Steering All Over the Place at 55mph+
Ok, well that is definitely a '68-72 K frame and not a '67, so that's good. I guess I should say it's '68+, since we can't see the engine mounts but the idler and steering link are '68-72.
And you're right, your cam bolts are definitely not set for maximum caster. If you don't have offset bushings even maximum + caster won't be a ton, so, I would set max caster and then see where the camber ends up and try to keep as much + caster as possible.
You can do this yourself if you want, changing the caster and camber slightly shouldn't have a huge effect on toe. This is especially true in your case, since your current settings are basically right down the middle and the changes will offset each other. Loosen up the cam bolts, and to set maximum caster you want the front arm of the UCA all the way "out", so the head of the bolt should be as far away from the inner fender as possible. The rear arm of the UCA should be all the way "in", so, the head of the bolt all the way in toward the inner fender. That will push the upper ball joint backward, maximizing positive caster. Like this...
Now, if you don't have any alignment gear you will definitely still want to take it to an alignment shop that deals in classics. But if you set the caster as I described, and then eyeball the camber you should be ok. Camber becomes visible at about 1°, so, at the point you notice the tops of the tires are tilted slightly in toward the car you should have about -1°. If your car currently has -2° of camber it should be quite obvious that the tops of the tires are tilted in toward the car. For most normal street driving you only want about -.25° to about -.5° camber, which basically looks like the tires are straight up and down. At least to me, I have my own alignment gear and based on doing some eyeball alignments the point where I notice stuff being tilted is pretty close to 1°.
At any rate, if you set max caster and the camber doesn't look too crazy you should be able to drive it to the alignment shop and see where it's at. As long as it's not a really long drive any minor change in toe shouldn't be enough to completely scrub the tires. Ride height changes affect the toe more than the camber bolts, and being almost right down the middle now helps your cause in the toe-in department.
Ok, well that is definitely a '68-72 K frame and not a '67, so that's good. I guess I should say it's '68+, since we can't see the engine mounts but the idler and steering link are '68-72.
And you're right, your cam bolts are definitely not set for maximum caster. If you don't have offset bushings even maximum + caster won't be a ton, so, I would set max caster and then see where the camber ends up and try to keep as much + caster as possible.
You can do this yourself if you want, changing the caster and camber slightly shouldn't have a huge effect on toe. This is especially true in your case, since your current settings are basically right down the middle and the changes will offset each other. Loosen up the cam bolts, and to set maximum caster you want the front arm of the UCA all the way "out", so the head of the bolt should be as far away from the inner fender as possible. The rear arm of the UCA should be all the way "in", so, the head of the bolt all the way in toward the inner fender. That will push the upper ball joint backward, maximizing positive caster. Like this...
Now, if you don't have any alignment gear you will definitely still want to take it to an alignment shop that deals in classics. But if you set the caster as I described, and then eyeball the camber you should be ok. Camber becomes visible at about 1°, so, at the point you notice the tops of the tires are tilted slightly in toward the car you should have about -1°. If your car currently has -2° of camber it should be quite obvious that the tops of the tires are tilted in toward the car. For most normal street driving you only want about -.25° to about -.5° camber, which basically looks like the tires are straight up and down. At least to me, I have my own alignment gear and based on doing some eyeball alignments the point where I notice stuff being tilted is pretty close to 1°.
At any rate, if you set max caster and the camber doesn't look too crazy you should be able to drive it to the alignment shop and see where it's at. As long as it's not a really long drive any minor change in toe shouldn't be enough to completely scrub the tires. Ride height changes affect the toe more than the camber bolts, and being almost right down the middle now helps your cause in the toe-in department.
