cutting springs

[Mikewb]

after you cut a coil off of your springs do you just have to get a normal allignment or something that costs more?

[85_C10_Sleeper]

plan on having ALOT of shims if you dont have longer upper control arms...

But no just take it to an alignment shop and theyll do it. I do my own alignments, much funner that way and you can learn alot.

[N2TRUX]

The plain old alignment will do just fine.,

[Mikewb]

just want to cut one coil. is it safe to have that many shims?

[Mikewb]

ok thanks bro

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Mikewb

after you cut a coil off of your springs do you just have to get a normal allignment or something that costs more?

While an alignment is an alignment, some techs simply do not like working on modified/lowered vehicles & price the work accordingly. Try & find a shop that has a guy that's into 'classics' & you should be ok.

[Mikewb]

ok. how hard is it to allign yourself? you would only have to add shims on the upper control arm right?

[kev2809]

for camber...but if your wheels or turned in or out then its a little more work.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by Mikewb

ok. how hard is it to allign yourself? you would only have to add shims on the upper control arm right?

It takes special tools (gauges) to do this. It can be done "at home" if you have the proper equipment.....it is NOT an "eye-ball" thing.

[85_C10_Sleeper]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

It takes special tools (gauges) to do this. It can be done "at home" if you have the proper equipment.....it is NOT an "eye-ball" thing.

Its not an eyeball thing if you scribe the tires and do it that way... The way they do it on top fuel cars, Sprint cars, and the way they did it before about 15 years ago... I do mine at home because i have a Camber & Caster guage. And honestly. 90% of the time if you take it to a normal shop theyll do a terrible job because they dont know ANYTHING about suspension geometry and only know what the computer tells them to do.

But hey, to each its own.

[Mikewb]

Yea i agree ive had em done and truck pulled all over the road

[85_C10_Sleeper]

id pickup a camber caster guage... theyre 100-200 bucks, but its worth it.

[Shane]

don't believe everything you read online. take it to someone with the right equipment.

[Tony@AirRideTech]

Originally Posted by Shane

don't believe everything you read online. take it to someone with the right equipment.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by 85_C10_Sleeper

Its not an eyeball thing if you scribe the tires and do it that way... The way they do it on top fuel cars, Sprint cars, and the way they did it before about 15 years ago... I do mine at home because i have a Camber & Caster guage. And honestly. 90% of the time if you take it to a normal shop theyll do a terrible job because they dont know ANYTHING about suspension geometry and only know what the computer tells them to do.

But hey, to each its own.

You are obviouly acquainted with some very lousy shops....But, they are NOT affecting the actual geometry of the system by doing an alignment

Scribe the tires?
Alignment on a TF car is a very different thing....They have a TON of positive caster, for hi-speed stability. That's why they "flop" so badly at extreme turns.
Sprint cars...another bad example. They "steer" off of the rear tires (stagger) and the fronts are actually steering "into the turn" IE turned right while going left....

Bottom line, with-out a caster camber guage the only thing you can do is guess and "eyeball"....not good, it will eat your tires.

Just have it done by a quality shop with a warranty on the workmanship.

[leddzepp]

I chopped a full coil off of each of my springs, for a 2-2.5" drop. The alignment shop only had to add one additional shim to each stud on either side upper control arm.

[85_C10_Sleeper]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

Bottom line, with-out a caster camber guage the only thing you can do is guess and "eyeball"....not good, it will eat your tires.

Just have it done by a quality shop with a warranty on the workmanship.

I have a camber caster guage... i dont know if i said that allready. Good investment.

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by 85_C10_Sleeper

Its not an eyeball thing if you scribe the tires and do it that way... The way they do it on top fuel cars, Sprint cars, and the way they did it before about 15 years ago... I do mine at home because i have a Camber & Caster guage. And honestly. 90% of the time if you take it to a normal shop theyll do a terrible job because they dont know ANYTHING about suspension geometry and only know what the computer tells them to do.

But hey, to each its own.

The best place to go here in town is Jerl's Muffler on Indiana. There is a dude there named Scotty that has been doing alignments for over 30 years. He dialed my truck in perfectly.