Wheel alignment question

[Tinster]

I took the entire front suspension out of the car
and replaced all bushings, ball joints, shocks, coil
springs, tie rod end, bolts, nuts, etc. Complete rebuild.

I MIGHT have the car operational today-might.

I found a tire shop that told me they could perform
a front end alignment on a 1969 TR6. They are presently
booked thru next week with end of month emissions testing.

Question: Can only a specialty tire shop perform a front
end alignment on a 1969 TR6?

Or is it a standard procedure that Western Auto or Goodyear
Tire could perform? Both shops are only 2 miles from my
home. The specialty shop about 20 to 30 minutes away.

Q2- is it unsafe to "slowly" drive a new front suspension
without a front end alignment?

Thanks as always,

tinster

 

[Gordo]

You might want to ask them if they can do a 4 wheel alignment. If I recall, you did the back end also. No better time to get all 4 wheels pointed in the right direction.

Driving a car after a major suspension rebuild. Look at the wheels. Are they pointed reasonably straight ahead? Did you put the shims back in? If you did you caster/camber will be close enough to drive. Don't get to spirited as it may wander a little bit.

Check with your alignment shop to verify that they have the correct shims on hand for the front and rear. Here on the mainland, I purchased shims from TRF before going for the alignment because the alignment shop did not have the correct shims for either end. I bought more than I needed.

Gordo

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Hey, Dale -

About the only thing you can adjust is the toe-in, and you can get that pretty close on your own. It won't hurt to drive it the couple miles, as long as the tires are parallel to each other.

After finishing the job and putting the car back down on the ground, roll it out of the garage a bit, and push it back in with the wheels straight ahead and the steering wheel centered. Measure the distance from the inside (outside is probably a better measurement, but a little trickier to do) of the back of the tire as close to the midpoint as you can get. Then measure the same point on the inside front of the tire. You want them to be the same, and you'll have to adjust the tie rods appropriately.

This will get you pretty close and certainly safe enough until you can get a "real" alignment.

 

[DougF]

Is there anybody down there that you can ask about shop reputations? The chain stores sometimes, but not always, hire the lesser qualified people for their shops.
A friend of mine took his Audi into a chain garage for a brake job. The dufous mechanic couldn't figure out how to get the job done. He cut the ABS on both sides.
Fortunately, TR6's are about as simple as it gets.

 

[Tinster]

Ok- Yes I put the front shims back in exactly how
they were. No, the tire shop probably does not have
any front or back shims. I better order some.

Yes, I replaced the entire rear suspension a bit ago;
about 50 miles driven on it.

I performed a very slow, 3 mile test drive on the new
front suspension until the car broke down from a failed
water pump.

The car has an obvious pull to the left. I am real
positive that is my fault for not knowing to mark
the position of the original right tie rod end when
I removed it and put in the new one. I think the pull
to the left could be lessened by adjusting the tie
rod end. But' I'm not sure how to accomplish this.

thanks,

d

 

[TR3driver]

I think the pull
to the left could be lessened by adjusting the tie
rod end. But' I'm not sure how to accomplish this.

Actually, I doubt it will help. The tie-rods only control toe-in/out and steering wheel centering, which won't usually cause pulling without some other problem.

But, toe is easy enough to set on your own. Several ways, here's mine. With care, this method is as good or better as what the pros use :

Make a gauge out of scrap wood. Mine is a 8' length of 1x2 with two 4" wide rectangles of masonite screwed to it. The Masonite is positioned such that when laid vertically against the front of the front wheels (with the 1x2 on the floor), the edge of the Masonite comes to the centerline of the tires.

1) Jack the front end up, spin each wheel and make a mark on the tread by holding a sharp object (a scribe or knife blade will do) against the tire while it's spinning. Doesn't matter exactly where the mark is.

2) Lower the car, remove the jack, and bounce the car up and down several times to settle the suspension. (You can also roll it back and forth a few times.)

3) Slide the gauge under the car and up against the back of the front tires, turning so the Masonite comes to the centerline and rests against the tread. Transfer the mark from the tire to the Masonite with a pencil on both sides, being careful not to move the gauge. Double-check that the marks match exactly.

4) Now move the gauge to the front. Line up the marks on one side. The distance between the marks on the other side is your total toe. If the mark on the tire is outside the mark on the wood, you have toe-out (which gives terrible handling). If the mark on the tire is inside the mark on the wood, you have toe-in.

Mr.Haynes gives the toe-in for a TR6 as 0 - 1/16".

While doing the adjustment, you can just split the distance you measured the first time. IOW, if you originally measured 1/4" total toe, turn the tie rods until the marks are only 1/8" apart (remembering to bounce the car after each adjustment).

But when you are done, you should double-check by taking a new measurement on the back of the tires, and comparing that to the front again.

 

[TR3driver]

Question: Can only a specialty tire shop perform a front end alignment on a 1969 TR6?

Any alignment shop should be able to handle it. You might take along your shop manual so they can get the numbers out of it if they don't have them, but odds are very good that they will have them.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Q2- is it unsafe to "slowly" drive a new front suspension without a front end alignment?[/QUOTE]Should be no problem if you don't drive very far and nothing is obviously way out of whack. But if you can see that the front wheels are pointing different directions, it would probably be best to turn the tie rods and get them pointing the same direction.

 

[70herald]

Dale
Just drive slowly and cautiously, the only damage you are likely to do is reduce the tires life span by a few miles. The spacers are no big deal all they are it ~1/8" sheet steel with a slot cut into them. you can make them up by yourself. Call around, at least here, most big garages have all the equipment to do an alignment. Also their computers probably have all the information needed to properly align your car. My local neighborhood shop had all the the specs for my herald on the alignment computer system.

 

[RonMacPherson]

Dale, as far as safe alignment, versus proper alignment.

Any shop will be able to adjust the front toe, that's just turning tie rod length. And the shop will be able to give you readings on the rest of your alignment angles.

On the rear, when you rebuilt it, did you install the GoodParts rear brackets? If not adjusting camber with shims can be quite complex. There used to be a page with a table somewhere out in cyberspace that showed the results. The matrix, if I remember right, could be up to 64 possible combinations. With the goodparts brackets, camber is adjusted by turning a bolt. Would still need shims for toe, but then you wouldn't have to worry about two settings for a shim.

On the front, Almost every shop now does NOT carry shims anymore. What was once the industry standard has now updated to threaded adjusters. So only specialty shops carry shims, and they may not have the shims for your car, unless they are familiar with it.

I would recommend taking Amos into any alignment shop, getting the readings, have them set the toe, then get back to us on advice for shims and placement. As far as having camber and camber out, for short drives over a short time frame(being trips under 100 miles, or so, over 6 months, shouldn't have any long lasting adverse affects on Amos.

Once you mentioned that you also belonged to 6-pack.org. Last newsletter had a pretty good article on alignment in it. Might want to see if you can find one, just for education purposes.

HTH

 

[tr6lover]

gordo, i will need to be getting an alignment done also, would you be willing to part with the extra shims? ive got to order some, but if you dont want them let me know.
Randy

 

[DanNagy]

Mine needed alignment after rebuilding the suspension, too. Actually, it needed it before it was rebuilt, but I digress. My mechanic has been working with Brit cars for 30+ years, and I judge him to be an excellent mechanic. This isn't anything he would attempt to do, nor would he take it to a commercial shop. You should really research where you take it to be aligned because of the time necessary to do the job right and the expertise required - unless you are a gifted mechanic. I have trouble changing oil. My alignment cost 330 bucks.

 

[LastDeadLast]

My alignment cost 330 bucks.

Wow! In the future you might want to invest $119 into these: https://www.goodparts.com/shop/index.php?categoryID=13

Aside from needing shims for the front and rear, the alignment cost $120. And that's from a guy that new the TR suspension inside and out. My alignment guy was absolutely thrilled to see the Goodparts brackets on my car. He said that they made the alignment process very easy and quick (relatively speaking).

Just a thought.

 

[DanNagy]

Wow, this is really awesome. Yes, I already paid for these three times over!!