Impact of shims on caster and camber ?

[gbraun]

I just come from a alignment specialist to check the geometry of my rear axe and it's a disaster !

left right
caster - 0.49 +1,58 to 3.30
camber + 0,06 -0,07 to 0,30

So I need to play with some shims ........
But somebody knows the impact of the shim thickness on the caster and camber, i.e. if I put a 1mm shim what will be the change I suppose to have ?

[DieselSpider]

Your alignment specialist should have been able to tell you all that if he really is a specialist.

Its a solid rear axle on the 124 and camber is built into a solid axle so if the camber is off then it may be bent and a shop capable of straightening a drive axle would have to be consulted however it may be cheaper and safer to replace the drive axle. Are the trailing arm straight along with bushings in good shape or the body mounts for them not bent or rotted? No sense in shimming if the bushings are old/worn or the mounting points need to be welded back in their proper place and no amount of shims are going to correct a bent axle.

Was this the result of hitting a deep pothole or hitting a berm?

[gbraun]

I made a mistake, it's on the front axe !

[DieselSpider]

Did he have the car laden with 150 lbs of weight in each front seat and 140 lbs in the trunk when he checked the alignment or did he have access to the unladen specs?

While he had it up on the rack all set up why didn't he just finish the job?

Before going too far on this its good to review Eli's "The Quick & Dirty 124 Suspension Primer" (AKA: Understand your 124's Front end, and avoid being Killed, Maimed, or Suffering unneccesary Damage to your steed.) found on the MiraFiori site.

https://www.mirafiori.com/124susp/

[RRoller123]

Just a quick aside that may help while you sort through this. There are many free or very inexpensive carpenter's level apps for phones that are incredibly accurate and can be used to quickly measure camber. Just span across the wheel with a straight board or longer level, etc.

[OttawaTom]

When I did my alignment, I came up with this spreadsheet to predict what effect shims would have on the alignment, or what shims I would need to adjust the alignment.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

When you open it, you can go to "File->Download As" or "File->Make a Copy" in order to get an editable copy.

I think you'll have to have a Google account to view it.

Once I got better at actually measuring the camber and caster, it worked for me. Your mileage may vary.