Ferch method: Another satisfied customer.

[Jdub]

Finally dropped the car last night from the jackstands where its been hanging for more time than I can remember.

The front end was so low over the wheels it looked like a funny car. The rear end was in the air like a cat in heat. My first thought was "Oh no, I'm going to have to reindex!"

But no, I worked the fronts to a perfect 25.5" after resetting the caps on the tbars and the rear settled out. Since I had neglected to REALLY tighten the lock bolt and eccentric both sides on the rear, they had slipped a bit. So I went ahead, raised the rear end and after three tries got my 25".

Measured out my toein and gave myself just a bit (1/2" diff) for the drive to Fosters to have it professionally aligned. The new 9"ers on the back, and 7"ers on the front are the business -- they fill out the flares very nicely.

Now can someone confirm that I am looking for about 1/2degree of angle on my rear wheels?

Many thanks for the help from this board!

John

[Elombard]

My reference shows 0.5 - 1 degree negative for the rear. Doesn't Will have a recomendation? I cant remember, I would go with his.

[Jeff Alton]

Lets see some pics!

Jeff

[Jdub]

EW: Yes, that's what I seem to remember... I prefer that the wheels sit fairly upright in the flares.

Pics! Yes, I just finally got a rudimentary digital camera, so no excuses...

Finally, I remember we used to have a link to the photoscanned alignment booklet a gentleman put out some years back. Does anyone have this link around?

Finally, is the camber allen bolt a 12mm bolt?

Many thanks!
John

[Elombard]

Thats the book (Ray Scuggs) I looked at for my numbers. Not sure where the link is, try searching that name. I tried searching alignement and it was hopeless.

[john walker's workshop]

Foster's? good luck. i would recommend Tru-line so you get it right the first time.

[Jdub]

Ah, thank you John!! I was going to call you today to get that name: Fosters came to mind and I had thought that was the one you'd recommended.

John

[Superman]

John, congratulations. For performance driving, most folks prefer a degree or so of negative camber in the back, and a half-degree to one degree less in the front. So, 1.5 rear, 1.0 front is not unusual. With stiffer bars, perhaps less camber is okay. Again, this is for performance driving.

Rear toe should be zero, I believe. Front toe should be just a smidgen. That's a technical term that means something around a sixteenth of an inch, or perhaps as much as an eighth. Certainly not a half-inch.

[Jdub]

I am figuring on settling over the next week or so.

Can anyone comment on where the springplate "long" section ought to sit in relation to the shorter section that is captive to the tbar? That is, we all center these two up prior to putting them back into the torsion bar tube. Ideally, should the two plates sit centered? Any drawbacks to full up/centered/full down?

Many thanks,
John

[Jeff Alton]

Yes, it is a 12mm allen.

Jeff

[Schrup]

John, I am envious. I am buried in interior work that will probable take me two week to finish.I can't wait to drop my car. My daughters Mustang is starting to feel my fustration, I will need to buy some new brakes & tires for it before I turn it over to her. Did you get my letter?

[Jdub]

Haven't seen the letter yet but expect it will find its way to me today or tomorrow. I am using my old axleshafts for the time being and will go with a used set w/ low miles after rebuild.

I understand your frustration. You'd have had a good laugh watching me, on the floor, trying to remember which way to turn the damn tbar caps on the front end to get them centered up at 25.5 Euro height. Hmm, now if I go this way,,,no, wait, I go this way, hmmmm.

I did end getting it right though. God looks out for fools. The longer I waited, the longer it took to remember everything. What I found tough to do was to get the 100ft/lb torque on the springplate adjusting bolts. My 1/2" Craftsman w/ a length of plumbing pipe did the trick. Having center-punched the springplate (short and long) I am able to gauge my movement.

Off to Tru Line and then hopefully bliss. I never did grease those Neatrix bushings in the backend though I did zerk the street polys on the front. I may be pulling the springplates out after all if they start to squeak. If so, I will reindex the tbars and try to regain the center adjustment between the short/long springplates.

Hey, Spring is coming! You need to get that puppy on the road pretty soon for a trip to the Alehouse, Eggs Nest, or out to Red Hook!!!

John

[Drago]

John,

I just got my car back from Truline. I am quite happy with the work they performed.

I asked them for a good Street/Sport alignment. When I get home tonight I'll post the numbers they set the car up with.

Tip: when you drop your car off, remove the wheel locks before handing them your keys. They appreciate it.

[Schrup]

How much did you spend Marc?

[Drago]

Paul:

$202.77 out the door (alignment only). They did not recommend corner balancing unless you had serious steering wheel pull or were looking to track the car a lot. I took their advice and only had an alignment done.

Paul,

Lookin' forward to checkin' out all your new work SOON!

John,

The rest of the story...(btw, the 74th St Ale House, Judge Judy's or Red Hook are all fine by me).

PO alignment:

Left Front:

Camber -1.65 Deg
Caster 5.27 Deg
Toe 1.4 mm

Right Front:
Camber -1.12 Deg
Caster 5.74 Deg
Toe -2.4 mm

Total Toe: -1.0 mm
Steer Ahead: 0.15 Deg

Left Rear:
Camber -2.15 Deg
Toe 0.20 mm

Right Rear:
Camber -1.83 Deg
Toe -0.5 mm

Total Toe: -0.3 mm
Thrust Angle: 0.03 D

Current Truline Alignment:

Left Front:
Camber -1.12 Deg
Caster 5.05 Deg
Toe 2.6 mm

Right Front:
Camber -0.85 Deg
Caster 5.14 Deg
Toe 2.6 mm

Total Toe: 5.2 mm
Steer Ahead: 0.00 Deg

Left Rear:
Camber -1.58 Deg
Toe 1.6 mm

Right Rear:
Camber -1.35 Deg
Toe 1.6 mm

Total Toe: 3.3 mm
Thrust Angle: 0.00 D

All alignment measurements were taken with simulated body weight in the drivers seat. I'd now like to challenge all you psuedo-Pelican mathematicians (locals that have met me need not apply...this means you Island) to calculate what I weigh +/- 20 lbs. A thread in itself no doubt.

So, clearly the car was setup aggressively by the PO for AX, and he did well winning his class in '00 (on cheap, yet sticky Kumho tires). When I changed out the 6's and 7's for the 7's and 9's (with Michelin Pilot Sports with less that 1K miles on them) I noticed that 1/3 of the outside tread was still relatively intact but that 1/3 the outside tread was completely bald!!! I'm not wasting the Pilots that quickly (less than 2 years) so time for an alignment...JW says Truline, so Truline it is.

That said, at low parking lot speeds and tight turns the new alignment wants to "fall into steering lock", which I don't like. That's my only gripe so far, which I can certainly live with for the time being.


Once the Pilot's are shot I'll probably go back to a more aggressive alignment and cheaper sticky tires now that I've got the 6's and 7's for 205 X 60 snow tires....can't wait for next winter's first snow....

[Jdub]

Marc:

Did you specify these specifications or did you just request that the car be set up with a certain character? For example, Pure Street or Street plus mild AX or Competition?

Reason I ask is that I want little camber and about zero toe in the rear, settling on middle caster for the fronts. Do they"take requests?"

Many thanks,
John

[Drago]

I just asked for a good "sporty" street alignment....something a little more mild than what the current setup is. They do take into account the drivers weight and also asked if I wanted a passengers weight included (I did not).

I'm sure they'll set your car up exactly how you want it.

Very professional shop IMHO.