My bro-in-law has a new state-of-the art Hunter rack, and I'm taking the Chevelle there to get aligned. Redid the whole front end on the car. He's a BMW tech though (BMW's use eccentrics). When installing the shims on the crosshaft, can you place more/less shims under one bolt, or are they to remain even?

Next, whats a good set of specs for this car to make it drive nice? He has specs stored in the computer for all cars, but I heard there may be better.

Thanks

The number of shims under both bolts do not need to be the same. This is how caster angle is changed. If bro has been trained by the Hunter folks, he will know this. Best bet, for all around good handling and ride quality, is to stick with, or close to the stock alignment specs.
Race only (drag) car would need considerably more caster, but this would affect steering effort in corners. Everything is a trade-off.

Thanks Bill.

BTW, where do you guys get the shims from? I went to PepBoys and bought a couple packs body shims - not sure if I should be using these.

I have to disagree on the alignment specs... IIRC the factory specs called for negative caster which is a bad thing. I would go for as much positive caster as you can get and have it match side to side. This will provide better straight line stability and help pull the top of the tire in on tight turns. The latter helps compensate a little for the backwards caster curve on A-body cars. So many of these cars have power steering that the potential for extra steering effort from positive caster is extremely minimal.

On the camber it will depend a bit on how you drive and how hard you take corners to some extent. The ideal is to make the tire vertical as much as possible and that usually means a slight amount of negative camber. I would probably shoot for 1/2* to 1* negative on camber.

Use the factory spec for toe, probably something like 1/8"-1/4" toe in.

You can also find a number of postings with specific number recommendations on TC here. Dennis likes to throw them around a bit ;)

Best bet, for all around good handling and ride quality, is to stick with, or close to the stock alignment specs.
Race only (drag) car would need considerably more caster, but this would affect steering effort in corners. Everything is a trade-off.Completely false on all accounts. Increased caster will not increase the steering effort at speed a measurable amount and the increase will be more than worth any low sped effort increase in the front end stability at highway speeds in addition to allowing better camber geometry while turning limiting the need for excessive static camber. Static camber should right about where Steve suggested; 1/2 to 1 degree negative. Less if you are just cruising, more if you intend to push the limits of the rubbers lateral adhesion properties. I run toe very low, mine is zero to 1/16" out for turn in sensitivity but 1/16 to 1/8" toe in.

I just out cruising, no pushing the limits of anything (not sure if I want to push this car around a turn!). Just looking for the car to drive and track real nice. Those 2 specs, the camber and toe-in are all I need?

Caster still needs to be set, I ususally recommend as much possible caster as possible without having a negative effect on camber (2-3 degrees is usually all you will get).

Note that even if you do not push it, the more modern alignment specs we are giving you will help your tires last longer than the factory specs.

It has been many many years... but back in the day my parents were driven nuts by the front tires on a '69 Buick Sportwagon. It seemed that no matter what they did (alignments, different types of tires, etc.) the outside tread edges were always wearing off much faster than the rest. Of course we did live/drive on twisty mountain roads which did not help any. I think they finally gave up and decided the Buick was designed for freeway driving.

Ok,

So were looking for:

Camber : 1/2* to 1* neg

Toe: 0 to 1/16

Caster: as much possible w/o affecting camber too much (most likely 2-3*).

Right now, it looks like my front tires are riding on the outer edge like this \ /. Looks like I need to add alot more shims. What the proper sequence for adjusting?

Make sure that you check your upper a-arm bushings before you do anything. Just took mine in to get it aligned, and they found that the upper bushings were loose. Bought one of those all inclusive re-build kits from one of our favorite Chevelle restoration houses, and they were loose on the shaft.

Had them align it the best they could, for now, will need to replace them soon.

I've got probably 3/8's- 1/2 inch of shims on the uppers.

Ok,

So were looking for:

Camber : 1/2* to 1* neg

Toe: 0 to 1/16

Caster: as much possible w/o affecting camber too much (most likely 2-3*).

Right now, it looks like my front tires are riding on the outer edge like this \ /. Looks like I need to add alot more shims. What the proper sequence for adjusting?
Caster-camber-then toe.
Most modern hunter racks have a provision for adding custom specs but this can sometimes be time consuming.What I do to save time is click in a 78 to 86 Malibu then just change the camber spec from positive to negative.That'll give you almost the above specs to a t.

Traditionally, a compensation for road crown is taken into consideration. This favors (pulls) slightly to the left to offset the natural tendencies to follow the slope engineered into most roadways (water drainage towards the curb/shoulder).

Positve camber and negative caster are dominate. Example; Right caster is +2, Left caster is +1.5, though negligible, this car would favor the left (barely pull), but would drive straight on most roads. same goes for a car with a half to a full degree of additional (+) camber on the left (drivers) side.

My point, try to get the minor variables (rarely will both sides be exactly equal) to favor this principle or you'll continually be holding the steering wheel to the left.

Sounds good guys, thanks for the input.

I'll report back on what happens...hope nothing is too tweaked.

We'll, got the car aligned. Had to take to to another shop b/c my bro in law can't make time for me. I noticed that there's a bunch more shims on one side of the car then the other. The mechanic that did the alignment was gone for the day, so I couldn't ask him what was up.

I'm guess that my frame is way outta whack. She drives straight though.

I just put in some Global West a-arms. My buddy works at a performance shop did the calibration on the front end. I have atleast .75" in the front & .25" in the rear on the passenger side & 0 in the front & .25 in the rear on the drivers side. I though it was weird but it drives and handles great. It turns in the corners great & "no hands" at 100mph. I guess the amount shims just depends on how well the frame was made during assembly ( Assumed Unwrecked )