In the post about the strut replacement I mentioned an article I wrote many years ago when I was racing my vintage Porsche 914-6. I did the article since at times we racers may not stay on the real racing surface and venture into the grass or dirt. After returning to the pits it is always a very good idea to see what happened to the alignment during the off track experience! The link for the website is at the end of this post.

Note, the measurements are for 15 inch wheels which out HHRs do not have of course so you can use the measurements from the article with a slight adjustment as follows. When you measure the camber on larger wheels, you have to reduce the reading to be the same as shown in the article.

16 inch wheels = measurement x 0.9375
17 inch wheels = measurement x 0.88235
18 inch wheels = measurement x 0.8333

This gives the camber amount and remember negative camber is okay but positive is not so good. This means the top measurement must be higher than the lower measurement. Toe in/out can also be measured with larger wheels, just adjust the same as the camber. Again, toe in is okay while toe out is bad and will result in very twitchy steering with the car wanting to dart all over the road.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...ome_toe_in.htm

 

Thanks for posting the link oldracer.

It figures. 2 days ago I bought an angle meter from the local hardware joint. Wanted something to throw up against the front wheels to do a self check on the camber.
Now, you're gonna have me out there double checking my $10 meter.
And, my wife will say: "Now,what are you doing to the SS ?"

Seriously. Thanks again for the link and conversion factors.

 

Here are some additional bits. Make sure the car is on a level hard surface such as a driveway or parking lot. A slight angle to allow rain run off will not hurt any. In looking at the suspension, any adjustments are done under neath like with my wife's Deville so if changes are needed I would say have an alignment shop do it. The toe in/out gauge is made from two pieces of aluminum sheet with notches and the ones I had were made by me although most places that sell sheet metal will cut it and also bend it. To soften the cost of that have someone go in as a part owner of the tool. If you do adjust the toe, make sure to roll and bounce the car some to settle any changes. Our suspension is heavy enough that you do not need a person sitting in the car like I did with the race car as it was much more sensitive.

 

And only use the rim lip fir measurements...the spoke/ flat surfaces are generally no square to the hub and will give false measurements...

 

Made this a Sticky oldracer, too much good info to have it get lost over time.

Thanks for adding to our knowledge base!

 

Thanks for the extra info oldracer.
I used to turn wrenches for a living, so I'm pretty familiar with doing any adjustments at home. I have a workshop with a level floor. Just don't have an alignment machine like we had at my old job. I've swapped a couple sets of front springs, looking for a good combo. Just didn't want to get it realigned every time. When I decide which ones are best, I'll take it to the neighborhood store for a final alignment on their machine.
Thanks again.