Put the offset cross shafts on to compensate for a "sagging" frame according to one alignment shop. My son took it to a different shop to get aligned today, now one of the passenger tie rod adjusting sleeve bolts hits the sway bar when you turn the wheel(I guess if you always go straight and never turn the wheel it would be ok:mad:). I did not have any issues like this prior to them "aligning" the car. I can't believe they didn't check, see or hear this. They had to hear the popping of the bolt riding over the sway bar when they pulled it off the rack and turned the wheel. I also sent him with the specs

Camber - .75

Caster as much positive as you can get

Toe total toe of 1/8" in. Not per side

But he told my son that those specs would ruin the tires in a short time and possibly cause a blow out. Needless to say he set it to the machines specs. There are also NO shims on the upper A-arm cross shafts??? Make me think the first shop was feeding me a line of bull and wanting to do more work for $$$$.

Questions:
What needs to be done to fix the bolt hitting the sway bar? Can the sleeve be readjusted to prevent the bolt from hitting?

Are the above specs as dangerous as he claims and will it cause premature tire wear/failure?

Your help and opinions would be appreciated. I plan on calling the shop in the morning to get htis resolved and would like to know what my options are to fix this. TIA Pete

Might get away with just loosening the sleeve clamp and rotating it without turning the sleeve.

on my 59 the bolts are supposed to be horizontal below the tie rods.
This should keep them from hitting anything---on the 59
I've not looked under the 66 to even guess

neg camber not all that great---should try to get as close to '0' as possible.

I too am familliar with the so called 'sag' I had to machine the mounting areas of the cross-shafts to get even remotely close to zero.
running -.5 on camber now

A longer end-link would give you some clearance from the tie-rod.

Camber should be about -.250
The backward camber-curve of the short-spindles wears the outer edge when cornering, so negative camber will aid in cornering traction as well as increase tire life... to a point. Much more than -.250 will start to wear the inside edge too much when just driving straight. I run mine at about -.375, but I drive a little harder than average. ;)

Caster, with stock arms is really limited, but they should try for as much as possible in the positive direction... this helps bring the wheel back to center, increases stability at speed, and helps tip the tire into the corner to negate some of the positive camber in compression when cornering. I run mine at +5.5, but you'd be lucky to get +1* from stock arms.

Toe should be ~1/16" in total

Sorry if anything in my reply to your previous thread confused you. :(

neg camber not all that great---should try to get as close to '0' as possible.The backward camber curve requires a little on the negative side to keep from wearing the outside edge off the tires. Your -.5 without any shims sounds like definite frame-sag as well. Offset upper Cross-shafts will fix that.

What endlink do you recommend to gain a little clearence? Thanks Pete

I know Energy Suspension poly endlinks from Summit are listed by length... an inch or so longer than what you have should work.

You shouldn't have to replace anything,the simplest way to fix it is to loosen 1 tie rod bolt clamp bolt at a time and turn the adjuster clamp till the bolt clears the sway bar.Doing it this way you will not lose or change any of the alignment settings.Sometimes the bolt has to be removed and turned around so it faces away from the sway bar that usually gives the max amount of clearence from the sway bar.
That shop should have set the the car to the specs you provided, its your car,between that and the shoddy worksmanship you should bring the car back and have a talk with the shop manager.

Sometimes the bolt has to be removed and turned around so it faces away from the sway bar that usually gives the max amount of clearence from the sway bar.

It bothered me last night so I did take the bolt out and reverse it so now it doesn't hit the sway bar. Maybe I'm just making a mountain out of a mole hill but I would have a least thought the shop would have checked the car over after they performed the alignment. I'm getting to the point that I don't want anyone touching my cars except my two friends/mechanics. I wish they'd get into alignments. One thing I did notice when I test drove it last night was it seemed to drift going into and coming out of turns until you compensated for it. Going down the road it also felt like it was not as tight as it should be. Everything on the front end is new(maybe 1,000 miles on it). Poly bushings not rubber, NAPA quick ratio steering box, offset cross shafts and 1.25" sway bar are the only "non stock" items. One coil cut off the front spring to lower the car. Only item that was not replaced was the rag joint and it was good(at least appears that way). Thanks Pete

I know Energy Suspension poly endlinks from Summit are listed by length... an inch or so longer than what you have should work.

I appreciate your patience with me, just trying to learn. Other than gaining more clearence does the longer end-link cause any change in handling? Thanks Pete

A professional alignment always includes a "print out" that shows what the car was set to and the min and max specs are.If they didn't include that along with your receipt you were short changed.At least then you would know where you stand as far as what it was set to.
Sounds like they didn't set the car witth enough caster from the way you describe the handling.

I appreciate your patience with me, just trying to learn. Other than gaining more clearence does the longer end-link cause any change in handling? Thanks PeteIt shouldn't have any negative effects except the possibility of interference with the frame if you bottom out the car hard.

Sounds like they didn't set the car with enough caster from the way you describe the handling.I agree, it may even be negative.

A professional alignment always includes a "print out" that shows what the car was set to and the min and max specs are.If they didn't include that along with your receipt you were short changed.

His printer was broken so no printout :(. His comment was "I like to get it a little more to the red but I got it as far as I could". Needless to say I'm not a very happy camper. We'll drive it like this for now but I'm going to have to find a REAL alignment shop! Good thing is I haven't put the new tires on yet. 60.00 bucks a pop is getting expensive. He's unwilling to do anymore than he's done. No more business from me and I've got 6 vehicles that I alternate alignments on. I usually get them aligned every other year(three one year three the next). Soon to be 7 vehicles when I get the camaro done. The guy I've had do it for years has retired and his "replacement"(new owner) is worthless.

Sounds like they didn't set the car witth enough caster from the way you describe the handling.

How do you set caster? Something I can attempt now that it's supposedly "close"? Pete

Not really unless your planning to recheck camber and toe as well. Caster is altered by adding or removing shims to only one bolt. Add to the rear or remove from the front to add positive caster. Doing this at this point will throw your camber and toe off.