Hi guys, I am looking to do a complete wheel alignment setup on my 1989 ABS 328 and am looking for some help please on technique and the settings for road use. I have lots of spanners and time but not a lot of knowhow. I also have four new standard tyres and rims on the car, completely flat floor, string lines, a Dunlop Optical AGO30 toe gauge, camber gauge, 175lbs/80kg in the driver’s seat and half a tank of fuel/gas. Any other thoughts please? I was going to start at the rear, changing shims on each side of a lower wish arm to set the toe while using string lines to the front wheels to set the toe-in evenly on each rear wheel and then the AGO30 to set the final toe-in figure, please could you recommend this figure? Then I would change equally the thickness of shims on both sides of the wish bone to set the camber for that wheel, please could you recommend this figure? Would this change the toe? Now for the fronts, I see the top and bottom ball joints have a number of shims I can move to each side of each ball joint to set the caster. Would I be right in thinking I can use a line from the centre of the top ball joint to the bottom ball joint to set this angle? Or should it be done with turning plates and 20 in 20 out turning of the steering wheel? Please could you recommend technique and this figure? Once this is set, do I move the top and bottom shims on each ball joint in even amounts to keep the caster angle the same (if movement is possible) so adjusting the distance between the front and rear wheel hubs for both sides of the car? With the toe being set by the steering ball joints, do I shim both sides of the lower wish arm to the same thicknesses to set the camber? Please could you recommend this figure? Then finally the toe-in and please could you recommend this figure? I hope this is not too much to ask, I searched this site and haven’t found this info but guess this may have been documented before. I just can’t find it and would like modern day figures if you guys find the car works better with them.
You're correct about the shims and how they affect the settings. Find the factory specs, check your car now and go from there. The owners manual should have the specs in it. I prefer to not have positive camber up front like Ferrari suggests on some models because this is intended to increase understeer (among other things) to save you from yourself if you go too hot into a corner. I stick with stock toe settings front and rear, typically I'll stick with stock caster settings and go a little more negative on camber but thats it. The pros outweigh the cons on the older cars in that the tires will be hard plastic long before they're worn out but I dont go extreme on the camber anyway.
Using string lines along with your Dunlop Optical AGO30 toe gauge is a solid technique. As for the final toe-in figure, aiming for around 1/16 to 1/8 inch toe-in for road use should provide a good balance between stability and responsiveness. For tweaking camber, adjusting the shims on the lower wishbone should work well. Shoot for a bit of negative camber, like around -0.5 to -1 degree, for better grip in corners while keeping straight-line stability. When it comes to setting caster, using a line from the top ball joint to the bottom one is the classic move. Aim for about 3 to 5 degrees of positive caster to improve steering feel and stability. Keeping even caster angles on both sides is crucial for balanced handling. Finally, for toe-in, aligning the steering ball joints and then adjusting the lower wishbone shims evenly should get you on the right track.
