can you align a car with 14's up front and 15's in the back

[ACUDANUT]

A local clown tells me no, he won't do it.

[Chryco Psycho]

Sure , even with 15" wheels you can have two different height tires .
Why have him align it though , max the caster by turning the front eccentric all the way out& the rear all the way in
adjust the rear back out a little if you need to correct camber which can be checked with a level & set your toe at 1/16 of an inch & go
That way it wilol be aligned better than the way he would do it as the specs are for bias tires not radials & the car will not steer properly set to factory spec .

[FLG]

Why not? Only thing he could adjust is the front anyways. Either do what chryco says or find a shop more adept to classic cars...they need to know how to do it without the machine.

[A383Wing]

mine got aligned that way.....no difference in aligning if all wheels were the same height either...

Bryan

[ACUDANUT]

It's beyond my skill level.

[A383Wing]

A local clown tells me no, he won't do it.

then stay away from that clown in the future

Bryan

[440]

Make sure all your measurements are taken at ride height. Bounce the front suspension a few times to settle it before measuring.

[HPP]

Somehow I bet he could align something with 18s and 20s.

Take CP's advice and save your self from dealing with the local ignoramus.

[Patronus]

I dont like the circus either 

[gtx6970]

can you ? yes.

should you ? no

depending on the tire height it will effect King pin angle  and/or steering angle measurements which effects toe in - toe out on turns measurements

[mauve66]

 

i thought just the trks had king pins............

Sure , even with 15" wheels you can have two different height tires .
Why have him align it though , max the caster by turning the front eccentric all the way out& the rear all the way in
adjust the rear back out a little if you need to correct camber which can be checked with a level & set your toe at 1/16 of an inch & go
That way it wilol be aligned better than the way he would do it as the specs are for bias tires not radials & the car will not steer properly set to factory spec .

maybe someone has a step-by-step with pics................ for those of us that are phonetically challenged..................

[Scaregrabber]

I guess the T/A's and AAR's were okay only because they had 15 inch rims all around?


Sheldon

[ACUDANUT]

All cars from the factory came with the same size tires and rims, not just AAR's and T/A's.

[Kern Dog]

ALL cars? Vipers too?
Maybe you meant to write....MOST cars from the musclecar era? The T/A and AAR used different tire sizes on the same diameter rims.

[Scaregrabber]

The wife's Honda S2000 has different size front and rear tires as well. I'd be happy to take that dork for a ride in it and see if he makes a mess in his pants in the corners.

Sheldon

[mauve66]

reminds me of the time i was getting the current tires on my car.  the tire guy told me that i didn't want 14's on the front and 15's on the back, he said i "needed" the same size tires at all 4 corners

[A383Wing]

newer corvettes come with different sizes front to rear....guess that car cannot be aligned either?

Bryan

[ACUDANUT]

ALL cars? Vipers too?
Maybe you meant to write....MOST cars from the musclecar era? The T/A and AAR used different tire sizes on the same diameter rims.

yes

[gtx6970]

i thought just the trks had king pins............

Sure , even with 15" wheels you can have two different height tires .
Why have him align it though , max the caster by turning the front eccentric all the way out& the rear all the way in
adjust the rear back out a little if you need to correct camber which can be checked with a level & set your toe at 1/16 of an inch & go
That way it wilol be aligned better than the way he would do it as the specs are for bias tires not radials & the car will not steer properly set to factory spec .

maybe someone has a step-by-step with pics................ for those of us that are phonetically challenged..................

It's called king pin angle .. some call it it steering axis inclination.

it's the line of angle between the upper and lower ball joint in relation to the centerline  of the tire to road contact patch. as viewed from the front or rear of the vehicle.


Like I said, CAN you do it ? Yes. And I've done it dozens of times over the years.

But , just because you can doesn't mean you should.

[Dino]

So, what are the odds the guys at Discount tire know how to do this?  I'll have either 245/60 or 235/60 up front and 275/60 on the rear, both on 15" rims.

[mauve66]

our discount tire out here don't do alignments, they just sell you the tires/wheels and say hope ya remember to check the lug nuts after 50 miles

[FLG]

Stay away from big tire chains. Find the local guy that knows what he's doing ans doesn't need a computer to tell him. Where are you located?

[poppa]

I agree with mauve66. We need pics! I too will be swapping ing new front end parts and have heard stories about getting an alinment on the new equipment. I don't know anyone around me that does older stuff.

[mauve66]

bump (steer)  hahahaha, couldn't help myself
where are the pics wilber??
local shop that did old cars around here went under

[ACUDANUT]

Yea, I need step by step on how do do this also.  Do I need any special tools