Alignment

[PetesPonies]

My '82 pulls right when cruising. I'm going to set the alignment specs for camber and toe. I measured my camber and it's not horrible, but it is uneven and fits the scenario for a pulling right vehicle. I was just going to set camber at 0 if I can, and toe at 1/8" in. Anyone have any differing specs you have been happy with?

[Rembrant]

I just had an alignment done a couple months ago after replacing everything in the front end of my 2wd '84. With all the new parts, my camber was within spec with the stock zero degree bushings. If I'm understanding the alignment sheet correctly here, looks like my "cross camber" is 0.3 degrees. Does that sound about right? (Spec sheet shows a range of -0.7 to +0.7 degrees).

They set my total toe at 0.04 degrees (0.02 on each side).

Trucks tracks nice and straight like this.

[PetesPonies]

Yes it does. There is a range that is OK. Your positive .3 is within that. I have, right now, positive 1.1 on the right and positive .6 on the left. The left is OK, although I'll try and go closer to zero, but my right side  is why it is pulling.

[PetesPonies]

So here is what I have done. I played with camber changes and offset bushings. I got the camber within spec, but it still pulled right, pretty badly although somewhat better than before. So I checked ride height and found a large difference. I was 3/4" different from side to side and the right side was higher. This is not correct. The left side should be higher if anything. I went reading and found where ride heights were mentioned and even saw where some thought the right side would be higher because of the crown. No this is not correct. It is the left side that should be slightly higher and it IS because of the crown. The left side should be from 0- 3/8" higher than the right side. The vehicle will drift towards the higher side. So anyway, on to make the changes. Looking more closely, my right side had a steel shim under the spring seat mount. That just shouldn't be. I pulled it out, it was only .145 thick. So not enough to make the needed height change, even if I put it on the left side. So I had to weld some round stock to the shim to make it thicker. I ended up with a shim about 5/8" think. Add the .145 I removed from the right and I made a 3/4' change. I assembled it all and went for a ride. I did not change the camber or toe, etc, just went for a ride. HUGE difference. It does still go right, but not NEARLY as fast or violent as before. I will play with the camber and such again possibly tomorrow or the next. But not at least, I have a ride height that is at or very close to spec. Why it was off so much before??  The PO had replaced the coil springs, maybe the shim was on the left originally? I don't know. But it was clearly not right as it was.

[Gary Lewis]

Glad you made progress, and glad to know how it is supposed to ride.  But, what will you do now about the pull?

[PetesPonies]

Well the pull is much less Gary, a significant difference. Now I have to go back to the camber angles, check toe and such. Since I changed the ride height, all those things are now changed as well.

[Gary Lewis]

That makes sense.  I'll await your next installment.

[PetesPonies]

 I messed with it again today. I attacked just the left side. I changed the camber and ended up with .9 degrees positive camber. I have 1.1 degrees positive on the right side. I took it for a ride and it was markedly better. If I straddled the crown in the road, it would go relatively straight. If I got over more to the left, I actually went towards the left shoulder. It would have never done that before I started. I measured the ride height and my left is 1/8" higher than the right. So I am very happy with that. I may go back into the right side again and see if I can get the camber less than the left side. I'm real close now, but 1/2 degree more towards zero would make me real happy. I also adjusted the toe. When I was changing the left, I added a bit more caster to that side as well. It really could be left alone now. It is not difficult to drive at all, but I probably will give it one more try to the right. It easy to adjust everything now. I can get the needed tools without even looking  :)

[Gary Lewis]

What kind of tools do you have for measuring camber and caster?  I've always thought it takes a serious alignment shop to do that work.

[PetesPonies]

I can measure camber with my Smart Camber tool.

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/images/L/3764-2011.JPG

Caster I cannot measure. But I can add and subtract caster as I spin the bushing. I definitely want less of both positive camber and negative caster on the right side, since I don't want it drifting that way.

[Gary Lewis]

Cool tool!

[PetesPonies]

I use it for any car I build and then of course my own cars. I haven't paid for an alignment in so long  :)  
 . . . except for my cast iron Ibeam axle F100, which it must be bent .