while bolting together the front suspension for the Topolino I see what looks like a lot of positive camber, I dropped my angle finder so I can't say exactly how many degrees but it looks like maybe 4? what is a good angle for quarter mile blasts in a straight line? is positive better than negative here or the other way around?
I don't know yet, I want a real drag tire but it has to look the part.. early sixties.. the tires on the rims right now are old Tigar 6.00-15s been looking on line and the Moroso Drag Special fronts take a good picture I'll have to see them in person before shelling out the bucks.. here's a grab of the Moroso tire
I have those on the front of the fly. Be warned whwn they say a 4.5 inch tire, that's the footprint. I should of ordered the 2.5". I may still do it. What about the rear, are those Radirs? Update****Looks like they aren't making it in a 2.5 anymore.
These might look right. http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10002&storeId=10001&categoryId=22085&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=36680
those M&H front specs look good. I haven't decided on the rears yet either, same deal though they have to look early sixties and they need to hook up. the Radirs there may get a run or two but probably won't be the tire for the car nor will the magnesium Torq Thrusts be the wheel.. I like the way they look but I like the shiny aluminum slots better and the pie crust tire doesn't look right to me on the slots. the magnesiums are the right width, diameter and offset so they work for mock up.
Sounds to me like like people are posting CASTER angles... He asked for CAMBER. CAMBER is usually kept close to 0º give or take a degree that it changes with varying caster and toe angles.
jeez yoos guys, I thought we were on the same page I could have sworn I said camber more than once... like in the ***le.. I know I've seen drag cars with negative camber too I shall do some research..
You won't have a lot of control on camber with a straight axle anyway..... as far as adjusting I mean.
since you won't get any camber gain or loss with that setup i'd shoot for -1 camber with 5 or 6 positive caster & 1/16th toe out...mel
no, my intent is to use the '34 beam and bend it to correct it. if need be. a little heat and pressure just like a drop only without the drop
Camber is built into the axle. I would run 10 degrees caster on a drag car. 1/8 TO 1/4 toe out. This will keep you straite.......................... I found some pennies, and this is two of them................
My flea market axle was waaaaaay off on the camber. My guess is it was bent at one time for Lincoln spindles. I was able to restore it to Ford specs in my garage using a rose bud, leverage and the weight of the engine. Leverage is a good thing. Mine was worse than yours. I did mine a little at a time. Actually bending the axle with heat. It takes some time but it's less stressful than bending with a hydraulic jack. When it cools the stress has been relieved. Camber will have more affect on tire wear than going straight. I still shoot for 0 deg.
How about Michelin 135 SR 15 they are available from Coker. These tires were first used in the early sixties on altereds, they look just right.
Here is a picture of the Michelin 135SR15 that we run on our car. Altereds have been useing these as far back as 1962.
very cool could you post some more pictures of your car? shots of the ch***is? from the one picture there it looks similar to what I have in mind beam axle, twelve spokes, perimeter frame, sbc, gl*** Topolino body... thanks Paul
I ended up buying a set of Nankang 145 X 15 for my Anglia. Tread pattern looks a LOT like 60's Perelli's, I guess I might have to shave the lettering off of the sidewalls, but I think they'll work. Larry T BTW I have a set of 22.5/4.5-15 E.T. FRONT tires I'd sell for $150.00 plus shipping if anyone's interested. I bought them for the Anglia but didn't like the look when they got here. Never been mounted.
Here is one picture I have, there are more, but it will take little while to find them and convert them to tn size to put on the HAMB
The frame was a roller with engine and trans. 2 jack stands just inside the spring perches put the axle dead level. I pulled the king pin and spindle. Any heavy bar stock that will go through the king pin hole and extend above the boss will work. I used an ironworkers pin wrench. It doesn't have to fit. It's just used as a lever to bend the axle. I used a 2 foot pipe wrench around the pin wrench extending away from the frame. I put the floor jack under the end of the 2 foot pipe wrench. Lots of leverage. Take a load on the floor jack until the axle lifts about an 1/8th of an inch off the closest jack stand. I started heating on the bottom of the axle goose neck. You will have to get the axle red from top to bottom in the area you are heating. I kept the heat away from the king pin boss. I was afraid the leverage could egg shape the king pin hole. It didn't. The top needs to compress and the bottom needs to expand. The long lever is trying to lift the weight of the engine. You control where the bend will take place with where you apply the heat and you can actually spread the bend smoothly over the whole swoop instead of a localized kink. You can actually watch the axle move concentrating on the 1/8th" gap at the jack stand. You can see a 1/32" change in a 1/8th" gap with the naked eye. With no reference, you'd never notice such a small movement. When the gap is gone and the axle is sitting on both of the jack stands again, take the levers apart and remeasure the king pin inclination. It took me 3 or 4 applications to sneak up on the right angle. With a before and after measurement you can estimate how many applications you will need to get it right using the same 1/8th" (eyeballed) gap each time. I checked the angle each time. This gives you a way to controll the bend and get repeatable results. I got it damn near perfect using a Craftsman angle finder. We all know how precise they are. After the final heating I took great care to evenly heat the goose neck area. Not cherry red but hot enough to even out any stresses. Be careful and sneak up on it but it's not rocket science. My 1948 Motors manual calls for +1/4 to 1 degree. I shot for 0 degrees. If you go down a front end spec book the camber is usually within a 1/2 dgree of zero plus or minus. The biggest effect it has is on tire wear trying to get even wear across the tread width. Not a concern for an altered but I think if you are going over a hundred mile an hour you want the steering tires to have full contact with the road concidering it's so small to begin with. As you can tell I'm as proud as hell of saving an axle that was useless to me using what ever was lying around the garage (and could have been in any hot rodders garage in 1950). What ever you use for levers is unimportant. I used what I had. The important part is finding a way to get small predictable steps with repeatable results. This worked for me. Yes you can wait until the car is comlete and take it to a truck alignment shop and they can do it with specialized hydraulic equipment, but it's cool to do it yourself with nothing but a little time invested. I loved the challenge and I'm proud of the outcome. Try it you'll like it.
On the BFD, we just used what the axle had in it... I think the top of the tire (at the bulge) is about 1/4" out from the bottom bulge when you put a straight edge on the floor next to it... Our axle was an old Ch***is Engineering axle... you might call Mark WIlliams up and ask them what numbers they use, because they make drag racing solid front axles. As for caster... we put like 17 degrees in it. It is a pain to turn and to back up... and we get the death wobble if we hit a bump in a straight line... but it is perfect down the track... goes straight, and easily corrected when it gets out of shape. Sam.
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