70 swinger front end set up questions

[marksmopars]

I have a 70 dart swinger which has been totally reworked to install a 340, 4 speed. The entire car was disassembled and disk brakes from a 73 were installed in place of the little slant 6 drums which it came with. Now as we finish the assembly the front tires appear to not have the needed adjustment to get the tires vertices, the top ide doesn’t at out far enough. W have changed so much I am not certain where this issue comes from, note that the torsion bar adjustments are relatively random at this point, they were installed the same number of turns on each side as a start point.

Is there anyone here who could provide some insteps a check list that I could work through to identify the issue? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated here.
Thanks!

 

[toolmanmike]

Get the wheels close to straight up and down (camber) and measure the tires for toe in (or out) and adjust the tie rods accordingly to get it close. You can drive it to get the front end aligned if it's not too far away. Otherwise trailer it or call a towing service and they can deliver it on a roll back.

 

[junkyardhero]

i would start by consulting the FSM to get the basics of how to determine/measure your ride height and set your general parameters.

for a "rough in" you can generally give it the ol' hairy eyeball to get it close enough once you've established a ride height to get it to an alignment shop.

 

[72bluNblu]

The ride height has to be correct before you even bother trying to do anything with the alignment.

 

[marksmopars]

Is there a value I can use to set initial ride height? Height of k frame or something similar? My camber setting is maxed one way ans still seems inadequate, which could be torsion bar adjustment I guess, just looking for a good place to start. Thanks

 

[toolmanmike]

The ride height has to be correct before you even bother trying to do anything with the alignment.

Exactly. Setting the height with a tape measure off the wheel openings can get you close. Close enough to get you to the alignment shop. They had better check and adjust the torsion bars as needed. It's part of a proper Mopar alignment.

 

[72bluNblu]

Exactly. Setting the height with a tape measure off the wheel openings can get you close. Close enough to get you to the alignment shop. They had better check and adjust the torsion bars as needed. It's part of a proper Mopar alignment.

Yeah I would not trust an alignment shop that didn’t specifically do old Mopars to do a torsion bar adjustment. The big alignment shops won’t even touch them in my experience.

If an alignment shop is being used the ride height will have to be set where it needs to be first.

 

[toolmanmike]

Yeah I would not trust an alignment shop that didn’t specifically do old Mopars to do a torsion bar adjustment. The big alignment shops won’t even touch them in my experience.

If an alignment shop is being used the ride height will have to be set where it needs to be first.

Agreed. I am lucky enough to have a great shop in town that does all the old cars, street rods, Police and state patrol cars and even Indy race cars. I have messed with torsion bar adjustments for half a century. Adjusted according to the book? Never did. I adjust them to how I want them to look and align accordingly. As long as you use some common sense and don't go to extremes, there aren't usually any issues. Right or wrong, the OP needs to get it close to how he wants it, balance the adjustment from side to side, and ship it to the alignment shop.

 

[Kendog 170]

Ride height point of reference.

 

[1MeanA]

I just went through this. I adjusted the upper control arms for max castor (one cam in one cam out) and then set the ride height at 1 7/8 per the FSM. I then set toe in. I got about 1 degree of negative camber….good enough to go to the alignment shop I think.

 

[Bennoel 10]

Is there a value I can use to set initial ride height? Height of k frame or something similar? My camber setting is maxed one way ans still seems inadequate, which could be torsion bar adjustment I guess, just looking for a good place to start. Thanks

You state that the T-bar adjustment is max out in one direction and still seems inadequate ? I'm wondering if you still have the /6 T-bars installed. I would want the appropriate 340 T-bars or better still A-body big block bars. Very minimal V8 bars . Just my thoughts. Good luck with your project.

 

[toolmanmike]

You state that the T-bar adjustment is max out in one direction and still seems inadequate ? I'm wondering if you still have the /6 T-bars installed. I would want the appropriate 340 T-bars or better still A-body big block bars. Very minimal V8 bars . Just my thoughts. Good luck with your project.

He mentioned that Camber is maxed out.

 

[72bluNblu]

The factory ride height spec and method to determine it is listed in the FSM, this is the relevant information. A-bodies are listed under "V & L" lines. Close ups of the measuring points were linked by Kendog 170

Most people don't necessarily use the factory spec for ride height, but if you lower or raise the car too much you have to make other modifications to your suspension to get your alignment right and to make sure you have enough suspension travel in each direction. You'll also need to ignore the alignment specs if you run radial tires, you'd need these

And on that note, most large corporate alignment shops will not use anything other than factory specs, which are for bias ply tires, and are completely wrong for radial tires which you can see by comparing the factory specs to the SKOSH. More than likely a custom alignment will be needed at a specialty shop.

You state that the T-bar adjustment is max out in one direction and still seems inadequate ? I'm wondering if you still have the /6 T-bars installed. I would want the appropriate 340 T-bars or better still A-body big block bars. Very minimal V8 bars . Just my thoughts. Good luck with your project.

Yeah, the camber bolts are maxed out, not the torsion bar adjusters. Totally different.

 

[marksmopars]

You state that the T-bar adjustment is max out in one direction and still seems inadequate ? I'm wondering if you still have the /6 T-bars installed. I would want the appropriate 340 T-bars or better still A-body big block bars. Very minimal V8 bars . Just my thoughts. Good luck with your project.

The car was rebuilt using front end parts from a 73, 340 car, to get the disc brakes and the torsion bars were replaced. Torsion bar adjustment is a available as needed, tho I don’t know what standard height should be. Camber adjustment is maxed and looks like I need more.

 

[marksmopars]

Ok, I’ve located a copy of the fsm from mymopar and need to do some reading, thanks to all for the thoughtful input. I will be back after I inform myself better thanks to your guidance I’m certain.

 

[toolmanmike]

The car was rebuilt using front end parts from a 73, 340 car, to get the disc brakes and the torsion bars were replaced. Torsion bar adjustment is a available as needed, tho I don’t know what standard height should be. Camber adjustment is maxed and looks like I need more.

You don't need much camber and camber spread (side to side) is more important. It can make up for road crown. Like on the chart above for a normal alignment, .5 °. That's pretty close to straight up and down.
Caster is tipped rearward at the top. That will make the car track straight down the road. Too much caster makes it more difficult to steer at low speeds. If you have power steering, that's not an issue.