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Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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| | | | Joined: May 2006 Posts: 8,351 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: May 2006 Posts: 8,351 | With the lighter trucks, since no light truck really uses a beam axle anymore, most shops that only handle the lighter vehicles do not keep those wedges on hand. Shops that handle the heavier trucks should have them, even then, they'll have to be trimmed down on the sides to fit (not really a big deal). I aligned mine myself, only reason I didn't change the caster is that I didn't have the shims. I have the part numbers, just need to get around to getting them.
Bill Burmeister
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 | I guess I'm just too accustomed to doing it right the first time. Changing camber with a couple of big chains, a piece of I-beam, and a 20-ton bottle jack was routine around all the shops where I've worked, and caster shims were always kept in stock. Most of those shops (including one school shop) still had the twist fixtures for adjusting caster on one side only.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
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| | | | | Joined: May 2006 Posts: 8,351 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: May 2006 Posts: 8,351 | I se what you mean, Jerry. Anymore, most shops won't even keep equipment or parts around for vehicles over 20 years old anymore. It's even worse when you're in a chain shop with district people who view obsolete equipment and parts as "clutter". I don't know how many times that my predecessor and I had to stop people from tossing out tools simply because they didn't know what they were for due them being for older cars. It got to the point that I simply just asked if I could have it if they weren't going to keep it. Got some good front end tools that way.
I won't say that we didn't keep any shims at all on hand, we had the IFS shims on hand, plus the shims for the twist beam rear axles in FWD cars, plus assorted cam bolts for IFS trucks and strut cars. Sometimes, it was a hard sell to convince people that they needed the additional part (plus labor) over the cost of the initial alignment. We just never kept I beam shims. In fact, my truck was one of two beam axle vehicles that even got put up on that rack, the other being a '31 Model A hotrod.
I guess it's just a situation of how time and technology changes, then we go and throw a wrench in the works with our 40+ year old trucks.
Bill Burmeister
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