Not trying to be argumentative, but wanting to see this correctly. As far as I know, there is no adjustment on the stock strut rods; the forward bolt just gets torqued to a spec and it ends up where it ends up. Perhaps there are different procedures for different bodies? For sure, I don't know them all....
And if there were a strut adjustment, I am having a hard time seeing how it would effect free movement of the LCA with stock bushings; the rubber has to get distorted just in normal up and down movement of the LCA. For a degree or 2 of forward angle of the LCA would not change anything that I can see.
As an example, for an added 1 degree of positive caster, the LCA's ball joint has to move forward about 3/16", which is a around 1/4" forward movement of the strut rod. That works out to about a degree change in the LCA angle when viewed from above. Not enough bushing distortion to worry about, IMO, at least with the stock rubber bushings. Not sure how the hardness of the poly would like that......which may be where it would become an issue.
The stock strut rods do not have any method of adjustment. You install them, torque to spec, and hope that the LCA moves up and down freely when you're done. If you've installed aftermarket parts and bushings, the odds of the stock strut rod still being the right length is slim.
As far as that strut rod effecting the movement of the LCA, it absolutely does. It really doesn't take much angle at all to add resistance to the movement of the LCA through its range of travel. It sounds like you've never installed a set of adjustable strut rods. You'd be amazed how little adjustment it takes to start binding the LCA's from the length where they move freely. A few turns on the adjuster makes a big difference, and that's less than the 3/16" you're talking about. And that binding will reduce the life span of all the parts it effects, namely the LCA bushings, pins, etc because its introducing addition side loads.
The benefit of adjustable strut rods is being able to make the strut rods the right length for your car. Aftermarket parts, bushings, etc, change the length that the strut rod needs to be for the LCA to move freely. And the strut rods will change your alignment specs. If they're the wrong length, not only will they cause the LCA to bind, but they can make it downright impossible to get the right alignment specs. Ma mopar got away with using non-adjustable strut rods, but they're a compromise, and not all cars were set up properly with them. Some were, some weren't.
My point was that, although the strut rods can absolutely change your alignment specs, they should always be adjusted so that the LCA moves freely, not to reach a specific caster number.
The plus side is Firestone doesn't have specs on my car or any car before 1985 so they asked me what I wanted and before I did my research I told them 0,0,0 but now I know and i'll take it back to at least get the camber the same. So it -1 degree is kinda max before some tire wear then I don't think I need to redo any suspension parts as long as they can bring the car the same on both sides. Thank you a bunch guys! loads of help
0,0,0!!! #-o
That's definitely not good. But, it's also not at all how they set your car.
Hopefully when you take it back they can get you to -.5º camber, +2 to +3º caster, and 1/16 to 1/8" toe in. But I wouldn't hold my breath. Best of luck!
