Camber will change the ride height, large factors are design SAI & wheel offset, as You stated it may make almost no difference....but I've instances including bone-stock where it made a big difference, depending how far from the target You're starting(just changed a bunch of parts), & the above factors.
Are You stating that w/o turning plates You simply can't tell how many degrees You're turning? If so, one turn may be fine, as long as You're very consistant with the wheel position each time. If it's less than 20° that's spec'd, it will simply read less camber change & thus less caster, & vice-versa if it's greater. Key will be the side-to-side balance, the actual number not as relevant, since You're starting out with them maxed.
Yes, total toe. Individual toe is a product of thrust angle alignments. Set back also has to be considered in thrust alignments.
You're right over my head with that one brother. Juts trying to figure out the individual toe with a string line parallel to the front and back of the rear tire extending it forward to measure the front.
There you go. You are doing a thrust alignment. Assuming the rear is somewhat square. Disregard the setback comment. That takes some trigonometry. Make sure you are centered in your steering box.
This is almost exactly how I do it! I mark the floor with tape at the 20 deg angles and put 2 big drum liner garbage bags folded over multiple times for my frictionless plates. How do you know when you've turned the wheel 20 deg. Why, you put a straight edge on the tire of course. When it's parallel to my tape line at the 20 deg mark, I'm there. Turn the wheel to the opposite 20 deg line and read off the angles on the gauge. Badda bing, badda boom!
Turnplates would be great to have. But don't be afraid to try some thick garbage bags folded over. With these light cars, they really do make turning quite easy. And I was successful in using them and getting the caster I needed. And if I can make it work, ANYBODY can make it work!!
Thanks, I laid out the lines on the garage floor and put the garbage bags under the contact patch....It worked great. I tried various minor deviences from the 20* and it had little effect on the final caster number. Thanks for the advice.
Where are your cam bolts at now?
You're on the right track, I always set ride height & alignment with the drivers weight present, if I know the percentage of times with & w/o a particular passenger I may or may not add that weight as well. The amount of difference it makes depends on T-bar/coil/stabilizer spring rates, obviously softer=more.
I would turn the rf cam to find 0 deg. camber on the rf. Re-swing caster and find whatever that number is (x). Then adjust lf wheel to 0 deg camber and (x-.5) caster. Set toe to 1/16" in. The (x-.5) is to compensate for road crown. You may find that you need to adjust this up or down a little after a test drive. If you have tires that are already worn they can cause the car to pull one way or the other. Make sure ride heights are set and rear end is square and steering box is centered before you start.
