rear end alignment

[murjam]

Need Help. How do you set up the 3 link rear end so it is centered in the car, where and how do you take measurement's and how critical is it. Have tried using the string method that is used for front alignment but when the front wheels are the same distance on both sides the passenger rear wheel is up against the fender and the driver side has a 1" gap.

[michael everson]

I just center it on the body once the body has been fitted.
Mike

[egchewy79]

I made my rear measurements to the shock tower supports on either side. You could center to to the wheel wells once the body is on, but for me it was easier to center to the frame. Keep in mind that if you're running a staggered set up (9" in front and 10.5" in the rear), the rear tires will stick out further than the fronts, which might account for the difference when you're using a string method to line things up. I also found that my thrust angle (angle between centerline of the frame and rear axle) was not perfectly perpendicular, so when I tried using a string to align my front wheels off my rears, there was a large variance by the time I got to the front wheels with the string, side to side.

[NAZ]

I always establish a chassis center-line and place witness marks in strategic locations. Easier to do before assembly but can be done even with a body on the chassis for most cars. This is the longitudinal datum that all suspension points are located off of and the rear axle is centered from. I center the rear at ride height. If using a panhard bar, the lateral location of the axle will swing in an arc. A watts link does not.

Once centered in the chassis, the axle should be adjusted square to the longitudinal center line. If you're chassis builder did a good job, you have a rear cross member that is already squared to the longitudinal center-line that you can simply measure from but if not, you'll need to establish that datum line to measure from.

Centering and squaring the rear axle is one of the steps necessary to have a good handling car.

[FF33rod]

I just center it on the body once the body has been fitted.
Mike

Just a word of caution, there's very little about the body (Gen 1 and Gen 2) that is symmetrical. When I set the body up, levelling the front cowl and rear deck, the frame is showing slightly on one side but not on the other (tons of similar examples for other parts of the body)

Steve

[murjam]

I always establish a chassis center-line and place witness marks in strategic locations. Easier to do before assembly but can be done even with a body on the chassis for most cars. This is the longitudinal datum that all suspension points are located off of and the rear axle is centered from. I center the rear at ride height. If using a panhard bar, the lateral location of the axle will swing in an arc. A watts link does not.

Once centered in the chassis, the axle should be adjusted square to the longitudinal center line. If you're chassis builder did a good job, you have a rear cross member that is already squared to the longitudinal center-line that you can simply measure from but if not, you'll need to establish that datum line to measure from.

Centering and squaring the rear axle is one of the steps necessary to have a good handling car.

If I ran a straight edge along the rear tire and measured the distance from the straight edge to the frame just in front of the tire would that work. Thanks