BB car what would be a good rule of thumb for the size and amount of shims for setting camber and castor. This is just to get it approximate before taking to alingment shop. I was reding the AIM and read something about a nominal shim pack of 3-.120 shims but not sure if that was for in trial setup or not.
Thanks in advance

Sheldon Sands

[Terry M.]

Re: Shims for Setting Camber and Castor

The AIM gives the MAXIMUM permitted shim stack up. There is no way to guess what shims are required. If you had taped the original shims together and labeled their location, and if you did not replace the control and trailing arms you might be able to reinstall the original shims, or new shims of the same thickness -- but I assUme this is not in the cards. On the other hand there are sites on the Internet that will show you how to do a very good wheel alignment yourself with a minimum of tools. It just takes your time and dedication. Start with your favorite search engine. Unless you can find an alignment shop that is very dedicated and skilled, you might be better off doing the alignment yourself anyway.

Edit add: I believe there was at least one thread about DIY alignment on here.