Adjustment for positive Camber?

-

unclepunchy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2023
Messages
117
Reaction score
34
Location
Victoria, BC Canada
73 Duster with stock suspension.

I need to correct my front tires as they are currently in positive camber.

408FF895-77A4-483D-81D6-0EB600B49BF1.jpeg

Two questions:

1. Do I turn the adjusting nut on the upper control arm clockwise or counter clockwise to correct this?
2. Do I turn the front facing or rear facing adjusting nut on the upper control arm?

Cheers
 
The only answer I can give is yes.

Procedure is this:
Loosen all four nuts, holding bolts in position.
Equally twist the cam bolts to move arm inwards. You will just have to look at the cams relative to the tabs and see which way it goes. Front and back will be opposites, and driver and passenger side will be inverted so you just have to reason it out. Caster will change, but you want to try to move the arms inward equal amounts front and back to not completely bobo the alignment. On the other hand, it sounds like the alignment is bad enough that you should probably measure all the specs and start from scratch. Up to you.
 
Start with the rear all the way in. Then the front all the way out. See where you’re at. The. If not to your liking move the front in some then the rear out some till it looks pretty straight up and down. Then set the toe. Th ohs will get u into the ball park. Then head to a decent alignment shop. Kim
 
Changing the Camber will change the Toe and could change the Caster. I would take it to an alignment shop that has experience with torsion bar suspension on these cars.
 
If you have the correct tools to do an alignment then a machine is not necessary. But your talking some real dough for a Camber / caster gauge, toe plates, bump steer gauge, turn tables, scale plates and platform, laser level. Is it worth inventing in all of this to do your own alignment when a shop will do it for less than 200 bucks? If you can get the suspension halfass setup, driving a few miles down the road to a shop is not going to hurt anything.
 
73 Duster with stock suspension.

I need to correct my front tires as they are currently in positive camber.

View attachment 1716248813
Two questions:

1. Do I turn the adjusting nut on the upper control arm clockwise or counter clockwise to correct this?
2. Do I turn the front facing or rear facing adjusting nut on the upper control arm?

Cheers

maybe watch this. may explain some of it better..








.
 
I seperate the outer tie rod from the ball joint first...just makes things easier and toe is last thing to set anyway
 
My 2 cents- Looking at your question acknowledges the fact that it's best to save yourself busted knuckles and frustration and spend the time looking for a place that will do it for you.
 
its totally true with the proper tools and knowlege.
Absolutely it is possible. You do however have to have some way to measure caster, or have a really good feel for it.......which requires a good degree of experience.
 
Absolutely it is possible. You do however have to have some way to measure caster, or have a really good feel for it.......which requires a good degree of experience.

like i said with proper tools and knowlege. the guy i quoted made it sound like its impossible and the youtube guys are full of ****. thats just not the fact. i have a good friend that aligns all his stuff in his garage with no special tool.
 
I really recommend that everyone learns to do their own alignment. All that is required is a digital angle finder or a caster camber gauge a tape measure and four floor tiles greased. These cars usually can be set up with about a half degree of negative camber and then the max caster that can be realized with that camber. (There are a few instances where more caster than necessary can be achieved with factory parts but not normally) But, if that isn't of interest make sure that whoever does your alignment doesn't put the car on a machine and enter the car data into the computer and adjust on the screen. The specs , if they are in their computer, will be for the car as it came with bias tires. Not what you want. Find a shop with an old white-beard who actually understands alignment and can align to the skosch specs.

Skosh chart.jpg
 
like i said with proper tools and knowlege. the guy i quoted made it sound like its impossible and the youtube guys are full of ****. thats just not the fact. i have a good friend that aligns all his stuff in his garage with no special tool.
I cannot disagree. I align all of my stuff and have thought of doing a how to, but I would get roasted by the so called "experts". I've been doing alignment and suspension work since I was very young. It's what I first started out doing.
 
Thanks guys, lots of great info. My goal is just to learn as much as possible and do what I can to get things close. I will probably pick up a caster/camber gauge and give it a try. Shops in my town want $300 for an alignment and dont know anything about classic cars.
 
Thanks guys, lots of great info. My goal is just to learn as much as possible and do what I can to get things close. I will probably pick up a caster/camber gauge and give it a try. Shops in my town want $300 for an alignment and dont know anything about classic cars.
Somebody tries to charge me 300 bucks for an alignment better have a pre plastic surgery and disease free Pam Anderson to give me a good time.
 
73 Duster with stock suspension.

I need to correct my front tires as they are currently in positive camber.

View attachment 1716248813
Two questions:

1. Do I turn the adjusting nut on the upper control arm clockwise or counter clockwise to correct this?
2. Do I turn the front facing or rear facing adjusting nut on the upper control arm?

Cheers
What is your intent and how much +camber do you have now? If you intend to slalom or track day with the car you probably want a heavy duty antiroll bar with about 3° negative camber and 5° caster. For a street driver your best bet is to follow factory specs.
Seems to me this is a situation to go to a good alignment shop.
 
-
Back
Top