[Guest]

Took my car to get alligned at a local place, they said they couldn't do it.

They said it needs a new pitman arm, and that it was too low to allign, pfft come on.

I've read that the pitman arm is not a item that usually wears out, but the grease fitting on my pitman arm wont take grease? If it is bad, how do you take it out? How do you make sure its bad?

Anyone know a decent aligment shop by the west suburbs?

 

[Guest]

too low to allign,

You may have to do off-set cross
shafts for your upper control arms.
Most times it's the only way to get
camber to an acceptable setting with
the lowering springs.
From the pic in your sig the car has
a pretty good drop, looks even lower
than my Hotchkis, and I needed them.

 

[Guest]

My wagon has to be lower than your car.....and I got it aligned with no problems.

Of sourse my local shop just dumped much $$$ for the newest, most bad azzed laser alignment setup.

Find another shop. BTW, mine had 176,000+ miles on it, with NO suspension related maintenance.

 

[Guest]

Just buy yourself a camber/caster gauge and get a piece of string to set your toe. It's all I ever use... aligning our cars is not hard at all. The only adjustments are the shims on the upper arms and the tie rod sleeves.

I'll admit that if you are wanting 0.1" of toe.. the string method may not be perfect... but I bet you can't tell the difference when you drive the car.

 

[Guest]

All the other aligment places i've gone to say the car is too low to get in on the rack and other excuses..

 

[Guest]

I had no problems getting my 9C1 aligned with the ST springs in it. You need to find an old school alignment guy. Ask a GOOD bodyshop who they use. Some even have an in-house guy.

 

[Guest]

What exactly wears out in a pitman arm???

I could see the steering box wearing out and I could see the center link ball joint where the pitman connects to wearing out. But the pitman arm is a piece of bent steel with a funky spline groove on one end and a taper hole in the other...unless it's moving in the centerlink (not torqued down right previously) I really don't see how one could "wear out."

When I put Hotchkis springs in my car I had quite a few places turn me down. It WAS pretty low. I mean the front airdam was like 3" off the ground. So I don't blame them. But, most places will not touch a car that has been modified. So don't even bother trying to explain that your 9C1 has factory Impala SS springs. Practice this: "Yeah, it's stock."

I had to take mine to an old fashioned performance shop in the city where they put it on a really old Hunter rack. The kid doing the job did a great job, too. They had to tack the cross shaft bolts to the frame to do the job. And still charged me only $90.

 

[Guest]

And that guy you took it to, is either a BS'ter, or completely unknowledgeable

.

1st) The Pitman Arm(PA) almost NEVER fubarbs.
2nd) The Zerk[grease] Fitting for PA is actually fitting that greases ball assembly in CENTER LINK[where it's attached to PA].
DO NOT go back to that Shop!!!

Touch base with some of the Impala/Caprice Clubs in your area. See who they use.

EDIT ADD: If that Zerk Fitting refuses to take grease, install a new one.

 

[Guest]

I still haven't been able to allign the car. Ive been to a few places. Most of the places said it was too low, two places lifted the car and did not put the rear springs on again correctly(had to do it myself). Someone from Chicago has to allign lowered cars... Chicago people where are you?

Im feeling like putting on the 4x4 9C1 springs again.....

 

[Guest]

Go to a place that got laser alingment they'll do it no prob thats what I did and my car is pretty low
no prob at all afterwards

 

[Guest]

What exactly are they sayin is too low to get on the rack? The front or the rear. Not sure if it will work on a b-body or not but back when i was into lowriders pretty hard. I would take 2 blocks of wood with me to the alignment shop and once I got there jack it up place them between the frame and the rear axle (on top) and pull it up on the rack have them align it drive it back off and take the blocks out. Worked on all my cutlasses that I used to own and they were tuckin 13" rims.

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by claSSic Caprice:
Someone from Chicago has to allign lowered cars... Chicago people where are you?

Im feeling like putting on the 4x4 9C1 springs again.....

I usually did all mine myself but i'm not working right now so i took my ride to Just Tires in Hillside, IL(right of 290 expressway). The guy pulled it right on the rack, spent about 2 hours getting it all set right, and haven't had a problem with it. Usually they charge $69...i paid an extra $30 due to the bigger wheels

 

[Guest]

That too low is BS....I work at a Cadillac/Chevrolet dealer in Louisville and I have done one of the younger techs lowered Civic.91 w/30mm drop.
I do new Vettes and XLR Cadillacs and they have very low front air dams.I did my lowered 00 S-10 with the assistance of some 2x4s to get it up the ramp.The bodyshop guys have a modified RX7 that they bring over too.
If I can still see the top of the rims without the fenderwell covering it I can get it up there and get the measurements.
21 years of doing this and I think I can handle a dropped B body.
Did you put in a new Center link grease fitting??
The frt end has to be tight with no excessive play in the parts or you're wasting your time and money.
If you can get to Louisville,I am at BROWN BROS CADILLAC/CHEVROLET at 4th and Broadway.Ask for Craig.

 

[Guest]

With Caster being a mathematical equasion and not a "LIVE" measurement as camber, and TOE are how can you competently set caster without having an alignment machines help. Ive probably done over 1000 alignments and persoanlly i think our cars SUCK to align the shims are GAY.

Why cant we have a cam setup like a ford truck?

Aligning without a machine can get you close on the toe and camber/ But without a machine or knowing the right math (WHICH I DONT) your caster will be off and cause a pull. Not tire wear though as caster doent cause wear but i see it cause pulls all the time.

 

[Guest]

Edited my post...it was Just Tires i was referring too. Can usually find a $10 off coupon in the papers as well. So roughly $65 then after taxes for a computer alignment and you don't have to be out in the cold.

 

[Guest]

I find it much easier to align it myself. All you need is a string really. Disconnect tierods from steering knuckles. Use the string as a guide by extending it from your straight rear tires to the front... With steering knuckles disconnected adjust wheel so its flush. Let car down on ground... adjust tierod end to slide in the knuckle then button up!

I found that the shops align the tires in the air with linkages connected. I noticed when i lower my car on my lift with linkages connected... as it touches the ground the wheels push out as the control arms and such shift.

Wheels are on straight... no pulling... steering wheel is dead on... im happy!

 

[Guest]

The car pulls to the right all the time, especially on bumps and roads with steep road crown. Bad parts, or alligment out of spec?

 

[Guest]

go to www.badbodies.com and register.....then ask your question..lots of good guys on our board

 

[Guest]

I had my car done at Pep Boys, but they didn't do a very good job. My car is lowered a little bit with stock SS springs.

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by claSSic Caprice:
but the grease fitting on my pitman arm wont take grease?

Good luck finding a shop. Looks like cashmoneyspeed has given you a lead.

I had a bad factory grease fitting on my Caprice - the little check ball was seized and after the factory grease wore out the outer tie rod had significant wear. I could grab the tie rod and it had serious play in it, rotating and twisting probably 1/4" or more in each direction.

Easy to change a zerk fitting, it has a hex head on it so it just unscrews. Hopefully your connection at this spot isn't dry already and you have minimal or no wear.