63 rear wheel alignment

[Rainer S.]

I just finished my 63 frame restoration. When I tried to align toe-in, rear wheel canter and camber, i ran into the following:

When aligning the swing arms, I had to move the arms all the way toward the center of the car, with a 1/16" shim, and all other shims on the outside of the swing arm, in order to get negative toe-in, or camber. Is that unusual ?
When adjusting for 0 to -1 canter, I could not get any negative canter on one side, and ended up with +2 on the other side. I have no more adjustment on the cam, to tilt the wheel further toward negative. Could I possibly have struts, which are too short ? What should be the centerline-to centerline dim ?
The frame is not bend and all componets have been rebuild, new bushings, bearings etc.

Rainer

[Wayne W.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

The suspension has to be at the normal riding height. If you are trying to do a rolling frame with no body, you are not going to go get it right.

[Duke W.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

It's very easy to do the rear alignment with the body off the frame.

With the spring DISCONNECTED, block the rear suspension up to the normal
ride height "D" dimension.

Set the camber, then measure the across the frame at several points to
find the true centerline. Run a string and bobs, so the string is at a convenient height to measure toe-in.

Set the toe-in on each side at 1/32" by measuring from the string.

Duke

[Joe C.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

Rainer:

First off, caster (ie King pin inclination) is not adjustable in the rear suspension, and is not the same as toe.
Second, you must NOT fully torque your rear spring to diff cover attaching bolts until the completed car is at normal ride height (e.g. curb weight). The same is true for the control arm cross shafts in the front.
Third, the more you load your suspension, you will see the camber go from negative to positive as you add weight.
The easiest thing to do, is to get it as close as possible, using your "eyeball" any contraption that you can invent, and then drive it over to your most trusted alignment shop for final tweaking. Don't forget to torque your suspension bolts before driving off.

Joe

[Rob A.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

With regards to toe in, if you have just the trailing arm in place; put a 9/16" socket between the bottom of the arm and the the frame opening. This will put the trailing arm at normal ride height. Then using a long level or straight edge, shim to keep the rotor parallel to the frame. You'll probably find it takes one of the largest on the inside of the trailing arm and the rest on the other. (This only works if the trailing edge alone is attached, sounds like you are much further along than that) I went through all this last month on my '67, concerned about all the same areas you are, and then some. As has already been said, when all the weight is on the chassis and the car compressed to normal ride height you'll find everything works out. I even tried using sand bags to compress the rear suspension so I could align it but it's not the same as letting the car settle on its' own. It takes a while for the rear spring to settle, don't be in a hurry to torque the spring anchor bolts until, as I learned, it's fairly flat.

[Timothy B.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

What is the consequence of not waiting to the end to tighten the spring bolts? Just wondering?

[John H.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

Tim -

If you fully torque the spring plate bolts without the spring at design curb height, you run the risk of breaking off the ears on the diff cover casting that the bolts thread into; then you get to buy a new diff cover.

[Rainer S.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

As far as the premature tightening of the spring mounting plate to the diff cover is concerned: I already tightened the bolts to spec. torque (w/o breaking the ears off). Do I have to loosen the bolts and re-tighten, once the complete car has settled, or can I leave it alone ?
Ohterwise, I understand the set-up a little better now.
Thanks everybody.

Rainer

[Joe C.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

I am not sure what you did, exactly. Explain better so that we can help you.

[Michael W.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

I'd leave well enough alone. Once the car is back on it's own wheels and settled, just recheck the torque on the bolts.

[David Van Weele]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

Rotor?

[Rob A.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

The rotor (disc) surface...

[David Van Weele]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

Not on a '63. These did not appear until 1965.

[Rob A.]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

Rotor, wheel hub, brake drum, same principal, same result.

[David Van Weele]

Re: 63 rear wheel alignment

I am not arguing with you but I am trying to prevent misinformation being seen by someone that does not know any better. A wheel hub and the rotor could be used as you state. A brake drum could be a problem unless you bolted it tight to the drum. In my 41 years experience with my 63 and having done a complete restoration doing 99% of the work myself I know for a fact that the drums ( at least Z06) drums tend to wobble unless bolted down to the hub. I did all of my own alignment and the proceedure you noted is close to how I did mine. Have a nice Sunday, I am going out for a ride in my Z right after I finish on this board.