chevy a-body ridetech alignment

[silvermonte]

Hello fellas, I have a 72 chevy chevelle and till a full ridetech coil over suspension on the car. Im having issues getting the alignment right, either from the frame sagging, or the shop just plain not wanting to do the work. Not sure which so Im here to ask for advice.

I have the upper arms installed with the offset to the inside, so the .375" is the side touching the frame and the caster slugs facing the engine like the instructions state. I also have the centered slugs installed as that is what came with the kit, and I had to start somewhere. There are also zero shims installed on either side currently. I took the car in to get aligned and the shop told me it was as good as it can get since there are no shims to take out to adjust anything, the only adjustment they did was toe.

I gave them the ridetech street specs to aim for -.5 camber, +3 to +5 degree caster and 1/16" to 1/8" Toe

Camber is driver side -1 degree and passenger -1.9 degree
Caster is driver side .9 degree and passenger 0 degree
Toe is driver .27 degree and passenger is .18 degree
cross camber is .9
cross caster is .9
total toe is .44 degrees

Im not a suspension wizard but I would thing they could of got it alot closer with some shims, but what caster slugs should I use to get me closer to what is needed. I daily drive about 5000 miles a year and do about 13 or so auto-x events a year. What do you guys think? I have found another shop that seems like they would do a better job and put forth a bit more effort.

[Tinker]

The UCA shafts are offset. If you flip them so the slugs go to the outside of the car, you will decrease camber and create room for shims for alignment.
Check with Ridetech for offset slugs, they vary in offset, and are reversible, so you can use them to add or subtract caster.

[silvermonte]

Very interesting, I thought if I flipped them it would pull the top ball joint in towards the center of the car and I would gain more - camber. I have the .375" side on right now, if I flip it will then be the .532" side attached.

Does raising the car with the coilovers change anything? I have them set at zero preload like the instructions say. I like where the ride height is at, but if I had to raise the car a slight bit I wouldn't totally be against that.

[Tinker]

Very interesting, I thought if I flipped them it would pull the top ball joint in towards the center of the car and I would gain more - camber. I have the .375" side on right now, if I flip it will then be the .532" side attached.

Does raising the car with the coilovers change anything? I have them set at zero preload like the instructions say. I like where the ride height is at, but if I had to raise the car a slight bit I wouldn't totally be against that.

The .375 side is the side the slugs are in, so the slugs would be facing the wheel, not the engine.
Raising (or lowering) the car will change camber settings, caster settings, and if any bumpsteer is in the system, the toe setting will also change.

[SSLance]

Try to think of the ballpoint position...to get more caster you want the upper BJ to move toward rear of the car. You can do this with offset slugs or stacking shims on rear upper bolt (this will increase camber also).

0 caster is strange, are you sure you have correct placement off upper arms and crossshafts?

[silvermonte]

As it sits right now

https://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc34/silvermonte/IMG_0405_zps74pq3cyq.jpg (https://s213.photobucket.com/user/silvermonte/media/IMG_0405_zps74pq3cyq.jpg.html)

drivers side with the slugs facing the engine

https://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc34/silvermonte/IMG_0420_zpsjxcz0tqi.jpg (https://s213.photobucket.com/user/silvermonte/media/IMG_0420_zpsjxcz0tqi.jpg.html)

passenger side with the slugs facing the engine

https://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc34/silvermonte/IMG_0419_zpscy3dnpdr.jpg (https://s213.photobucket.com/user/silvermonte/media/IMG_0419_zpscy3dnpdr.jpg.html)

Im fairly certain I have the arms on the correct sides, the ball joints are more towards the front of the car then back like the instructions shown. Other then swapping left and right sides there is really no wrong way to put them on wrong with this type of set up. Two bolts with the slugs in and hook up the ball joints.

[silvermonte]

It seems pictures do not link the same from photo bucket as they used to pre-photobucket scandal. Ill work on trying to figure out how to make the pictures work without clicking the link. Got it figured out, its not the best way but it works I guess.

[SSLance]

If the cross shaft was rotated front to rear, rear to front, but still facing the same way ?taking it out of arm and glipping it) would that move the upper arm back?

It all looks right but something is strange for sure.

[silvermonte]

Do you think it would be assembled backwards from ridetech? Before I put the arms are I measured the shafts and if I remember correctly there is no front to back on them, only inside and out. They come pre-assembled.

I was doing reading that the A-body frames can sag alot over the rears, and I doubt this one was taken care of. When I put the front sway bar on it didnt fit worth a damn and had to drill holes in the frame where I prolly shouldnt of.

Any guesses as to which slugs ill need for get my alignment closer? Im going to call ridetech on monday and see what ones they suggest and I will order both sets and ill be covered, they are only $5 a slug so no big deal really.

[Tinker]

I would say the most offset slugs possible. To change 4 degrees of caster might take over 5/8" movement of the upper arm. You will need to flip the shafts and stack more shims on the rear to help this, at least on the passenger side

[Beechy]

Hey Miles.......Lance is on the right track but we need a pic from straight above the shaft to verify whether flipping the shafts end-for-end would move the whole arm rearward. Please measure again and confirm for us the distance from each bolt to its nearest black washer, if there is a difference then the bigger dimension goes to rear, which gets you more caster.

I'm confused by reading thru your posts as to whether you have the .375 against the tower. Could you verify again pls. This is what u want to get camber in the ballpark.

PROPOSAL ONE.....
Your post with images suggests swapping left to right......do that ( but only if the BJ sits parallel to the shaft looking from side view thru the wheel ) because it will move the BJ rearward about an inch (despite the Ridetech instructions).....super easy to fix caster, then flip the arms to get .375 against the tower. No change to the camber problem unless u have gone from .532 to .375 against the tower.

If you cannot or don't want to swap over.....
PROPOSAL TWO..........
Call Ridetech and give them the dimension from the middle of the shaft to the BJ and ask them their design dimension. You need at least half-inch more than what u have currently.

[Tinker]

Hey Miles.......

I'm confused by reading thru your posts as to whether you have the .375 against the tower. Could you verify again pls. This is what u want to get camber in the ballpark.


From the pictures the .532 side is against the tower. They need to be flipped.

[SSLance]

If you look at where the cross shaft goes into the arm in this picture, it appears as if the shaft is off center to the ball joint side of the bushing.

https://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc34/silvermonte/IMG_0419_zpscy3dnpdr.jpg

Which means that if the shaft is rotated 180 degrees, it will push the ball joint out which is what you need.