Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

[Scott Liggett]

Finally took the car for a drive today. The tires were singing along as I had too much toe in. So, I turned the tie rod adjusters a half turn to push the toe out a bit on each side. Fixed the problem. Car tracks pretty straight. Just a little pull to the left. Better than the alignment I had done in Rio Vista. The front tires are pretty much wasted. Need to get new or used ones.

[Scott Liggett]

I ordered up CPP tie rod solid aluminum sleeves. I didn't get tie rods and idler arm from them because my question of what brand of tie rods/idler arm was answered "Whatever our supplier sends us that day.'" No offense guys, that is not a good answer. So, I got Moog stuff from my local supplier. Got a better price anyways.

[Monk]

I agree.......you're much better off with the Moog stuff.
You using any kind of reference for the front end settings?

[Scott Liggett]

I am backtracking a bit. Based on what Squirrel said, I am going to center the steering box and pitman arm, then use the string method to get somewhere close on the toe in so the car is at least driveable. Then I am hoping to do the custom strut rod setup we had planned. Then get it aligned by the shop here I trust.

[Scott Liggett]

Since I have been driving the car, I needed to get the front end a little closer to spec. I started by centering the steering linkage by making sure the pitman arm and idler arm are both pointing straight ahead. That way I know the steering box is up on it's center. The steering shaft behind the wheel has a notch that is supposed to be pointed straight up, but mine is pointing straight down. This could be caused when I replaced the steering box and rag joint a few years ago, but I am not sure how as I never removed the steering wheel when I did it. Weird.

Then I went back and did the old string method to set the toe. The right side was pretty far in as I expected by the way it drove. The left was pretty close. But, after each adjustment I made I went back to make sure the steering shaft is centered. This takes a while going back and forth.

In the end, the car drove better, but was pulling a bit to the left. But, I was more after getting the steering where it felt safe to drive and I did that. Oh BTW, my front tires are trashed. I got them used anyways three years ago, so I got my $40 out of them.

[Huskinhano]

You should invest in a camber/caster bubble gauge.

With all the mods I'm making to my 66, I figured I should buy one and learn how to do my own alignment. I can just imagine trying to tell the guys at Pep Boys on what I wanted and that that they might give a damn. I'm getting itchy to finish. I had to weld in some brackets and grind out the LCA bolt holes for my camber kit. That was fun grinding them out!

[Scott Liggett]

I have a fantastic alignment guy four blocks from home.

[Huskinhano]

I have a fantastic alignment guy four blocks from home.

I don't. LOL

[Bob Holmes]

We use Vise grips and lock the steering shaft down so that it can't move. Keeps you from having to repeatedly jump up to check the steering wheel.

[squirrel]

If you want to find out for sure where the center of the steering box is, disconnect the steering linkage and turn it lock to lock, count turns, then turn it back half way.

It's common for the rag joint to be off 180 degrees...although some of them use different size bolts on each side, so you have to work hard to mess it up.

[Monk]

Gotta get the steering right........I know what I went through on mine.
Looks like you're making progress.

[Scott Liggett]

If you want to find out for sure where the center of the steering box is, disconnect the steering linkage and turn it lock to lock, count turns, then turn it back half way.

It's common for the rag joint to be off 180 degrees...although some of them use different size bolts on each side, so you have to work hard to mess it up.

It is centered. It turns just over two turns in each direction. I made sure of that when I installed the new box.

[Scott Liggett]

Decided on tire size and brand. Nitto NT555 Extremes. 275/40ZR18 front/ 295/45ZR18's rear. Should fill up the big holes.in the fenders nicely. Still looking for wheels. Ones I have found I liked either dont come in the size I want, or they way out of my price range.

[ImpalaSam]

What tire/wheel sizes are you currently running? I've been wondering what will fit.

[Scott Liggett]

By comparison, rather small. 235/60/15 on 15x7's and 275/60/15 on 15x8's.

When going up to 15x8 and 15x10's on the Caprice, same chassis, I did a lot of measuring. I also test fitted 285/30/18's and 305/35/18's on Corvette ZR1 wheels on the car. Plenty of room for the tires and they looked small. The wheels looked kinda silly.





I couldn't let the jack all the way down in these pics as the rears needed a wider spacer than we had lying around. I didn't want to take a chance of damaging the wheels as they belonged to a friend.


I am not kidding myself, the rears will require some clearancing, but nothing major. The rear wheel wells are actually wider than the frame.