Wheel alignment help needed!!!

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Hobbs z

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Hey guys I have a 74 duster I'm replacing/upgrading the front end with the pst poly kit, pst 1 1/8 sway bar, pst adjustable. I need help on if there is a way of nominalizing the front end to get it to a wheel alignment shop without killing my tires or if I should just do the alignment myself I just moved to camp Pendleton ca and I'm not sure of any shops that I really trust to do the alignment and give me the most performance available. Any input on a shop or a link on how to do it myself. I've seen a couple posts similar to mine but it didn't mention the adjustable struts. Any help would be awesome.
 
Welcome to FABO from san diego! If you put everything back close to when you took it off, it should be okay to drive a few miles to a shop. I know you can adjust toe without any special tools but I think you need some for caster and camber. Hopefully someone else will chime in.
 
youll be fine by trusting your eyes n makin sure they point straight. just dont drive too fast (highway) and not driving halfway across the state to a shop
 
Caster + Camber + Toe , You need no special tools to make any of the adjustments , the control arm eccentric bolts that adjust caster and camber are usually 3/4 and the tie rod sleeve clamps are usually 1/2 inch , if the tie rods are new and never been tightened they will turn easily , use a tape measure to on the front and back side of the tire to set toe .This method is ok but hard to get a straight steering wheel . You can use a level on the tire to get the camber close but theres really no way to set caster but this method should get you close enough to get it to a shop for a wheel alignment . remember toe and camber is what wears tires , caster will make it pull to one direction or the other .
 
Thanks mopar Jimmie. On the cam bolts I was reading something about the front camber bolt needs to be adjusted all the way out and the aft bolt should be all the way in for the most camber. I also have the pst adjustable strut rods Where do those need to be set? And are they even worth having or just a big waste of money. I'll probably be taking it to a shop in the end but I'd like to at least give it a try. I work on helicopters for a living so surely I can at least get this in the ballpark of being Right.
 
Hopefully these charts will help explain terms. C'mon Hobbs z, in the ball park? Really? What would one of your pilots say about a repair that is "in the ball park"? Unless it's a "kick the tires, light the fires, get the hell outta here" situation, I imagine it wouldn't be nice. JK lol.
 

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You can do an alignment at home if you have the patience and tools to make precise enough measurements and you know what the specs are ( see post #6 )
If you work on aircraft I'm guessing you can also get it close enough to drive just by eye. I work in IT and I was able to do it :lol:
Just make sure that wherever you take it knows what they're doing and road tests the car. Most of the places around here wouldn't even touch my car. I ended up finding a shop and had it done, but even after that it didn't "feel" right ( a little twitchy ). I ended up building a toe gauge and a digital angle finder and did it myself in a few hours.
 
Thanks everybody for the help it was actually 100x easier than I was thinking it would be. It's kinda just one of those things you have to jump into I guess.
 
just eyeball em,you should be fine if your just going to the alignment shop.unless its 300 miles away
 
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