Front end rebuild 1972 Duster
For the factory, the upper control arms were the sole way to adjust front end alignment. In the years since these cars were built, some enterprising minds have come up with a few more ways to fine tune the settings. When stock, these cars were fitted with skinny bias ply tires that didn’t grip that well or last as long as today’s tires. The alignment settings back then often had little if any caster and zero or positive camber. With today’s tires, you can do a lot better. One way to get more caster is with adjustable strut rods. These pull the outer end of the lower control arm forward like so:
That is an extreme angle just for the purposes of demonstration. Several vendors offer adjustable strut rods including PST, a sponsor of this site.
I like the idea to a point. I wonder though if they might put the lower control arm bushing in a bind if these are cranked in too far.
For the factory, the upper control arms were the sole way to adjust front end alignment. In the years since these cars were built, some enterprising minds have come up with a few more ways to fine tune the settings. When stock, these cars were fitted with skinny bias ply tires that didn’t grip that well or last as long as today’s tires. The alignment settings back then often had little if any caster and zero or positive camber. With today’s tires, you can do a lot better. One way to get more caster is with adjustable strut rods. These pull the outer end of the lower control arm forward like so:
That is an extreme angle just for the purposes of demonstration. Several vendors offer adjustable strut rods including PST, a sponsor of this site.
I like the idea to a point. I wonder though if they might put the lower control arm bushing in a bind if these are cranked in too far.