Shim adjustment system and method for wheel alignment apparatus

Abstract

The system includes camber and toe sensing apparatus, a memory for storing camber and toe specifications for a plurality of vehicles, and a computer. The computer compares sensed camber and toe with corresponding specification of camber and toe, selects a shim from a plurality of standard shims and a shim orientation to attempt to correct both camber and toe in accordance with a preset priority, and determines residual camber error and residual toe error that would result from installation of the shim at the selected orientation. The user may select another orientation that attempts to correct both camber and toe in accordance with the manually requested desired priority. The user works with the system interactively, and can request various error priorities or allocation on the fly. The residual errors resulting from the selected priorities are displayed in substantially real time to provide visual feedback. The display includes a graphical representation of the shim to be inserted, shown in the installation orientation. The size of the representation of the shim may be made the same as the actual size of the shim. The user then places the actual shim up to the display and marks it appropriately for installation. This is especially useful for two piece shims which have parts movable with respect to each other to set shim taper. The actual size representation on the display facilitates orienting both parts of two part shims properly.