Caster adjustment/ frontend setup

-
F

fishman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Messages
606
Reaction score
2
Location
Hampton Va.
I wanted to see how most people are setting their caster and camber. One of the guys that used to work with me really understood mopar front ends. I was trying to remember if he told to put 3`+ or - on the caster adjustment. Anyone do front end work that can help me on this. Thanks Tom
 
fishman said:
I wanted to see how most people are setting their caster and camber. One of the guys that used to work with me really understood mopar front ends. I was trying to remember if he told to put 3`+ or - on the caster adjustment. Anyone do front end work that can help me on this. Thanks Tom
Click to expand...

To get maximum caster you need to install moog offset upper control arm bushings and install them for maximum caster (front A-arm leg pushed out, rear A-arm leg pulled in) Use this installation diagram, NOT the one that comes in the box: http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/susp/18.html

I can get over 4 deg positve caster, 1 deg negative camber, 1/16" toe in.

4_6_07CudaAlignment0112.JPG
 
autoxcuda said:
To get maximum caster you need to install moog offset upper control arm bushings and install them for maximum caster (front A-arm leg pushed out, rear A-arm leg pulled in) Use this installation diagram, NOT the one that comes in the box: http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/susp/18.html

I can get over 4 deg positve caster, 1 deg negative camber, 1/16" toe in.


4_6_07CudaAlignment0112.JPG
Click to expand...

Gee, I hope those are the "before" readings :) Whatcha got there a Hunter 611? D
 
dmoore said:
Gee, I hope those are the "before" readings :) Whatcha got there a Hunter 611? D
Click to expand...

Yes those are "before" in process readings. I don't know what alignment model it is. It was done at one of my custormers shop.

Ended up with

Camber 1.5 Left & Right degrees negative
Caster +4.4L, +4.3R degrees postive
0.23 degrees toe in (~1/16" toe in)

Camber is aggressive, but these are radial tires. And this is not by daily driver anymore (was until 4 years ago). And when I do drive it I take corners hard that will wear the outside anyways.
 
Steve, I wish you were closer for some lessons. I could use some help today. I noticed the outside of one tire was going Kojack on me. Well, off to the shop for that and a inspection........
 
autoxcuda said:
Yes those are "before" in process readings. I don't know what alignment model it is. It was done at one of my custormers shop.

Ended up with

Camber 1.5 Left & Right degrees negative
Caster +4.4L, +4.3R degrees postive
0.23 degrees toe in (~1/16" toe in)

Camber is aggressive, but these are radial tires. And this is not by daily driver anymore (was until 4 years ago). And when I do drive it I take corners hard that will wear the outside anyways.
Click to expand...


I know I started this a long time ago but finally got one of the techs at the shop to get it right today. Man what a difference it made, this was on my 69 cuda. I have rebuilt everything in the front end. Put a new steering box and a flaming river coupler along w/moog of set bushings. And it has to be one of the best driving A-bodies I have ever driven. The thing is sweet. Thanks to all ya'll that had all the good input on this post. Thanks again Tom
 
autoxcuda said:
Camber is aggressive, but these are radial tires. And this is not by daily driver anymore (was until 4 years ago). And when I do drive it I take corners hard that will wear the outside anyways.
Click to expand...


fishman said:
I know I started this a long time ago but finally got one of the techs at the shop to get it right today. Man what a difference it made, this was on my 69 cuda. I have rebuilt everything in the front end. Put a new steering box and a flaming river coupler along w/moog of set bushings. And it has to be one of the best driving A-bodies I have ever driven. The thing is sweet. Thanks to all ya'll that had all the good input on this post. Thanks again Tom
Click to expand...


Just my .02.......As autoxcuda has stated, this is not his daily driver with these specs. From his screen name, I can only assume that he road races or auto crosses his car. Negative camber is highly sought after for this type of driving / road racing.

If you're running this strong -camber on the street, please make sure to rotate your tires regularly if possible. Inside tire wear will be noticeable with camber @ 1.5 neg. I would suggest camber at .5 neg.

Again.......JMO :cheers:
 
6pk2goDemon said:
Just my .02.......As autoxcuda has stated, this is not his daily driver with these specs. From his screen name, I can only assume that he road races or auto crosses his car. Negative camber is highly sought after for this type of driving / road racing.

If you're running this strong -camber on the street, please make sure to rotate your tires regularly if possible. Inside tire wear will be noticeable with camber @ 1.5 neg. I would suggest camber at .5 neg.

Again.......JMO :cheers:
Click to expand...

Ya thats just about what we came up with on the camber. The part I liked was the 3.5 on the caster it really tracks good and returns a lot better than it did. Thanks for the info. Tom
 
fishman said:
Ya thats just about what we came up with on the camber. The part I liked was the 3.5 on the caster it really tracks good and returns a lot better than it did. Thanks for the info. Tom
Click to expand...

Hey Tommy, did you take out the one UCA bushing and rotate it 180*?
 
What kind of steering box ratios are you guys running with this much positive caster? I'm wondering what I should shoot for when I install my 16 to 1 manual box.
 
fishman said:
Ya thats just about what we came up with on the camber. The part I liked was the 3.5 on the caster it really tracks good and returns a lot better than it did. Thanks for the info. Tom
Click to expand...

Yes, as 6pk2goDemon said if this is the car you commute to work with I would not go 1.5 deg negative camber. But I did run .5 deg negative for 3 years when I drove it 80 miles round trip to work through Los Angeles. I still wore the outside edges faster then the inners. And I didn't autocross it at all during that period.

With my car, if I ran .5 negative camber I could get 5.5 to 6 positive caster. The more negative camber the less adjustment left postive caster. You can see that in the in-process computer screen inprocess picture I posted. With about 1 degree of negative camber, I got about 5 degrees postive caster.

I also run shaved down 3/16" rear poly strut bushings. The polys are a little thicker than stock and that hurts caster by pushing the lower control arm back.

Info on that here: http://users.erols.com/mathewg/bushings.html
 
'64 Cuda said:
What kind of steering box ratios are you guys running with this much positive caster? I'm wondering what I should shoot for when I install my 16 to 1 manual box.
Click to expand...

What size tires are you running up front?

Do you do much paralell parking in the car?
Do you live in the city or out in the country?
Do you have to do much low speed manuvering for where you park your car?

The added steering effort from lots of caster on a manual steering car happens mostly under 20 mph or so.
 
After reading through this post I was curious about the aligment specs for my '74 duster. I plan to get it re-align later this spring once I install the heavy duty tie-rod ends. I have a few other chassis mods such as sway bars and leaf springs. I have the stock specs in my service manual. But those specs are for a stock chassis with bias-ply tires, not radials. So would the aligment specs be a little different to compensate the the chassis mods and new radial tires? Or would the stock specs be fine?

Not to hijack this thread but it really got me thinking about it. Just trying to get the most out of my a-body handling wise. Thanks.
 
7duster4 said:
After reading through this post I was curious about the aligment specs for my '74 duster. I plan to get it re-align later this spring once I install the heavy duty tie-rod ends. I have a few other chassis mods such as sway bars and leaf springs. I have the stock specs in my service manual. But those specs are for a stock chassis with bias-ply tires, not radials. So would the aligment specs be a little different to compensate the the chassis mods and new radial tires? Or would the stock specs be fine?

Not to hijack this thread but it really got me thinking about it. Just trying to get the most out of my a-body handling wise. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I would suggest this:
-1/16" toe in
-.5 negative camber to 1 degree negative camber if it's not your commuter car.
-As much caster as possible up to around 5 degrees positive. Probably 2-3 degrees postive without moog offset bushing. About 3-6 degrees positive with moog offset bushings.
 
fishman said:
Ya thats just about what we came up with on the camber. The part I liked was the 3.5 on the caster it really tracks good and returns a lot better than it did. Thanks for the info. Tom
Click to expand...

So what specs did you end up with on your printout sheet?:

camber: ?
caster: ?
toe: ?
 
autoxcuda said:
I would suggest this:
-1/16" toe in
-.5 negative camber to 1 degree negative camber if it's not your commuter car.
-As much caster as possible up to around 5 degrees positive. Probably 2-3 degrees postive without moog offset bushing. About 3-6 degrees positive with moog offset bushings.
Click to expand...

Thanks autoxcuda I really appreciate it.
 
autoxcuda said:
What size tires are you running up front?

Do you do much paralell parking in the car?
Do you live in the city or out in the country?
Do you have to do much low speed manuvering for where you park your car?

The added steering effort from lots of caster on a manual steering car happens mostly under 20 mph or so.
Click to expand...

Haven't decided on front tire size yet. Probably around 215 to 225 60 or 70 series 15" tires.

Very little chance of having to parallel park the car.

I live in a town of less than 2000 people & this will be my play car. Just
driven for fun. We have one stop light & one traffic light here. Rural? :-D No real city type driving unless I'm on a trip of some kind. Car will have a small block with aluminum heads.

As far as low speed maneuvering, just the turn into my garage or my shop. Could probably make the turn in at a decent enough speed to help with the steering effort, then slow down as I enter. I'd be going slower when backing out but I think the car would tend to turn a bit easier in reverse than going forwards wouldn't it? Due to the positive caster?

I plan to buy a front suspension rebuild kit in the near future & have been debating about whether or not to get the offset bushings & also the larger sized tie rods & ends. I'm open to suggestions. I did buy a set of LCA reinforcing plates.
 
'64 Cuda said:
Haven't decided on front tire size yet. Probably around 215 to 225 60 or 70 series 15" tires.

Very little chance of having to parallel park the car.

I live in a town of less than 2000 people & this will be my play car. Just
driven for fun. We have one stop light & one traffic light here. Rural? :-D No real city type driving unless I'm on a trip of some kind. Car will have a small block with aluminum heads.

As far as low speed maneuvering, just the turn into my garage or my shop. Could probably make the turn in at a decent enough speed to help with the steering effort, then slow down as I enter. I'd be going slower when backing out but I think the car would tend to turn a bit easier in reverse than going forwards wouldn't it? Due to the positive caster?

I plan to buy a front suspension rebuild kit in the near future & have been debating about whether or not to get the offset bushings & also the larger sized tie rods & ends. I'm open to suggestions. I did buy a set of LCA reinforcing plates.
Click to expand...

I think you could run 3 degrees positive and be ok with the steering effort for your situation. Probably more, but really depends on you, the driver. Are you used to manual steering cars. Do you hate manual steering? It's really tough to predict someone else's feeling.

Put the offset in there and at the very least it will give you options.

I would have bought the bigger tie rod and sleeves before the LCA plates if there were a choice between the two. I reinforced mine with a couple of 1" strap.

LwrCntls.JPG
 
autoxcuda said:
I think you could run 3 degrees positive and be ok with the steering effort for your situation. Probably more, but really depends on you, the driver. Are you used to manual steering cars. Do you hate manual steering? It's really tough to predict someone else's feeling.

Put the offset in there and at the very least it will give you options.

I would have bought the bigger tie rod and sleeves before the LCA plates if there were a choice between the two. I reinforced mine with a couple of 1" strap.

LwrCntls.JPG
Click to expand...
I don't have the sheet here now but will post a copy soon. I did put the LCA plates on.
Here is a pic.

engine bay 049 (Small).jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top