Alignment ??

[65mech]

Hello, I am new to this forum and am seeking some advice:help.
I have a 73 2.0. I just recieved the car from my father who did a very good amateur restoration. I know that the entire front suspension was removed and reinsatlled. Noticing that the front right wheel had a lot of positive camber, I loosened the adjustment bolts and tried to at least make it vertical so I could get it to the alignment shop. Found out I had a bent spindle. BTW, I have the green, heavy Bilstein front struts, are these stock, rare? I have since replaced the strut (expensive) and all seems well. Now I noticed that the left has a lot of neg camber and I can not get it vertical. I know there should be a little neg camber but I don't think there should be this much. I had both struts out of the car and measured both spindles to be the same so I don't think the left is bent. Is there somewhere else the alignment shop can make up this adjustment. Any help and explanation on how the front susp. works would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

When the car is lowered, the camber gets more negative. That could be affecting things. Check the rest of the front suspension to see if anything is bent. Also check the tub to make sure you don't see poorly repaired crash damage.

...I'm not sure what kind of info you are looking for about "how the front suspension works". It keeps the car off the ground, locates the wheels, etc.

The torsion bars inside the A-arms act as the springs. The struts locate the wheels, and house the dampers (shock absorbers). The lower ball joint and the upper end of the damper serve as the pivots for the steering knuckles--the whole lower part of the strut rotates when you turn the steering wheel. When the suspension compresses, the wheels gain negative camber; when the suspension goes into droop the wheels gain positive camber.

--DD

[65mech]

How low can I drop my front end? What's the proper height? I see some 914's that are slammed. Are they still in proper alignment? I do like the front a little lower that the rear. Thanks

[BigD9146gt]

Mech, the upper strut mount (the 3x 8mm hex bolts) adjusts your camber (wheel tilt left or right) and caster, the angle at which the strut slopes forward (the closer the angle to vertical, the quicker the car turns in, but then you need to physicaly steer the wheel back).

To drop the front end, you need to loosen the two bolts on the torsion bar adjustments. These screws are usualy an 11mm bolt, or 8mm hex head and are pointing downward on the suspension cross member. If you have a metal plate on the your 914 that covers the steering rack, you will need to remove the metal plate to access the screws. While the car is on the ground, pick a side to lower. Turn the wheel away from that side (for the left side, turn full right), lay on your back behind the wheel, and loosen the preload on the torsion bar by the screw. You might need to jack the car up slightly to releive some pressure on the threads. Measure the car from the bottom of the chassis to each side to make sure you even.

Good luck, Don.

[jhadler]

Originally posted by BigD9146gt
Mech, the upper strut mount (the 3x 8mm hex bolts) adjusts your camber (wheel tilt left or right) and caster, the angle at which the strut slopes forward (the closer the angle to vertical, the quicker the car turns in, but then you need to physicaly steer the wheel back).

One other thing about caster though, and it's an important one. More caster means more -dynamic- caster. That means that as the steering wheel is turned, the camber changes on the road wheel. The result is the road wheel will gain negative camber when you turn. This is a GOOD thing. A car will turn in quickly with lots of caster if the toe is set properly, but will understeer (push) horribly is there is not enough caster.

-Josh2

[lmcchesney]

BigD,
The front strut has two hex screws inboard and one outboard. Do you just adjust the outboard screw to adjust camber? Or is it a balance between the three? Adjusting the caster, is this just adjusting the fore and aft inboard screws?
What technique do you use to measure camber and caster?
Thanks,
L. McC.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Where are you finding these screws?

To adjust front camber, you loosen all three bolts that hold the upper strut bushing to the car. Then you shove the top of the shock inward (more negative camber) or outward (more positive camber), or forward (less caster angle) or aft (more caster angle).

--DD

[lmcchesney]

Dave, I am refering to the cheesehead screws on the top of the suspension colum.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Part number 53, right? Loosen all three of them, and you can slide that upper strut bushing (and therefore the top of the strut) around. Slide it inward for more negative camber, slide it rearward for more positive caster. Don't forget to tighten the screws when you've got the top of the strut where you want it!!

--DD