Alignment help with 70 duster

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downsr

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Taking my Duster to have it aligned . Any know what the specs are on the alignment. Also would changing to tubular upper control arms give me more camber?
 
When I aligned my 70 Swinger, I got the specs out of a Chilton manual. If you are setting it up stock, the tech can use the numbers in the manual. I remember entering the specs into the Hunter machine manually because the years didn't go back to 1970 in the software.
 
The "go to" specs depend on whether you are running old bias or radial tires. Check this out........

Turn of the screw: front end alignment for performance on classic Mopars

The "skosh chart" is what you want.............

attachment.jpg
 
YES. The machine/ shop manual/ chiltons settings are the traditional "old" settings for bias ply.

The camber is "reversed." For radials the tires "tip in" at the tops, and you want a LOT more caster........the more the spindle "leans back" at the top.

Many guys advocate getting all the caster you can, and just let enough "off" to get the camber within limits, as they depend on each other
 
Agree completely with 67dart273 and abodyjoe. The SKOSH chart is a good reference. For a street car on 15” rims and the usual BFG t/a’s or cooper cobras a good -.25 to -.5 degrees of camber is good. If you’ve got power steering run as much positive caster as you can get, +3 to +5 degrees is great. If you’ve got manual steering you might not want to go all the way to +5* of caster (if you can even get it) as the steering will get heavier at low speeds.

With offset bushings and stock UCA’s you probably won’t get more than +3.5* of caster anyway, that’s about all the adjustment you can get with those. With most tubular UCA’s you can usually get around +5*s. All of that depends on your ride height, some can get more, some less.

More positive caster will help with high speed stability, and it adds camber on turn in which improves handling. It also improves return to center for the wheels, the car wants to go straight if there’s no steering input. But the more you add the heavier the steering gets. With the overboosted stock power steering that’s a good thing. With manual steering you just have to decide if you can deal with the added effort. I run a fast ratio manual box and +6.5* of caster, so it’s not impossible. But some folks wouldn’t like how heavy my steering is either.
 
Being new to the forum, I appreciate the members willing to help out and post things like the chart. Saved it for my '70.

Thanks All!
 
downsr said:
Where can I get the tubular control arms if I decide to go that way
Click to expand...

One thing I would try to avoid in tubular UCA’s is heim joints. I have a set of Hotchkis UCA’s on my Challenger, which have heims. The first set lasted only 7k miles before being wiped out. That was without boots on the heims. Hotchkis replaces those heims for me, and sent a set of boots. But 7k miles later, they’re showing wear again and probably won’t make 10k.

Now, I’ve used heims at the strut rods, and they’re like new after 70,000 miles on my Challenger. But I don’t like heims at the UCA on a street car. Just my opinion.

QA1, PST, Firm Feel, and Bergman Autocraft all make tubular UCA’s with extra caster built in (or adjustable in the case of Bergman Autocraft) that also use bushings.
 
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