Front end alignment specs

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grjammer

grjammer

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I know this has been beat to death, just out of the alignment shop. Total new front end. gear box to tires. Had the tech go for performance on the "skosh" chart.
Numbers came in at
Camber, 0.0/0.1
Caster 2.6/2.7
Toe .13/.13

I just want the centering to not be so mushy, What should I shoot for to get more centering response? front will react to small movements, is tight but I want more authority.
manual gear box, new. I did not try to set it up.

thanks for any input.
:burnout:
 
local guy sets them up at:
0/0 camber
caster 4.5/4.5
toe: 1/16


where i want to put jamies dart is:

camber -.5/-.5
caster 4.5/5.0
toe 1/16
 
Its not a Mustang. Its not a modern car.You are driving something that was designed in the 50s. The 1950s. Thats a sixty-plus year old design.
You will need to increase the steering axis inclination, Crank up the caster, fix the bump-steer this creates,Redesign the steering box, and get some really stiff sidewall tires.Most of this is not do-able.

-Having said all that, there are a couple of things that you can do.The first is to crank as much positive caster into it as you can find. This requires, at the least, the problem-solver bushings..You are hunting for 6 to 7 degrees of caster.You are not likely to get it on our A-bodies, but 4.5 to 5 is doable.
-Then as Joe mentioned, try and find up to a half a degree of neg.camber. You may have to give up a little caster to get the camber. If you arent concerned about cornering, forget the camber, just go for the caster.
-Your ride height and stance will play a role in how much caster you can actually get.
Once these are chosen, consider them fixed, as in no longer adjustable, because any change in ride-height and stance, will change the alignment.
-If the toe is not right, it will lead to; hunting on uneven or rutted surfaces,wander,twitchiness,Inability to drive a straight line without constant correction.
-And finally, Make sure the steering box is internally centered, when the wheels are pointing straight ahead, irrespective of where the steering wheel is.
If your car tends to go off in unsteered directions when travelling on,or encountering, bumpy road sections, and most especially if just one wheel encounters a bump/hole, then the car is suffering from bump-steer. You will have to get that fixed.
-You may be back in the alignment shop several times. I was employed in such a shop when I was tuning my suspension/steering. I had unlimited after-hour access to the bay and rack.I saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars that summer.
-Wheels. One thing I found out is that your wheels need to be very close to zero offset. Changing the track width,affects the scrub radius. If you get it too far off, the self- centering feature suffers. My wheels are offset to increase the front track. I live with the feeling.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Its not a Mustang. Its not a modern car.You are driving something that was designed in the 50s. The 1950s. Thats a sixty-plus year old design.
You will need to increase the steering axis inclination, Crank up the caster, fix the bump-steer this creates,Redesign the steering box, and get some really stiff sidewall tires.Most of this is not do-able.

-Having said all that, there are a couple of things that you can do.The first is to crank as much positive caster into it as you can find. This requires, at the least, the problem-solver bushings..You are hunting for 6 to 7 degrees of caster.You are not likely to get it on our A-bodies, but 4.5 to 5 is doable.
-Then as Joe mentioned, try and find up to a half a degree of neg.camber. You may have to give up a little caster to get the camber. If you arent concerned about cornering, forget the camber, just go for the caster.
-Your ride height and stance will play a role in how much caster you can actually get.
Once these are chosen, consider them fixed, as in no longer adjustable, because any change in ride-height and stance, will change the alignment.
-If the toe is not right, it will lead to; hunting on uneven or rutted surfaces,wander,twitchiness,Inability to drive a straight line without constant correction.
-And finally, Make sure the steering box is internally centered, when the wheels are pointing straight ahead, irrespective of where the steering wheel is.
If your car tends to go off in unsteered directions when travelling on,or encountering, bumpy road sections, and most especially if just one wheel encounters a bump/hole, then the car is suffering from bump-steer. You will have to get that fixed.
-You may be back in the alignment shop several times. I was employed in such a shop when I was tuning my suspension/steering. I had unlimited after-hour access to the bay and rack.I saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars that summer.
-Wheels. One thing I found out is that your wheels need to be very close to zero offset. Changing the track width,affects the scrub radius. If you get it too far off, the self- centering feature suffers. My wheels are offset to increase the front track. I live with the feeling.
Click to expand...

Where does somebody even start with this?
 
start with an alignment shop that will work to get your numbers.

Thanks for all the input. I am going to try more caster.
 
one thing to note here. if you go to a big chain shop they are going to pull up the factory specs for the front end alignment. these specs are for the old bias ply tires and with the new radial tire designs they will not be what your looking for. this is why the aftermarket upper control arms are so nice. they put the upper ball joint out and back from the factory location which allows you more caster adjustment.

The hard part is going to be finding anyone that knows what they are doing with these old cars. I am struggling with finding anyone to align my front end after i get it done with the HDK set up.
 
Sorry buddy, SAI is a set in stone angle, unless you run into something and bend the spindle. lol

You cannot change SAI. The best you can do for better return ability is adjust in more caster. The most I have ever seen any of these cars get without offset bushings is around 3.5 degrees and that was approaching camber that was too negative for my taste.

Just to be clear, the Steering Axis Inclination by definition is the angle of the spindle in relation to the center line of the steering axis. So you can see plainly, it AIN'T adjustable. lol It is a built in angle.

I know all the tuner and low rider bunch says "run negative camber, blah blah blah...." but these front ends were not designed for that. The cars usually respond best right where Ma Mopar said to put them. That's why there is a variation. But venture too far out of it and you have an ill handling beastie.

The best specs I have found are in the .5 degree camber, 3 degree caster and around 1/4 degree toe in. Then recheck after a few hundred miles and adjust however tire wear tells you.


AJ/FormS said:
Its not a Mustang. Its not a modern car.You are driving something that was designed in the 50s. The 1950s. Thats a sixty-plus year old design.
You will need to increase the steering axis inclination, Crank up the caster, fix the bump-steer this creates,Redesign the steering box, and get some really stiff sidewall tires.Most of this is not do-able.

-Having said all that, there are a couple of things that you can do.The first is to crank as much positive caster into it as you can find. This requires, at the least, the problem-solver bushings..You are hunting for 6 to 7 degrees of caster.You are not likely to get it on our A-bodies, but 4.5 to 5 is doable.
-Then as Joe mentioned, try and find up to a half a degree of neg.camber. You may have to give up a little caster to get the camber. If you arent concerned about cornering, forget the camber, just go for the caster.
-Your ride height and stance will play a role in how much caster you can actually get.
Once these are chosen, consider them fixed, as in no longer adjustable, because any change in ride-height and stance, will change the alignment.
-If the toe is not right, it will lead to; hunting on uneven or rutted surfaces,wander,twitchiness,Inability to drive a straight line without constant correction.
-And finally, Make sure the steering box is internally centered, when the wheels are pointing straight ahead, irrespective of where the steering wheel is.
If your car tends to go off in unsteered directions when travelling on,or encountering, bumpy road sections, and most especially if just one wheel encounters a bump/hole, then the car is suffering from bump-steer. You will have to get that fixed.
-You may be back in the alignment shop several times. I was employed in such a shop when I was tuning my suspension/steering. I had unlimited after-hour access to the bay and rack.I saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars that summer.
-Wheels. One thing I found out is that your wheels need to be very close to zero offset. Changing the track width,affects the scrub radius. If you get it too far off, the self- centering feature suffers. My wheels are offset to increase the front track. I live with the feeling.
Click to expand...
 
To the OP, get the Mopar Performance Suspension book. Mancini sells them cheap. It has everything you need to know about making your car right as far as the suspension. You can ask on all the forums in the world and keep getting different answers, but the MP books have all the right answers in them. People call them dated and obsolete, but so are the cars.
 
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