68 Dart Front end alignment

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pedalpowerceo

pedalpowerceo

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So, I just rebuilt the front end on my Dart. First time for me. Thanks in large to FABO it went really smoothly. That is until just now. I took it to have it aligned and after the alignment it randomly tries to change lanes. Also climbs up uneven road surfaces. Drove better before I had it aligned.

So, looking at some old threads here, seems like I need more positve caster. Pulled out my before and after numbers from the alignment shop and apparenly I now have negative 4 deg. caster on one side and negative 4.9 deg. on the other after the alignment.

So then I'm under the car checking that I got my upper control arms on the right sides and they are. then I notice that my tie rod sleeves are loose. Like after setting the toe, no one re tightend them. I am thinking I got ripped off on my alignment, and am basically sick of paying people to do stuff and not having them do it.

How big of a disaster do y'all think I will create if I turn the eccentric washers on my upper control arms so that I create more positve caster? Currently both front washers are positioned with the hole at the top, which by my reasoning should be the best for maximum caster. one back washer has the hole at about at the one o'clock position and the other has it straight up. I'm about to put the back washers with the holes at the bottom and caster the heck out of it and then see how it drives. My wife wants me to plant some bushes first, but unless y'all have any better ideas, thats what Im going to try.

I can align this thing on the floor of my garage better than the shop I took it too. At least I can tourqe a bolt.

Thanks in advance.
 
Take it back to the shop and tell them to align it correctly. The BEST method for aligning these cars is to set the ride height and put the front cam all the way out and the rear all the way in. Bring the rear cam out until you have about 1/2 degree negative camber. That will provide the maximum positive caster you can get out of the current setup. Then set the toe to about 1/16-1/8" inch IN.
 
Thanks Jim. After planting three bushes in solid rock. I think I will take it back to them in the morning. I'm not in the mood to suffer with it tonight.

For the sake of the discussion, when you say turn the cam all the way "in" would that be with the hole in the washer closer to the engine? and then "out" would be furthest away from the engine?

I really don't like other people working on my stuff.
 
Well, the sheet they gave me shows the spec for caster to be .3 to 1.3 degrees of positive, which sounds reasonable to me. they gave it back to me with 4 and 4.9 of negative caster. the little box is even red around the number.

good point about the old spec, I'll give them Jim's numbers in the morning.
 
They gave it back to you with there own printout showing it was out of spec? find a new alingment shop... those guys sound like a joke
 
Well, yes. and at first I thought they left that much negative caster because they thought it would handle better. but I am reading everywhere that I need positive caster.


and then I found the loose tie rod sleeves...........:eek:ops:
 
here ya go.. these are the specs djvcuda did his car to. its a pure street car with stock style suspension. car runs down the road straight as an arrow.


alignment.jpg
 
Take it to a different shop, those guys don't know what they're doing.
The red flag was flying as soon as I saw 4 degrees negative caster, it should be the opposite i.e. 4 degrees positive, or as much as you can get with a stock setup which I think will be less than 4 degrees unless you have the offset bushings or tubular upper arms.
 
took it back since I had already paid and pointed out how they left the tie rods loose on both sides. They agreed to look at it again for free. Well, first they said that the caster was factory pre set and not adjustable. I told them how to adjust it, told them to ignore the specs and give me 4 degrees positive caster, or as much as they could, and left for work.

They called me later and said that the castor was "maxed out". At -4.9 degrees. "and our policy is not to set a car up outside the specs on our computer"

Their spec in their computer said it should be .3 to 1.3 postive. Okay, give me that. Because it is climbing all over the road, I can't drive it like that, (and while I am going to learn to do this alignment myself, I want to drive it with my new front end parts a while before I rip into it again with tubular control arms.) Um, let me let you talk to the "tech".

okay, "tech" gets on: "the only way I can give you more caster is to really screw up the camber"

Long story slightly shorter, I threw a big fit, and left with -1 camber, -1 caster, and a car that drives straight..... well, as long as you don't mind holding the steering wheel at the one o'clock position.:wack:

Moral of the story: If you want something done right.... Do it yourself.
 
I centered the steering myself. On my garage floor.

I tightened the tie rods when I was done adjusting them. That's a trick I do.


Tightening things.
 
Pedal, if you have some time, you can do this yourself.

You MAY have to install upper offset bushings to get enough adjustment

I bought some old alignment "stuff" of Craigslist, the heart of which is an old Ammco caster / camber gauge, along with some swivel plates so you can turn the front tires, a toe gauge, which you really don't need, and some adapters for the caster/ camber gauge so you can use it on difficult wheels

2whi33r.jpg


All you need is some time, some patience, and a flat floor to work on

I don't even have that---when I get the front disk front-end under mine, I'm planning on jacking up the trailer level, and using THAT for an "alignment rack."

Here's some ideas:

DIY "stuff."

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/..._alignment_guide/measuring_camber_caster.html

http://www.circletrack.com/eventcoverage/ctrp_0212_bob_mccreadie_race_career/nascar_video_game.html

commercial camber ga.

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=71&products_id=192
 
Their tech clearly has no clue how to align a Mopar. I once had a shop tell me that the alignment would be double price because their tech was not familiar with Mopars. I told him to stuff it as I was NOT going to pay for his guy to learn something...

One of the many reasons that I do my own alignments these days...
 
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