"special tool" to align Fbodies...
Thread Starter
TECH Junkie
iTrader: (5)
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,183
Likes: 3
From: Key West, Florida
"special tool" to align Fbodies... what's it called?
i want to be able to call the shop and confirm they have the tool so i can get a full alignment.
what is it that the tool allows you to adjust...seems like i remember it being caster/camber.
i want to be able to call the shop and confirm they have the tool so i can get a full alignment.
what is it that the tool allows you to adjust...seems like i remember it being caster/camber.
Band director posted this tool in a thread titled ( Alighment after K member install) at the bottom of the page here that i also asked about.
http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/otc7840.html
http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/otc7840.html
Thread Starter
TECH Junkie
iTrader: (5)
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,183
Likes: 3
From: Key West, Florida
that's where i saw it....couldn't think of how to search for it, or even where i saw it.
so is there a way to adjust caster/camber WITHOUT this? just in case.
i want more than a "toe-n-go" alignment
so is there a way to adjust caster/camber WITHOUT this? just in case.
i want more than a "toe-n-go" alignment
Here's my post from the other thread:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I just went and found my castor/camber tool. Mine was only like $50 and it's made by Specialty Products Company and the part # is 83775 Maybe another company carries them now since I think the company I got mine from is now out of business...
Hey! Just found it on amazon for $61, so you may be able to find it chaper:
http://www.amazon.com/Specialty-Prod.../dp/B000JZUS12
...and after a Google search, there are some places that have it for less than $50 too.
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Is this tool absolutely necessary for an alignment, no. However, my local shops don't have the tool and can't get the castor/camber exactly where it's supposed to be, so I just spent the $50 and I now own the tool to take to them.
The $50 tool is a cheaper tool and some people post that it's only good for 2-3 alignments vs. the $100-$150 versions...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I just went and found my castor/camber tool. Mine was only like $50 and it's made by Specialty Products Company and the part # is 83775 Maybe another company carries them now since I think the company I got mine from is now out of business...
Hey! Just found it on amazon for $61, so you may be able to find it chaper:
http://www.amazon.com/Specialty-Prod.../dp/B000JZUS12
...and after a Google search, there are some places that have it for less than $50 too.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Is this tool absolutely necessary for an alignment, no. However, my local shops don't have the tool and can't get the castor/camber exactly where it's supposed to be, so I just spent the $50 and I now own the tool to take to them.
The $50 tool is a cheaper tool and some people post that it's only good for 2-3 alignments vs. the $100-$150 versions...
This may sound rediculous but I'm gonna ask anyway.....is this the only tool you need to align an F-body? If that's the case, I'd buy it so I could do it myself. Forgive me, but I don't know squat in the "how to do an alignment" department. Then again, since I don't, maybe I'm better off leaving it to the professionals.
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It's refered to as a "J" hook, connects to the K-member and lower a arm so that you can adjust camber-caster while the suspension is loaded with out jacking it up. Other wise you will have to un-loading the suspension every time to adjust. Just makes it a LOT easier to do.
It's refered to as a "J" hook, connects to the K-member and lower a arm so that you can adjust camber-caster while the suspension is loaded with out jacking it up. Other wise you will have to un-loading the suspension every time to adjust. Just makes it a LOT easier to do.
I agree!
Last year, I retired from full time work, and now work part time at an Advance Auto Parts store. There's a GoodYear store located next door, with a new Hunter alignment rack, and I got friendly with one of the techs who works there.
I had installed new tie rod ends on my '96 Camaro last winter, while it was off the road, so the alignment had to be re-done. The tech says to me, "Just come up on Sunday morning, we'll get it set up on the rack, then you can set it anyway you want." I've "witnessed" a number of alignments, so I know the procedure, although I've never actually done one myself. But, I'm thinking this is really cool, so the following Sunday, I'm there bright and early.
Long story short....The car had been aligned a couple of times in the past, by a very experienced front end man. No, he didn't have the "J hook tool", and used a prybar. Yes, he got the settings "pretty close". No, there wasn't a "J hook tool" on the premises at the GoodYear store, and try as we might, we amateurs could't get it done with the prybar. So, we set the toe, so I could at least drive the car.
I went home and got on E-bay and got lucky, finding 2 of the tools pretty cheap. Having 2 of the tools is handy, as the "gauge holes" for setting the caster and camber are quite different in their distances from each other, so you don't waste time lengthening/shortening the tool while making the adjustments. We put the car back on the rack the following week, and got the settings "dead on"......
