Custom Strut Rods
Oh,as a 6 year veteran in the alignment world, I understand perfectly what a guy can do with an adjustable strut rod.I also understand that yanking the LCA forward puts a huge strain on the inner bushing.I also know that the Moog offsets can get upwards of 3.5 degrees caster @ -.5* camber, with the stock rods. I also know that the caster changes as the LCA moves up and down.And that 3.5 is plenty.
-What I dont know is why a fella wants to dick with strut rods who cant afford them in the first place.
-So racerdude; What say you? What are you thinking?Whats the plan,man? Gimme a Clue,Stu.Set me straight,Mate.......
Wow.
So, as a alignment veteran, you should be well aware that the suspension points on these cars are often only within a 1/4" of specs, at best. And you should be more than aware that using the same exact length strut rod on cars with suspension points that are a 1/4" apart will provide quite varied results when it comes to setting alignments.
And I would expect that you would know that the intent of the strut rod is to locate the LCA without any binding through its travel, and that you've seen more than your fair share of stock strut rods that did NOT locate the LCA without some kind of binding in some part it's travel range.
That last bit I assume you've seen because
I've seen it. On my own cars in fact. The stock strut rods aren't always the right length. Even on factory cars. Not all of the strut rods on my cars were right. Some were, some weren't. Hence, my adjustable's are not the same length as the stockers were.
You're right, the strut rods should not be used to push or pull the LCA's in either direction just to fiddle with the alignment. But that's not the purpose of adjustable strut rods. The purpose is to set the suspension up without binding, which is not what the factory strut rods do in every case. They were "one size fit most", and based on my own experience, they didn't fit "most" cars all that well to begin with, let alone 40+ years later with replacement bushings, wear and tear, etc. As far as 3.5* of caster being enough, it's
not in all cases. I think 3.5* of positive caster is fine for a manual steering box car, but I run +5* on my Challenger. Obtained properly with adjustable UCA's, I might add. I'd run more if I could, pretty much every modern car on the road does.
As far as the OP, who cares? If he can build a set for less than $200, more power to him. I know for a fact that it can be done. I could probably make a set myself for less than $200. But after I factor in my time, its far easier just to buy them already made. I'd rather spend my time working on something else, the money out of pocket savings on a set of adjustable strut rods isn't enough to warrant the time it would take me to do it. But that may not be the case for the OP.
