Is there any difference in alignment specs for PS versus manual steering? If so, what are they?
Skosh Chart For Manual or PS?
- Thread starter Ricks70Duster340
- Start date
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Scody21
Just send it
No
Short & sweet. Thanks!
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Well not quite true. You would normally want more caster for PS than manual "if you can get it" so that the PS will "self center" but with that same "much" caster on manual, the thing will whip you to death. The reality is you often cannot get "that much" and still get camber in reason.
Short and sweet, yes, but also WRONG.
Even the factory used different caster settings between the manual and power steering cars. Straight from the FSM. "V&L" is the A-body platform.
Like 67Dart273 said, the caster actually changes the "self centering" reaction the steering has. The more positive caster, the more the car wants to drive straight. Which makes the car feel more stable, especially at speed. But, that self centering effect also resists change- it makes it more effort to turn the wheels. So in a manual steering car, too much positive caster will make it harder to turn the wheels.
And remember, the factory alignment specs above are TERRIBLE for radial tires. If you run radials, you must use the SKOSH chart alignment specs or better. I personally wouldn't ever run less than +3° of caster on one of these cars even with manual steering. That's about the upper limit for adjustment with the offset UCA bushings. I run +6.5° of caster on my Duster, and I have a fast ratio manual steering box (16:1 instead of 24:1) and 275/35/18's up front. It's not that hard to steer once you're rolling. I did find that the steering gets a lot heavier once you start going past +6.5° of caster, it gets exponentially harder above that. Between +5° and +6.5° the difference in effort was pretty minor. But to get anything much past +3 to +3.5° of caster you'll need tubular UCA's.
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Scody21
Just send it
So after your long winded, and good info; the short Anwser for radial tires is what I said. Nope. I asked this very thing to Dick from FirmFeel when I did their suspension upgrade to my duster and said you can run them the same within the specs in your post.
This also depends on the style of driving you will be using your car for. Road racing/ heavy canyon carving is different than drag/stop light racing...
It’s best to have an old school shop do alinements, as the new school places with most of the time only follow the book specs from their systems, which is not what you want using radial tires.
No sir. The question was
“Is there any difference in alignment specs for PS versus manual steering? If so, what are they?”
And the answer depends on a lot of things, as I explained. From the factory, there was a difference. There was a difference because adding positive caster adds resistance to the steering effort.
Now, can you align a manual steering car with the same specs as a power steering car? Absolutely. If you do, the steering will feel heavier than if you run less positive caster. But if you don’t, the car may feel less stable, especially at freeway speeds. So yeah, whether or not you align your car differently for power or manual steering may depend on the use of the car, how the suspension is set up, and even the preferences of the driver. But that’s a decision that requires information, not just a simple “yes” or “no”.
As far as finding an alignment shop, the big chain wheel/tire/alignment shops will most likely want to use the factory specs, that’s true. But finding an “old school shop” these days is difficult to say the least. And even if you find one, they may not be well versed in old mopars. It may not work for everyone, but learning to do your own alignments is probably best in the long run. A set of turn plates, a caster/camber gauge, and a set of toe plates is all you need to do great alignments at home, and some of those things you can improvise a little. I have all of that and more, and my equipment has already paid for itself considering the cost of a “custom” alignment nowadays.
And doing it yourself gives you an understanding about what those alignment numbers actually mean, and how those numbers can really change how your car reacts and handles. The alignment specs can make a big difference. Who knows how many people spent thousands, or even tens of thousands on coilover conversions and things that were totally unnecessary because the had a lousy factory alignment with radial tires that made the handling feel sketchy.
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