RJP 951

I pulled my a-arms from their chassis and crossmember mounts in order to get to my motor mounts. I marked the position of the rear mounting block and bolts before loosening so I could reinstall in the same location, but I still managed to get things a little out of alignment.

After all that work to do the motor mounts, my steering wheel is slightly off-center (very slight), and I've got that famous vibration in the steering at about 60-70 MPH, when it didn't exist before.

What can I do? Should I loosen the bolts and try aligning again with my marks? If so, can I do this with the wheels mounted (with front end lifted)? Or, is it a lost cause and I need an alignment?

Thanks in advance.
Ron

adrial

I think its a crap shoot...either that or it has something to do with yanking the cross member.

First time I yanked the control arms was to do the motor mounts...dropped the cross member as you know...scribed the marks...put it back together...no go...needed an alignment.

Second time I yanked the control arms was to replace with fabcar a-arms...no alignment necesary after that...again, I had scribed the marks.

F18Rep

Well since nobody is offering a solution, I'l risk the flames to step up with my sure fire way to swag in a front suspension. You guys don't know (or care) but I've had the front suspension out of my car 3 times in recent months, (steel control arms, reseal rack & engine removal). Each time I came to this problem and knowing I would have to get a proper alignment but not sure if I wouldn't have the steering back apart in anotehr week or two. So I came up with a way of getting the toe-in close. Here is my method, I did this with late offset phone dials which (are incorrect for my car but) appear to place the outside sidewall of the front tires in line with the rears). This little detail may be critical to this method. Car must be resting on wheels. Use a small spring clamp to attach a string to the rear fender lip (1 string for each side of car). Notch the string in a shoulder groove of the rear tire about 5 inches off of the ground and stretch it forward, well past the front tires, devise a means of keeping the string tight and position it close to the front tires (and not touching the body). Now straighten your steering wheel & "re-calibrate" the strings. Tweak both tie-rods till the string just touches both the front & rear portion of the front tire. I was surprised at how this cleared up my 65 mph shimmy. You're good for local flight tests but find a good alignment shop....Bruce

RJP 951

Thanks for your replies. Should I just get a front-end alignment, considering the circumstances?

Anyone know of a good alignment shop in NE Ohio (east side of Cleveland, more specifically).

Thanks
Ron