<VV> alignment woes

[Frank DuVal]

Yes, you need a real alignment guy!

The alignmne tis supposed to be done with the wheels loaded, not hanging 
in the air. There are turntables that the wheels sit on to allow the 
wheels to move and be adjusted while the weight is on them. You cannot 
align an unloaded wheel and expect a good result.

This reminds me of the time a Firestone store aligned a late model for 
me. The Tech(?) said the caster was off but he could not find the 
adjustment for it. I looked at the crt screen of the nice pretty 
electronic alignment machine and there was a picture of the bottom of a 
Corvair with an arrow pointing to the radius rod nuts to adjust the 
caster! I pointed this out to him and he said he couldn't find that part 
on the car!

Found new alignment shop pronto.

If you find a guy with turntables, a tram gage and a bubble level, he 
should be old enough to know Corvairs! No fancy electronics needed if 
the tech knows his stuff.

Frank DuVal

PS toe-in on a late rear is by loosening the bolts at the front of the 
trailing arms and moving the front of the trailing arm side to side.

monza63mo at peoplepc.com wrote:

>After an engine swap and front and rear shocks on a car I've only had for 3 months ('66 Coupe), I figured it would be prudent to have an alignment. Seems logical right? I know I'm going to replace the steering arms with the fast steering arms later on but for now I just wanted to make sure the near new tires aren't going to wear bad as I am driving this car daily.... 
>
>So the alignment guy tells me today: "You need ball joints so I didn't do the alignment." 
>
>Me: "Hmmm. That's odd because it just passed state inspection in March and I specifically saw the inspector check the ball joints." 
>
>He: "Well, they barely passed but it would be useless to do a front end alignment." 
>
>Me: "Did you do the rear wheel alignment then?" 
>
>He: "There's nothing for me to adjust on the rear." 
>
>Me: "Sure there is, you can adjust the camber by rotating the cam assembly at the rear struts and you can adjust toe-in but I'm not sure how it's done." 
>
>He: "Naw, you don't understand. When you lift the car, the wheels fold inward." 
>
>Me: "If I bring you the service manual and point out the adjustments on the car, will you try again?" 
>
>He: "I'm telling you I've been doing this all my life and there is no alignment of the rear wheels." 
>
>Me: "So you won't even try?" 
>
>He: ##$&#!!^%!!@@$!! 
>
>Me: "Do you know any REAL alignment guys in this area who know what they are doing?" 
>
>He: ##$&#!!^%!!@@$!! ##$&#!!^%!!@@$!! ##$&#!!^%!!@@$!! ##$&#!!^%!!@@$!! 
>
>So anyway... I live in a small town and the choices for alignment shops are limited at best. I guess I'll have to find someone else. Does anyone know of a shop near the middle of Missouri who will align my car and not cuss me like a dog?
>
>-Art in Missouri where Corvairs don't get aligned.
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