When my Dart is driven down the highway, my friend says that he can see about an inch of the drivers side front tire and it looks like the car is going down the road slightly sideways. I had him drive the car and I followed and sure enough this is so. I am wondering which side of the front spring hanger that I should adjust to get it straight. I am thinking of putting some shims on the drivers side, by loosening the front hanger spring bolts and sliding them in. Or should it be the passenger side that I should be trying. I just can't seem to picture it clearly in my mind. I tried measuring from the k member center line to the front of the spring hanger and it looks to be shorter on the drivers side. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Help! Dog Tracking!!
- Thread starter MrMopar
- Start date
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Find the oldest,crustiest alignment shop locally.Have them do a (ackermen check).It is old school,my guess you will find an answer and explanation with the results.
1968FormulaS340
Well-Known Member
If the car is driving fine I wouldn't dick around with it.
Could be an alignment issue (most likely), poor past collision repair (but the car would have been hit fairly hard), or it could simply be the poor production tolerances they had back then (meaning it's normal).
If you want to do something i would start with an alignment, specifically checking the relationship of the back wheels to the front wheels.
Could be an alignment issue (most likely), poor past collision repair (but the car would have been hit fairly hard), or it could simply be the poor production tolerances they had back then (meaning it's normal).
If you want to do something i would start with an alignment, specifically checking the relationship of the back wheels to the front wheels.
You can kinda cheat with doing wheelbase dimensions from center to center of the front and rear wheels. Crude, but simple
Or take it to an alignment shop and get a printout of the trackage :wink:.
Or take it to an alignment shop and get a printout of the trackage :wink:.
caferacerx
BAND MEMBER
start by checking all your suspension parts front and back
then take it to a good alignment shop
one that will take the time to tell you what is going on
not just take your money
then take it to a good alignment shop
one that will take the time to tell you what is going on
not just take your money
jrlegacy23
68 Barracuda
What wheels are you running? Is the back spacing different? Does this do it on the passengers side also? I would measure out the rear end, as they were not exactly centered from the factory. An inch sounds more to me like an optical illusion caused by the angle you are looking at from the rear. If it drives straight, I wouldn't sweat it.
If your buddy is just looking from his driver seat perspective while following you, it might just appear that way. have him follow and look down the passenger side as well. (This mainly applies to the 67 up cars because the front track is wider). Take it to an alignment shop and get a thrust angle measurement.
In 1967, Mother Mopar widened the front frame and body to better accomodate the big block as well as a better exhaust on the small blocks.
The front track went from 55.9 inches to 57.4 while the rear track stayed at 55.6.
What you are seeing is the difference which makes you thing the car is dog tracking.
Follow it down the road and check the right side also.
Or just run a string line from front to back tires on both sides.
The front track went from 55.9 inches to 57.4 while the rear track stayed at 55.6.
What you are seeing is the difference which makes you thing the car is dog tracking.
Follow it down the road and check the right side also.
Or just run a string line from front to back tires on both sides.
jrlegacy23
68 Barracuda
3 of the same responses in a row... maybe worth checking out ??
What rear is in the car? What year? Revhendo is correct, the front track is wider than the rear track if you're running the A body rear.
daliant
Befuddled
Check your bushings on the fronts of the leaf springs to make sure they arn't worn. If everything checks out good with the bushings, get a plumb bob and drop it from one point on each side of the rear end and two points somewhere twards the front of the car, then you can accurately measure how far things are out of whack and shim accordingly. If the back of the car is dog tracking to the passenger side then shim the driver side.
See above .
Has the car ever been in an accident?? Frame possibly twisted?
daredevil
Well-Known Member
I measure from shock plate center pin to opposite side lower ball joint center in an x, if measurements are same the frame and suspension are square. If not somethings wracked.
Wow! Thanks for all the responses!! I am beginning to think it is an optical illusion, but you have a good point with looking out the passenger side. I got a thrust angle check and it says actual rear thrust angle is .41 degrees. Now that is a positive angle , not much but almost 1/2 a degree. Another interesting measurement was the rear toe: left rear toe is .52 degrees and the right is -.31 degrees. So the right rear tire is toeing in and the left is toeing out, kinda makes me think I would have to shim the passenger side front spring hanger to bring the rear toe back in to line. Any comments?
Well, now I am confused! I just found an article on thrust angle and it states that if the thrust angle is positive, the wheels are pointing to the right and to center it, I would have to shim the drivers side back. WTF!
Dad had an old notchback nova that we used as a truck, while we built our house, dogtracked so bad it was like a horseshoe......dad took it to the wreckers
1968FormulaS340
Well-Known Member
I was adding humor to it, no offense intended. Funny part is my dad was a jail guard at the time and the local police turned a blind eye for as long as they could, finally they told him to scrap it or fix it.
Seriously though, has your car ever been hit? Hopefully not, but if so that may be the cause. Let us know what you find out
That's cool, I didn't take any offense. I am going to leave it, I have tried adjusting it and it doesn't seem to help. Shimming the passenger side makes it worse and doing the drivers side doesn't make it any better. Looks like it is what it is. Thanks to all of you.
Just one more comment. I did take all of your suggestions and applied them. I got a plumb bob and marked on the floor in different locations, cross checked the measurements and I couldn't find anything that was "glaring" at me. The only thing that I did find out was a string measurement from the front wheel to the back wheel and it showed the drivers side being 1/4" shorter than the passenger side but if my front wheels were not perfectly straight when I parked in the garage, it could cause a false reading. I am beginning to think that the factory flaws are at work here as the car has never been hit to cause the frame to be bent and the measurements confirmed that. The wider tracking front tires could be causing the illusion, I just need to follow another Dart Swinger to see if it is the same. Shimming the front spring hangers did not help at all...for either side. So once again, Thank You to all but this case is closed, I can't see much that I can do about it.
Want a fairly "shadetree" accurate way to check it? Wait til it rains. have someone drive it on a straight level road. See how many tracks it leaves. If it leaves two, then it just looks outta whack. If it leaves four, then you probably need some adjustment.
It will show 4 tracks !! The front track is wider than the rear by almost 2 inches.
Like I said before, check BOTH sides from the rear as it is driving down the road.
And old Novas and Camaros had a tendency to break the centering stud in the rear spring which helped the axle move around.
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