Need a driveway alignment advice after suspension overhaul- just good enough to get it to the shop?
Here's what I did on my Barracuda,....
Once everything was in, before tightening the LCA and Strut Rod nuts, I adjusted the LCA adjusters until I got the ride height where I wanted it, then tightened everything down. On my UCA cams, I had the front of the UCA all the way out towards the fender and the rear one all the way in towards the frame (max caster)
I then took a right angle square (the metal kind you use for construction - See attached) and stood it next to the front tires (perpendicular to the tires so you know the edge is straight up), right in front of the bulge of the tire on the bottom. That let me get a rough estimate of Camber. I adjusted the UCA bushings until the tire was leaning away from the square (towards the motor) about a half a fingers width.
Once I did that to both sides, I took a tape measure and measured the distance from tire to tire on the front and back of the front tires. I measure up as high as I could so I was measuring at the same height on the front and the back. I adjusted the tie rods until I had 1/16-1/8" shorter distance on the front than on the back. It still wandered a little, but it was good enough to get me to the alignment shop.
I used the Moog Offset UCA bushings so I ended up getting more caster than I needed, but to the alignment shops defense, I told them I wanted .5 - 1 degree of negative camber and as much offset as they could get. Attached are the screenshots from the alignment machine pre and post alignment. It wasn't too far off, but toe-in the was the most off. It drove great once they got it all balanced out. Tracked straight and no more wandering.
Here's what I did on my Barracuda,....
Once everything was in, before tightening the LCA and Strut Rod nuts, I adjusted the LCA adjusters until I got the ride height where I wanted it, then tightened everything down. On my UCA cams, I had the front of the UCA all the way out towards the fender and the rear one all the way in towards the frame (max caster)
I then took a right angle square (the metal kind you use for construction - See attached) and stood it next to the front tires (perpendicular to the tires so you know the edge is straight up), right in front of the bulge of the tire on the bottom. That let me get a rough estimate of Camber. I adjusted the UCA bushings until the tire was leaning away from the square (towards the motor) about a half a fingers width.
Once I did that to both sides, I took a tape measure and measured the distance from tire to tire on the front and back of the front tires. I measure up as high as I could so I was measuring at the same height on the front and the back. I adjusted the tie rods until I had 1/16-1/8" shorter distance on the front than on the back. It still wandered a little, but it was good enough to get me to the alignment shop.
I used the Moog Offset UCA bushings so I ended up getting more caster than I needed, but to the alignment shops defense, I told them I wanted .5 - 1 degree of negative camber and as much offset as they could get. Attached are the screenshots from the alignment machine pre and post alignment. It wasn't too far off, but toe-in the was the most off. It drove great once they got it all balanced out. Tracked straight and no more wandering.