Patrick Stapler
Active Member
Gotcha. Same result either way. I would prefer less shims...up to you. I have no shims at all on my rear UCA bolts. I do camber adjustment via the camber kit on the LCA.
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Shelby drop and lowering spring
- Thread starter 67stang
- Start date
10/4 I was thinking the same thing, especially because I don't was to push out my tire any further then it is.
You guys are awesome!
So I guess now I have to order that alignment tool and make some homemade turn plates.
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Patrick Stapler
Active Member
I would say the gauge is a necessity. Turn plates are a nicety. I designed some turn plates, but my friends with water jet and flat bed router have yet to make them. The nice thing about the Longacre spindle Mount gauge is it has opposing 22.5 degree angles cut on the end. So when they are parallel to the car you know your in the right place. I've done mine enough times now I don't know if turn plates would help me any.
Turn plates aren't necessary. I did mine on nothing more than a smooth concrete floor. Key being to block the rear wheels so the car doesn't move as you turn the front wheels. Lots of people lay down a couple sheets of plastic under the tires, some even adding a bit of a lubricant between sheets.
Patrick Stapler
Active Member
Good point Terry. I use a couple of 12" linoleum tile squares sprayed with WD40 under the front tires. I can turn the front wheels with my pinky finger.
That's what I was thinking. Or since I have smooth painted floors. Just get a square aluminum. Mark it on the ground. Then mark 20 degrees both ways on the ground. Grease up the bottom side. Find neutral (straight) then use the SPC alignment tool) then turn 20 degrees. Set to 0 the. Turn back to the other 20 and see if your positive or negative? Is that the jist of it.
With power steering do you turn your car on while turning?
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Nice, that's seems easy enough. Do you do this with the car on using power steering?
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Patrick Stapler
Active Member
My car is PS, but it's currently manual. Not a lot of weight on the front of a small block car.
Okay. I order the alignment tool!! I think I will know about my front suspension pretty good when it's all said and done. Lol. I'll keep you guys posted if in run into any issues. Slim chance I might be able to finish the right side if the parts come in early next week.
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The other thing that is interesting I wonder why I even have shims on a 1967?
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Patrick Stapler
Active Member
Gross adjustments. If it were me...and it isn't, I would remove them all and see where you are as a baseline. Since your car has the LCA camber adjustment, I would think you would only need shims for gross caster adjustment. Then use the adjustable struts for fine adjustment. I got lucky on my car, it is dead even on both sides. I have a 3/16" shim pack on the front UCA bolt and the #2 camber plate on the LCA. That got me to -1.5 camber and +3.5 caster. I added another 1/2 degree caster with the struts and ended up at -1 camber and +4 caster.
Still waiting for parts but I was able to play around the the alignment. I actually adjusted toe in slightly, because when I made all the changes to the rights side it seemed to be slightly toe out. I also played around with the caster and I was able to get up to about 5 degrees and nothing seemed to hit, my front tire clear the front fender lip about an 1/2 inch, but I put it back to about +3.
The tool works great, only problem is that it won't stick to my rims. But that's okay not really needed as long as I mark were I place the tool on my rim.
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What alignment tool did you get? If you got the FasTrax unit you can get these separate and they lock it on very positively vs. just pressed against the wheel surface.
https://www.amazon.com/Specialty-Pr...rd_wg=Zo0KN&psc=1&refRID=0CYVPX6MQT6NPNCPQSYC
https://www.amazon.com/Specialty-Pr...rd_wg=Zo0KN&psc=1&refRID=0CYVPX6MQT6NPNCPQSYC
Yes I did get the fastrax. Ohh those looks pretty cool. That would probably work great.
Of course I spent more money and I order lower control arms from open tracker as well. Lol, because I noticed on the right side that it was wearing the front edge of lower control arm near the adjustment (for a really long long time). So once I get in all the parts I would imagine it will take me a whole day to get this aligned just right.
When you play around with the shims do you take the weight off the wheels and just loosen the upper control arm nut (but don't take it all the way off) then try and slide a shim out or in as needed.
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Yep, just jack up the car to get the wheel off the ground and loosen up the UCA nuts. Pulling the arm out enough to get shims in and out can be a challenge as the force of the coil spring keeps it held firmly in place. If you can't get it to move enough with some good old muscular yanks by hand a pry bar can make it possible. Once you get the feel for it it seems to get easier.
At this point, I agree you should probably pull out all the shims and start fresh. Those lip adapters work great. I suggest you buy a set. That way you can lock it on and keep it in place when turning the wheel to measure caster.
At this point, I agree you should probably pull out all the shims and start fresh. Those lip adapters work great. I suggest you buy a set. That way you can lock it on and keep it in place when turning the wheel to measure caster.
Okay, when I go back in I will take out all the shims. Right now there are three on both the front and back. 1/8,1/16,1/32.
If I can't get +caster do I only add shims to the front?
If I can't get camber I assume I add shims equally?
Interesting I just received my uppers and there is no lip (which is great) because now maybe I can also remove the wheel spacer!!!
Take a look.
And take a look at he old with the lip.
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If you have equal shims stacks on both bolts, removing them all will put you right back where you started in terms of caster. You'll gain negative camber. Depending on how all measures out you can add shims equally or favoring one bolt or the other to reduce negative camber and tweak your caster.
Okay great, I think that's a good recommendation, I will remove all shims. Good news is that with this spring I can muscle it in and out of the spring perch without a spring compressor. The hardest thing was actually getting to the bolts. The 351w is a tad wide. Interesting that it didn't drop as much as I thought it would. Haven't done the left side yet, but it sure is driving pretty smooth.
Going to Yellowstone next week so I won't be on here much but please stay tuned when I get back and back to work on the beast. I may need more help. Thank you!
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Okay great, I think that's a good recommendation, I will remove all shims. Good news is that with this spring I can muscle it in and out of the spring perch without a spring compressor. The hardest thing was actually getting to the bolts. The 351w is a tad wide. Interesting that it didn't drop as much as I thought it would. Haven't done the left side yet, but it sure is driving pretty smooth.
Going to Yellowstone next week so I won't be on here much but please stay tuned when I get back and back to work on the beast. I may need more help. Thank you!
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Of course the day I'm leaving the rest of my parts come in. Here are the rest of the parts ( boxes of course are empty expect left front)
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Patrick Stapler
Active Member
Just a curiosity, why SD shocks instead of Bilstein or Koni?