spyderwerks's thread alternate universe

[William Crowell]

Didn't want to hijack spyderwerks's thread.

So if you are disassembling the entire car, and have already removed the rear hubs and transaxle, is disassembly of the trailing arm bushings pretty trivial, or is there anything to watch out for?

I'm satisfied with the way the camber was prior to disassembly, and want to leave it the same.

[bbspdstr]

Have this mandatory tool....a protractor.

I bought a digital version that measures inclination in 10ths of a degree, but a cheaper analog version will do.

Measure before removal and again until it's the same or a minute or two different due to the new bushings.

If there is a discrepancy of a bit that is difficult to 'dial in,' make sure the left is the side up a little to accommodate the driver's weight, v.v. for the RHD cars.

-Bruce

[S.J.Szabo]

The trouble with "it goes without saying" is that it too often does.

The necessary prerequisite for suspension work (particularly at the rear trailing arms) is to take care to level the tub, fore to aft and side to side, before taking any measurements or replicating previous readings.

[bbspdstr]

The necessary prerequisite for suspension work (particularly at the rear trailing arms) is to take care to level the tub, fore to aft and side to side, before taking any measurements or replicating previous readings.

I feel it appropriate to respectfully disagree with Herr Szabo's usually impeccable logic, but "replication" of an inclination can be done with the car being at any (reasonable) angle front to back. Side to side is somewhat important, but eyeballable.

The initial recording of what angle is to be replicated is all that's needed in such a case as merely installing new bushing on the t-bars.

It's the "starting from scratch" that requires the tub to be level, usually placing the protractor on an outer longitudinal and/or the tunnel, but after a "floor job" or total restoration (pro or hobbyist), the certainty of a reliable surface that is "level" may vary, so an average of as many points that can be measured is all that can be done if "book angles" are to be found as starting points.

Most owners will guesstimate changes away from the book angles anyway, as who really wants the rear wheels to have a positive camber? Even a C C-2 GS calls for +1*30' but I'd set it at 0 or the GT spec of -1*30'.

Here is the alignment method used for checking when a laser rack is unavailable. Used for years on many race cars, accurate enough for a primitive 356.