rear spindle camber shims

[Directconnection]

Do stock rear suspension spindle to axle assemblies come from the factory allreay with shims to adjust the camber, or (what I am guessing) they do not. The camber shims are used at alignment shops only to set old and tired rear assemblies back to within spec?

[BIGBRUDDA]

They are shimmed from the factory. They are a P.I.T.A. to install. Most alignment guyz find some other way to get "results".

[ottawa rogue]

they aren't that bad to put in, i've done a ton of them.
it all depends on what the customer wants to do, back when i was doing alignments every day the usual labor charge was a half hour per side.
plus the shim.
the '93 and up N-body GMs were the worst, grand ams and such.
they ran the cable for the ABS sensor right out the back of the hub assembly, and you had to notch the shim to get around it

[Vigo]

its not too bad, worst part is the messy brake dust and bearing grease if you take it all the way off. been meaning to try some on mine but havent yet.

conceivably you could use spacers to change the alignment in any direction you want.

[GLHNSLHT2]

Les Schwab here in the Northwest doesn't charge any additional labor for adding the shims in their 4 wheel alignment deal. A nice $80 and you're done.

[Directconnection]

Aren't the shims rectangular shaped? I don't see any on this car and the spindles have never been off before unless when it was fairly new.

[GLHNSLHT2]

factory one's are probably rectangular if the car got them. I took mine out when I swapped to 11" brakes since I needed an alignment anyway. Without the shims 1 side was dead nuts and one side needed a shim. So maybe your axle didn't need them.

[Directconnection]

I will install the new brake setup to the new axle being used w/out shims then as I have no idea where to start from.

BTW...check out the new thread I am starting on rear axles.

[BIGBRUDDA]

Sound like yours is right on. I've seen none used, and a stack of 3-4. Those must have been "Monday morning cars".

[ottawa rogue]

Aren't the shims rectangular shaped? I don't see any on this car and the spindles have never been off before unless when it was fairly new.

Steve, you can get all different kinds of axle shims.
the ones i used the most were called northstar shims, just a round piece of ribbed plastic that the alignment machine said to cut at specific places and then you put it in.
you can get half shims that slip behind 2 of your spindle bolts, might be more what you're looking for.
find a parts store that has a Specialty Products alignment parts catalog, and you should be able to get what you need. I've also gotten them from NAPA.

[ottawa rogue]

here's the half shims i was talking about
http://www.specprod.com/CATALOG_DIR/Shims_Board_06.pdf
it's on page 5 of 6

[Speedeuphoria]

yeah I recently had mine aligned, although it was swaped to a R/T rear trailing are which had one shim per side. The allignment said one side was 0 and the other was -1.0. havent had time to consider making the adj yet

[Directconnection]

Steve, you can get all different kinds of axle shims.
the ones i used the most were called northstar shims, just a round piece of ribbed plastic that the alignment machine said to cut at specific places and then you put it in.

That's what I have in the donor r/t axle/brake setup. What sux is the yard used a torch to cut the axle instead of removing the brake assembly. Would have been great to just use that axle and keeping the shims in location as well.

I think whatever axle I use, I need to keep the shims as well and indexed the same as I am guessing the axle's tolerances demand what shims are needed where all spindles should be straight, so it doesn't matter what spindle and brake assembly I use.

[ottawa rogue]

you can always try one of those magnetic camber bubble gauges to get you in the ball park.
and for the toe, jack your car up, paint a stripe on the tread, put a score mark down the middle of the paint stripe with a nail or something and measure the score on the front and rear of the tires. the difference will be your toe in or out