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Author Topic: Pinto use shims  (Read 3240 times)

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Offline pintovol

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Pinto use shims
« on: January 04, 2012, 07:40:42 PM »
Does a 1976 use shims ti lone the frontend up

Mike Modified

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2012, 09:34:39 PM »
No.  The upper A-arm mounts with two slotted holes which provide sufficient adjustment for alignment.
 
Mike

Offline pintovol

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2012, 09:32:08 AM »
well i took it to get lined up and they said they couldnt line it...said to out of wack couldnt adjust  >:( :o

but it drive good just a SLIGHT pull to left


Offline slowride

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2012, 09:47:30 AM »
We would need to know exactly WHY it couldn't be aligned to determine what the cause is. Was it caster, camber, toe-in?

Offline pintovol

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2012, 09:49:36 AM »
he said the toe was good, but couldnt adjust camber..not really sure why,,,said he saw no where to adjust i think

Offline slowride

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2012, 11:44:56 AM »
Find another shop. Camber is easily (and obviously) adjustable. They must be great at aligning Hondas.....

Offline pintovol

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2012, 12:08:03 PM »
he said the drivers side was to far out...hell i dont know ;D

Offline pintovol

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2012, 07:43:33 PM »
well i took it to another shop, they said their machine went back to the 40s

they were able to line it up..said the camber was out 2 degrees but it adjusted. and every thing was in the "green light" OK

don't know what was wrong with the other shop


but he said to get my steering wheel back to where it needs to be I need to take it off and put it back on

instead of it being straight across at the 1 and 9 o'clock positions ..its at 5 and 11 is the wheel hard to get off?

Offline slowride

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2012, 09:26:13 PM »
You will likely need a puller, but it's pretty straight forward to do. Glad you found a shop that actually knows what they're doing. They should have centered the wheel as part of the alignment though.

Mike Modified

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2012, 10:40:25 PM »
It is NOT fully aligned until the steering wheel is straight.
 
A shop should be smart enough to lengthen the slots so that perfect align is possible.
 
Mike

Offline v8junkie

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2012, 11:59:32 PM »
Sadly the cars that are older than the people using the machines at the tire shops get misdiagnosed because they don't have the experience to know how to adjust them. Glad you found a shop that figured it out.
73 Pinto Wagon
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Offline Srt

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2012, 10:28:39 AM »
well i took it to another shop, they said their machine went back to the 40s

they were able to line it up..said the camber was out 2 degrees but it adjusted. and every thing was in the "green light" OK

don't know what was wrong with the other shop


but he said to get my steering wheel back to where it needs to be I need to take it off and put it back on

instead of it being straight across at the 1 and 9 o'clock positions ..its at 5 and 11 is the wheel hard to get off?

the proper way to center a steering wheel is to adjust the tie rod ends (outers) accordingly. if the wheel is canted to the right when you are traveling in a straight line that means the wheels are pointed to far left.  you need to adjust the tie rods to pull/push both front wheels to the right. 
keep doing this little by little adjusting the same distance on each side until the wheel is straight and then double check the toe
the only substitute for cubic inches is BOOST!!!

Offline slowride

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #12 on: January 07, 2012, 12:00:09 PM »

the proper way to center a steering wheel is to adjust the tie rod ends (outers) accordingly. if the wheel is canted to the right when you are traveling in a straight line that means the wheels are pointed to far left.  you need to adjust the tie rods to pull/push both front wheels to the right. 
keep doing this little by little adjusting the same distance on each side until the wheel is straight and then double check the toe
While this is the textbook way to center, the real world often has a different idea. I just replaced the rack in my 74, and centered the rack between locks. When I connected the coupler, the steering wheel was off about 75 degrees. I could not adjust the tie rod ends enough to center the wheel without adjusting one or the other out further than I was comfortable with. After alignment (the shop didn't center my wheel either), I just popped the wheel off and centered it. Since there isn't an index spline, it'll go back on in any position. Rack centered, wheel centered, down the road.....

Offline Srt

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #13 on: January 08, 2012, 03:45:12 AM »
While this is the textbook way to center, the real world often has a different idea. I just replaced the rack in my 74, and centered the rack between locks. When I connected the coupler, the steering wheel was off about 75 degrees. I could not adjust the tie rod ends enough to center the wheel without adjusting one or the other out further than I was comfortable with. After alignment (the shop didn't center my wheel either), I just popped the wheel off and centered it. Since there isn't an index spline, it'll go back on in any position. Rack centered, wheel centered, down the road.....

hence the use of the word 'proper' 
 
as you experienced, the 'real' world may have other ideas.
 
the only substitute for cubic inches is BOOST!!!

Offline pintoman2.0

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Re: Pinto use shims
« Reply #14 on: January 08, 2012, 11:04:28 AM »
Pintovol,

If you have never pulled a wheel before, some are splined really tight or might have some rust in them. When you get to the point where you can't turn the push bolt any farther, don't keep cranking, you will only break something. Rap on the push bolt and it will help to loosen the splines. It might pop loose on the first hit or you might have to tighten it up and hit it again a few more times.

P