Control arm shims

Did you lower the upper control arms 1"?

When I took my front end apart, I made sure to keep the shims separated so I could put them back when the new arms where installed. My car wasn't running when purchased, so I have no clue how it actually steered....rolled great..

If you have a slight clue of where they when, do your best to put them back as they were..a reputable alignment shop will get it where it needs to be. Mine isn't 100% correct, but, I'll be trailering mine to the shop so I'm not that worried if it's off. (still rolls good)


Jim

Assuming all the shims are the same in thickness, I would put 4 shims on the front bolts and 3 on the rear bolts. That should get you close enough to drive.

I eyeballed mine, but.....

It was only 10 miles to an alignment shop. All I did was tried to make the wheels level and straight enough to get there without the tires squeling.

Do your homework on choosing an alignment shop though, make sure the tech thats actually doing the work has done a number of these old cars...

It took me 2 alignment shops to get mine right, and the 2nd one wouldn`t have done it right if I hadn`t have stood over him and watched....

i initally took mine to a "reputable shop", only to trash a set of tires in 4500 miles... turned out he set the toe to almost 5/8" total (should have been 1/8") when i started the new job, i took it in and set it with the hunter 4 wheel rack we have. you can get it fairly close with nothing more than a 6" torpedo level, and a roll of string. first, jack the car up using the lower control arm as a jack point. remove the wheel, and lower the car to normal ride height, next , lay the level against the spindle in front of the ball joints, spanning the mounting bosses for the ball joints.the bubble should be in the middle, or toward the front of the car, ideally. next, lay the level against the rim, up and down. you want the bubble dead center, or slightly away from the car this time. juggling shims will let you move the bubble around until you get all settings pretty much where you want them.i wont go into setting toe, as you can no doubt find that by doing a search for front end alignment with a string.i used this method for setting my car before i did the laser alignment the second time, and got it really close to the proper specs,so i know this way works. you just need to be patient, and set everything evenly side to side, and recheck your setting after you tighten the upper control arms down, as the caster and camber will change slightly when you snug the arms down.

I bought a magnetic level that sticks to the rotor. Had degree marks in the bubble tube. You can also use a framing square on flat level concrete that surely would be close enough to get to the alignment shop. I used my bubble guage and strings down both sides, and it drives so well, I haven't gotten it aligned yet, and it's been a month!

if the toe is good, and it drives ok, why the hurry? watch the inside edge for wear, though...