Another alignment spec thread

[hogie]

I got the toe set on my 72 earlier this summer and was told my rear end was way out of spec. How bad are the following results?

It drives fine on the highway and doesn't visibly dog track with the thrust angle differance. I am still running 14" tires so replacement costs arent a big deal at the moment. Also, I seriously doubt if I will put more than a few thousand on them in a year.

Thanks

Left Front /Right Front

Camber -.4 / -1.

Caster 2.6 / 3.1

Toe .12 / .16

left Rear / Right Rear

Camber -.8 /-1.1

Toe .13 /.47

Total Toe .6

Thrust Angle -.17

Edited November 18, 2010 by hogie

[moritz55]

Your Total rear Toe is just a little High. It should equal or less than 0.50" . so it also looks like your passenger side rear rotated forward a bit and this is exactly what my car had after 38yrs - and your dog-tracking a bit. What happens over time is since the drivier side axel really drives the car if you have an R180 or R200 rear end differential - and then through the spider gear it translates to the passenger side so it's natural that over 38yrs of accelerating you'll get a slight rotation (driver side less toe-in, passenger side more toe-in).

Your only option is to jack the car up on jack stands so it's almost level relative to the floor - such as a concrete drive way and remove the rear wheels. Drop some plumb line marks to the floor (put tape on the floor for easy marking) from transverse link points that are the same from driver and passenger side of the car. I used the rear transverse link brace and bolts, the outer transverse link bolt center (both rear and forward).

You'll need to use some Trigonometry to estimate how much you'll need to move the Passenger side rear innerward toward the center of the car. I think in my case for 1/8 inch move inward - reduced the Toe-In by 0.40"(sin = 1/8inch divided by 18inch(transverse link pivot length) = 0.40degrees).

Anyway so in your case you may need to .. Then you loosen the rear transverse link bolts slightly and tap with e 2-3lb mallet to pull inward the rear. It was hard for me to do this so I had new vertical plates made with slots to allow me to move easily slight the them.

Here's an article with some Rear alignment data and modifications. Look at article 87 & 88. I had custom Vertical Brace plates that the Transverse link bracket mounts to help correct a Rear Toe problem.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/s...ight=alignment

Once you've move it some - retighten and confirm the change in position. Someitmes you have to do it several times since the tigthening process moves the braces somewhat.

Anyway - good luck and keep us posted..

Edited November 21, 2010 by moritz55

[hogie]

It sounds like that fix would be quite fidgety to get to stick. Was there some reason you had new plates made instead of just slotting the factory peices? Also, the link you posted doesnt seem to be working. I will try to search for those posts when I get the chance.

I suppose I will try to get this done when I replace my clutch in the next month or so. I love winter and it sure gives me plenty of time to work on the car, but no time to really enjoy it.

[moritz55]

Yes... the old plates were bent. Having them bent back to a 90degree postion won't do much but further weaken the angle. Driver side plate was bent backward slightly while the passneger side was bent forward slightly due to the rear end torque as a result of acceleration over 37+yrs. I thought of swapping mounting the driver side with the passenger side to reverse this troque deformation, but my car would daog track the other way. So I just decided to prevent this opportunity again and had new one built. Went with slightly thicker steel, a slightly wider plate tapering it to fit properly into the transverse bracket while also adding the gusset to prevent bending.

I think if you take the old ones off and have them straightened and add a gusset - you may be okay. Only thing is I'd slot to top holes a bit to allow sliding the aft transvere links left or right for squaring up to prevent dog-tracking. That's why mine are wider at the top to allow for a larger slot to give me plenty of aft movement in case my body was a bit out of square.

Anyway - hope this helps.

Edited November 22, 2010 by moritz55