Home Alignment Part 2, Still roughing it in but not looking good Options

[tracks914]

Rear. Measurements are differences across the 18" wheels from plumb.

Passenger side I have .700" + camber. Sticks out at the top. No shims left to remove.
Driver side I have .230" - camber with 2 small shims installed.

I can put more shims in the DS to bring it to 0 but how do I remove material to get the PS down to 0?

The car was rotisserie restored but the suspension points appeared good and were not touched. (Doesn't mean the car was "right" before I bought it)

What am I missing here?

[Shade Tree]

Is it possible that some welding was done during the restore that might have heated up some suspension points?

[SirAndy]

What am I missing here?

Bend trailing arm?

I had two of those, but mine were bend the other way. I had a 2" stack of shims to get to -1 deg. of camber ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon8.gif) Andy

[tracks914]

Is it possible that some welding was done during the restore that might have heated up some suspension points?

Not enough to move it that much, .010" I could see but not .700".
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon8.gif)

[john rogers]

Several things to consider, first is everything back together such as the engine and trans, etc? Second, is there weight in the drivers seat to replicate yours and a full tank of gas, etc? Third, was the car well braced before it was put on the rotisserie and how long was it off the ground? You have to remember that 30+ years of suspension point stresses suddenly dissappeared and the car was turned around and twisted and such so I could guess all the attachment points could be well off. The few that I have seen done here and by a couple of AZ shops always put the car on an alignment bench after all rotisserie work was complete and in all cases the car had to be "moved" and "adjusted" to get things ready for reassembly.

[r_towle]

New rear bushings?
Agree on the weight..
Put sand bags in the drivers seat to replicate your weight.

RIch

[tracks914]

Car was very well braced using turnbuckles to constantly check and adjust cross sectional twist and windshield and door gaps. When it wasn't being worked on it was set down on the factory assembly lines mounts on my bench.

No new rear bushings. Old ones appeared to have no play in them. I can see now if the inner rear bushing was bad it could add some + camber to the wheel. 3/4" seems like a lot though. Maybe through a combination of many things and being a northern car a PO might have done a power u-turn in the snow and had the rear wheel slam a curb?????

I think I'll check the trailing arm first.

[tracks914]

Did the toe in and camber all around. It didn't help the rear camber on the bad arm.
Went out to the pit and pulled the rear trailing arm off my spare shell. Tonight I will attempt to remove the shock bolt (seized in real good) and freshen it up to install on my car. I hope this helps.

[charliew]

It might be a lot of work but you might try to remove both rear arms and put a straight rod through the ears and try to compare the two sides to see if the ears are off or it's the arm thats bent. If the rods you use are long enough it will be easy to see a difference between the sides. You can change the outside ear hole some to raise the hole to get it closer.

[r_towle]

What wheels are you using that are 18"
I hope you are measuring from the metal wheel only, and not the rubber portion of the tire...

Rich

[tracks914]

2000 Boxster wheels. Metal only and using the depth part of a dial vernier to get accurate readings to the string.

I thought about moving the hole on the outside ear, weld a couple of washers on either side and re-drill higher but that's only if the trailing arm option doesn't work.

[charliew]

Before you move the hole make sure where you want the toe and that the toe is still in a useable range. The good thing is the outside piece is easily replaceable. I bet the arm is bent. Someone tried to jack my car up on the bottom of the arm and put a wrinkle in it but the bent arms I have seen are usually showing too much neg camber. Moving the hole up you may run out of room at the top. The arm has a flange on it where the bushing goes in, that is already real close to the top of the bracket.

[r_towle]

2000 Boxster wheels. Metal only and using the depth part of a dial vernier to get accurate readings to the string.

I thought about moving the hole on the outside ear, weld a couple of washers on either side and re-drill higher but that's only if the trailing arm option doesn't work.

So,
How did you get these wheels to bolt on?
I am asking specific questions.

Do you use a spacer?
Is the wheel straight? how do you know for sure?
Try this...jack up that wheel...spin it...(I use a milk crate for this) tape a pencil to a milk crate and while the wheel is spinning...slowly slide the pencil towards the wheel...if its warped, you will hear chirp chirp chirp as you start contacting the wheel. if its straight...it will hit the whole wheel all at once.
Go very slow...creap in to it.

Rich

[tracks914]

I can use a dial indicator for this.
I didn't check the rims but I did check the adapters when I put them on. They ran true. I have moved the car several times (even drove it around the block) to try and settle the suspension but when I came back the passenger rear is always .700" + camber. (Unless I am stopping the rim in the same spot every time I think it will be a good bet the rim is true. (who knows but I will have to check that out first thing tomorrow morning before I change arms.)

[tracks914]

Changed the trailing arm. Took the old one out and found some deformation on the underside that I hadn't noticed before. Put in a spare (thank god for a parts car) and checked again.
Edit edit

In my hast last night I forgot to roll the car back and forth and still had .400"+ camber. (better than the .722"+ I had before)
This AM I rolled it and it brought the camber down to about .100+.

I put 2 washers in the front hole of the shim plate, thus bringing the mounting point up by almost the same amount. Tightened everything, rolled the car back and forth and I am now at .125"- camber, where it should be. woo hoo.

Now time to square things up and redo the toe ins.