alignment problems

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ernie flores

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I recently rebuilt the front suspension on my 1968 a body barracuda fastback but my alignment guy says something is wrong because my torsion bar is rubbing on the tie rod. First he said it was my center link was put on backwards is it possible? Now he says he can't get it to align right that it pulls to the right when driven. This car came with a six cylinder and we put a 340 with V-8 torsion bars. what is wrong Thanks.
 
Hard to say........................PHOTOS!!!!...........................

You may have a mix and match of early / late center link / pitman / idler components, someone may have bored out the holes taper trying to get something to fit,

What all exactly have you changed?
 
The steering box and idler arm are both adjustable and can be made to move the linkage up or down. It's all in the Mopar Suspension manual ninth edition. Get it and READ IT.

Other than that, find a new alignment shop.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The steering box and idler arm are both adjustable and can be made to move the linkage up or down. It's all in the Mopar Suspension manual ninth edition. Get it and READ IT.
Click to expand...

?hhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
 
Mancini Racing has them cheap.
 
67Dart273 said:
?hhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
Click to expand...

Have you not read the Mopar Suspension book? It's all in there. Pitman arm angle is fully adjustable by utilizing front end shims between the box and K frame. Likewise, the idler arm is adjusted by filing the holes in the K frame to reposition the idler arm. There are specific measurements from the floor to the idler arm and pitman arm. These measurements must be the same on each side. Also, there are specific measurements from where the outer rods attach to the floor. It's all in the suspension book. Been in there 40 plus years.
 
I can't find book "Mopar Suspension" manual in Mancini's website. I see chassis. Is Mopar Suspension the proper book title?
Thanks
 
bbeep71 said:
I can't find book "Mopar Suspension" manual in Mancini's website. I see chassis. Is Mopar Suspension the proper book title?
Thanks
Click to expand...

You want the chassis book.

You should post some pics of what is installed so folks can really help you out.
 
Here's the '79 bulletin pdf if it helps ..........................

[ame]http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/DC_Suspension_Race_Manual.pdf[/ame]
 
RustyRatRod said:
Have you not read the Mopar Suspension book? It's all in there. Pitman arm angle is fully adjustable by utilizing front end shims between the box and K frame. Likewise, the idler arm is adjusted by filing the holes in the K frame to reposition the idler arm. There are specific measurements from the floor to the idler arm and pitman arm. These measurements must be the same on each side. Also, there are specific measurements from where the outer rods attach to the floor. It's all in the suspension book. Been in there 40 plus years.
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sorry buddy you are gonna have to do better. Title, and page at minimum.

I have something called a "Chassis" book and something about "Oval track". What I'm getting at is this is not a factory "adjustment". It might be "fine tuning" but it certainly should not be needed to fix interference between moving parts.

There is no alignment shop on the planet that is going to go around grinding pitman arm brackets
 
There is no alignment shop on the planet that is going to go around grinding pitman arm brackets

and if they did it on my car I'd flip out!
 
2020 and i have the same problem, tie rod rubbing torsion bar, also if I turn completely to the right the idler arm hits the oil pan :/.

All tie rods, idler, pitman, ball joints and bushings are new.

No idea whats wrong.

IMG_20200810_144600179.jpg


IMG_20200810_145011119.jpg


IMG_20200810_144548135.jpg
 
and...what car is this
........did you do the work or did a shop
........ is anything modified from stock
 
Miguel Castro said:
2020 and i have the same problem, tie rod rubbing torsion bar, also if I turn completely to the right the idler arm hits the oil pan :/.

All tie rods, idler, pitman, ball joints and bushings are new.

No idea whats wrong.

View attachment 1715577734

View attachment 1715577735

View attachment 1715577736
Click to expand...

Looks like a flat zerk fitting will fix that. Why is there grease slathered all over everything?

And...

kursplat said:
and...what car is this
........did you do the work or did a shop
........ is anything modified from stock
Click to expand...

This! What year, make and model? What parts? Who did the work?

Hard to help if we don’t know some of the basic information at the least.
 
kursplat said:
and...what car is this
........did you do the work or did a shop
........ is anything modified from stock
Click to expand...

Plymouth Duster 74 slant six

The car came with drum brakes in the front, I switched to disc brakes.

I am in Mexico, the work was done by a mechanic but it is not as formal as in the USA. Next week I'll take him back to the workshop but I want to understand what it could be, the mechanics in Mexico can be very tricky
 
72bluNblu said:
Looks like a flat zerk fitting will fix that. Why is there grease slathered all over everything?

And...



This! What year, make and model? What parts? Who did the work?

Hard to help if we don’t know some of the basic information at the least.
Click to expand...

About the grease, i take the car to lubricate and they use and hidraulic pump for the grease
 
I went out and took a look at the clearance on my car, it has the same 73+ style center link so the tie rod position should be similar to yours. On my car there's more than an inch of clearance between the tie rod end and the torsion bar, and I have 1.12" torsion bars. So my concern would be that something in your steering system is bent. If it cleared before and the pitman was recently changed then it may be that you have the wrong pitman arm on there.

It also looks like the pitman doesn't have a grease boot on it, which it should have. Which may explain why there's grease everywhere. A brand new pitman arm should have come with a boot, so, something isn't right.
 
kursplat said:
so what did you use for the disk conversion?

well, they don't care about how much they spend on grease :lol:
Click to expand...

The front suspension from a Dart 76 donor, we reuse spindles and calipers but we replace the boot, hose, and seal), the upper and lower control arm are the same of the drum brakes, UCA are "new" (not the original from factory)

Pitman number part are k7076 from TRW, idler arm k7086 from Tread Saver.

Could be the problem? a twisted K frame? a bad tie rod position? tired torsion bars? to have been born in Latin America? China?

Some pictures from the conversion

WhatsApp Image 2020-01-28 at 9.52.43 AM.jpeg


WhatsApp Image 2020-01-28 at 9.52.44 AM.jpeg


WhatsApp Image 2020-02-26 at 5.03.53 PM.jpeg


WhatsApp Image 2020-02-18 at 5.58.41 PM.jpeg


WhatsApp Image 2020-02-26 at 5.18.54 PM.jpeg
 
72bluNblu said:
I went out and took a look at the clearance on my car, it has the same 73+ style center link so the tie rod position should be similar to yours. On my car there's more than an inch of clearance between the tie rod end and the torsion bar, and I have 1.12" torsion bars. So my concern would be that something in your steering system is bent. If it cleared before and the pitman was recently changed then it may be that you have the wrong pitman arm on there.

It also looks like the pitman doesn't have a grease boot on it, which it should have. Which may explain why there's grease everywhere. A brand new pitman arm should have come with a boot, so, something isn't right.
Click to expand...

Thanks, on my car the driver side have more space between torsion bar and tie rod, but in the passenger side is just a finger. i keep the old idler arm and this looks similar to the new, but in that moment the car had other k frame.

for now i'm remove the zerk fitting, but i need find the real problem.

Sime pictures from old tie rods, k frame and more. (2018)

IMG_20181220_100159597_HDR.jpg


IMG_20181220_100319029_HDR.jpg


IMG_20181220_100504099_HDR.jpg


IMG_20181220_101133954.jpg


IMG_20181220_101143294.jpg


IMG_20181220_100445500.jpg
 
Maybe release the torsion bar tentioners and reload the bars. Y might have them installed uneven. More tension on 1 than another.
More than likely, y have the early pittman or idler arm.
 
Miguel Castro said:
Thanks, on my car the driver side have more space between torsion bar and tie rod, but in the passenger side is just a finger. i keep the old idler arm and this looks similar to the new, but in that moment the car had other k frame.

for now i'm remove the zerk fitting, but i need find the real problem.

Sime pictures from old tie rods, k frame and more. (2018)

View attachment 1715579512

View attachment 1715579513

View attachment 1715579516

View attachment 1715579518

View attachment 1715579522

View attachment 1715579525
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Wow! That's the old K frame? That poor thing is hammered.

Looking at those pictures is looks like the center link is higher on the passenger side, which would lead me to believe that there was an idler issue with it. Could have been the idler mount or K being bent, but if you switched the K frame out that should have taken care of it.

Still, if the clearance is an issue on the passenger side and not the driver's side I would suspect an issue either with the idler arm itself, the idler mount, or possibly the center link. It looks like you kept the center link since it's still the earlier style and not the later 73+ style. With as beat up as that original K frame was, I wonder if the center link is not bent as well.
 
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