So, I was getting some funny tire wear on my '55 Ply. Specifically, the inside edge of the right tire was scrubbed off. It's lowered quite a bit. Obviously, I have some serious negative camber, -5* right side, -2.5* left side. I tried to align it and here's what I discovered. The closes to 0* I can get is -4* right, -1.25* left. There is no more adjustment left in it, no special offset parts are avalible. Obviously, I'm going to have some funny tire wear no matter what, but here's my question. With the camber where it is, how should I set my toe for best tire wear? Thanks.
What I probably would do is find a frame and alignment shop and see if they would bend your front crossmember enough that your frontend would align. They should be able to align your frontend after this is done. .
bending the frame to correct the alignment is not an option. Prilarily because I'll have to pay for that, but also because then when I design the new suspension, i'll always have to compensate for the bent frame. Anyone else have any suggestions for best tire wear with the camber I have? Thanks
There is no Toe setting that will compensate for excessive tire wear due to Camber. Get the Camber as close as possible,set the Toe where it belongs,and away you go. As if you corner fast enough,it will even the wear up a little.
I have never considered this as a good way to correct an alignment situation, but some people will section (shorten) the lower or upper control arm to get the camber that they need. If you were to go this route, make sure whoever welds the control arms back together, knows what they are doing.
that's -4.0 It was at -5.0, so I gained a degree in the right direction. It was also toed OUT 5/8", so It ws riding on the inside edge of the tires, expecially hard on that side. I set my toe in a tad, and swapped the tires side to side. We'll see how it wears. I know I'll never get great tire wear, maybe not even good tire wear on that side, I'm just looking for OK tire wear. For what tires cost me($10 new used junk yard tires), I guess I can live with replacing them every 10,000 miles.
Is there any way you can remove the arm and increase the slot in the control arm or frame mount? Do you have any pics so we can see what you`re working with? I have had to do things like this before on alignments to get correct camber/caster.
Bug - Back when I did a '65 Fairlane, the frame shop where I took the car noted I had a similar prob. They heated up the spindle just above the axle stub and bent the spindle a skosh (outwards) with a couple of well-placed mallet whacks. Let the whole shebang air cool, and Voila! You're back in the adjustment range with only a little oxy/acet gas and some elbow grease. Drove the car for two years with no ill effects other than it attracted the attention of a ticket writer...
the A arm mounting holes are not slotted. When I have it apart to put my new springs in the front, I suppose I could slot them some, then make some offset bushings to keep the bolts where I want them. It's common in roundy round cars, so I may not even have to make the offset slugs. Chuck, the spindle is about half as big around as a pop can, so it would take a whole lot of heat to bend it. Plus, it still uses link pins and a king pin instead of ball joints, so keeping it aligned while bending may be an issue.
I've got the same spindles on Lucy; if you chose a point midway between the upper arm and the axle stub to apply heat - it would work better than it did even on the fairlane. As for alignment - you're gonna hafta do that anyway. A couple of hammer whacks is only gonna move the spindle dimension a couple of degrees, tops - and that's all you need!
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