Need alignment specs

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Snake

Mopar Nut
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Ok 69 Dart all new oem front end parts,with B F Goodrich tires.I just talk to the guy who is going to line up my wheels,hes also in his fiftys and says done lots of mopars back in the day.He says ask here and get what specs you guys are happy with.So please feel free to tell me what he should shoot for.As now the car steers stright and stops stright after replacing everything,but he still says let do it right.
 
straight out of the book manual 1neg to 0/left 0 to 1pos. right 1/2 neg to3/4pos. caster camber right 0to 1/2pos. perferred 1/4 pos left neg.1/4to3/4 pos. 1/2perferredtoe in3/32 to5/32 power1/4 pos1 1/4 pos caster cambersame as manual toe also this is from chiltons 68/76 copyright 1975. if it was me i try for as much pos. caster with camber 0 to 1/4neg camber on the right (pass side) then set caster 1/2 to3/4 less on the left side{ driver side} with camber 0 to1/4 neg. toe in 3/32 toa1/16
 
4 degrees positive caster (most likely not achievable with stock a-arms)
1/2 degree negative camber
1/8" toe in.

The factory specs are worthless because we no longer use bias ply tires and i dont think road crown was built into the roads back then...we also use better shocks today as well...
 
Here's the alignment readings on my Demon with stock upper bushings.

Alignment Specs 002.jpg
 
Holly molly so many specs.I dont realy like my tech saying get me the numbers and i will set it the way you want.but I trust you guys.6pk2goDeomon hoe does she handel?
 
i,ve set alignment for 30 years now and have alway set right side first and always higher on caster for driveablity. camber should be even if all posible. same on both sides 1/4 neg. or1/2 deg. neg as long as there close. caster in pic,s would be perfect if the other side higher number was on the right.we all agree on toe. for tire were camber should be closer to 0 but if just a week end car 1/2 deg. neg camber won,t show much wear.
 
Nobody's asked the 64 dollar question. What are you doing with the car? Street car? Race car? some of both? Roundy round? To get a proper alignment you need to know the usage first. I never really liked aligning using negative camber. If you go 1/2 degree positive on the camber, you can pick up some road stability you've lost by not being able to reach that 4 degrees caster. It will also help in good steering returnability. also, if you have headers, positive camber will tend to lift the front of the car a little higher and give you a touch more ground clearance. It won't be much, but it will be noticable if you go from say neg 1/2 degree to pos 1/2 degree. Lastly, the toe will depend on tire size. If you're running stock size tires, stick with the stock specs. If something larger, that needs to be taken into consideration, as larger tires have more leverage and tend to "pry" the front tires apart at road speed and result in negative toe more than stock size tires.
 
Nobody's asked the 64 dollar question. What are you doing with the car? Street car? Race car? some of both? Roundy round? To get a proper alignment you need to know the usage first. I never really liked aligning using negative camber. If you go 1/2 degree positive on the camber, you can pick up some road stability you've lost by not being able to reach that 4 degrees caster. It will also help in good steering returnability. also, if you have headers, positive camber will tend to lift the front of the car a little higher and give you a touch more ground clearance. It won't be much, but it will be noticable if you go from say neg 1/2 degree to pos 1/2 degree. Lastly, the toe will depend on tire size. If you're running stock size tires, stick with the stock specs. If something larger, that needs to be taken into consideration, as larger tires have more leverage and tend to "pry" the front tires apart at road speed and result in negative toe more than stock size tires.

This a street car going to cruise ins and showes.We do like to go to the beach and small drives,if we put 800 miles on her in a 6 mounth season its was great.I have to admit with so much info not sure witch way to go now.
 
Really not a tough choice. The specs I recommended are within spec. As are the specs alsdemon suggested. The specs have a wide variation for a reason. For varying road conditions and driving habits. If you cannot afford the high dollar control arms or ball joints for increased caster, then I would recommend the 1/2 degree camber on both sides. Caster has two functions. 1) To provide good stability at road speed and 2) To give good steering wheel returnability coming out of a turn. That's it. If you cannot get the caster up very high (which is often the case with a Mopar), you can add some stability back to it by setting camber on the high side. If you have headers, then it's a no brainer. The extra camber will give you a little more ground clearance. Also, I believe Moog makes some offset upper control arm bushings that will aid in getting some good caster as well. Those aren't too bad to install yourself. But with no other changes, the extra camber will do the trick.
 
Holly molly so many specs.I dont realy like my tech saying get me the numbers and i will set it the way you want.but I trust you guys.6pk2goDeomon hoe does she handel?

It handles great, but I'm not an aggressive driver either. Mostly just "cruisin" nowadays.

als, From experience also, your caster specs work great for power steering, but not necessarily on manual steering. Every car has to be adjusted individually depending on ride height, power or manual steering, and many other factors.

Very few of these 40 year old cars can be set exactly the same. Road testing is key........:cheers:
 
It handles great, but I'm not an aggressive driver either. Mostly just "cruisin" nowadays.

als, From experience also, your caster specs work great for power steering, but not necessarily on manual steering. Every car has to be adjusted individually depending on ride height, power or manual steering, and many other factors.

Very few of these 40 year old cars can be set exactly the same. Road testing is key........:cheers:

Is yours manual steering? mine is.Me thinks I will jot down your setting and see how it workssss.
 
Is yours manual steering? mine is.Me thinks I will jot down your setting and see how it workssss.

Then you might want to rethink about trying to add that additional caster. The manual steering cars require a little less caster because, as you turn, the tires are actually lifting the front of the car. With manual steering, the more caster you have, the more difficult it is to steer, especially at low speeds such as parking. I would recommend the alignment just as I described with the positive camber. Since you have manual steering and don't need the extra caster, the positive camber will make up the difference in road stability.
 
Then you might want to rethink about trying to add that additional caster. The manual steering cars require a little less caster because, as you turn, the tires are actually lifting the front of the car. With manual steering, the more caster you have, the more difficult it is to steer, especially at low speeds such as parking. I would recommend the alignment just as I described with the positive camber. Since you have manual steering and don't need the extra caster, the positive camber will make up the difference in road stability.

Interesting.
 
Ok I am sure somewere in the past someone said to get as much postive camber as I can with factory upper arms and oem bushings is this true or not?
 

Ok I am sure somewere in the past someone said to get as much postive camber as I can with factory upper arms and oem bushings is this true or not?

I'm sure it's caster you're referring to. Too much camber will scrub the outside of your tires. Alignments aren't rocket science, just find someone who cares about what they're doing and will not just "set the toe" or use factory specs that were designed for bias ply tires, not the modern radials we're using now.....

As far as tire pressure, it should be the first thing done before even hanging the equipment. If the tech/shop doesn't check your tire pressure.......run far, far away.

The articles that ABodyJoe posted have good info too!!

And yes, my Demon has manual steering. Don't overthink it.....the specs can be changed anytime.
 
very well said strokerscamp as with older cars the test drive will tell.in the old days with bubble gage and toe heads pulling it back in and a quick adj. was not to hard. with the newer equement you have to hang all the head and do a run out re swing caster and so on.i,ve made adj. for pull are drift then redrove and reset toe after i got it driveing stright a lot of newer cars are toe and go so alot of tech don,t know which way to turn with out machine to guild them.good luck.
 
Man, there is a ton of first hand experience knowledge in this thread alone. There is much more engineering in these cars than I ever thought before.
 
..........Don.........have him adj the rear cam bolt all the way in and the front all the way out......see what ur cas/cam figures r.........+ or - 1/2 deg cam will get u where u want 2 b................kim...........
 
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