The car is my 51 chevy. I installed Fatman dropped uprights and steering arms. I cant seem to get the car even close to aligned. The top of the tire is WAY out. I adjusted it as much as it can be, and it helped a little, but its wearing the tires really badly. Here is my thought. With the spindles installed on the uprights, they point slightly down. I was thinking of flipping them over so that they point slightly up. That will make the top of the tire come in a lot. Then I can have it realigned. Will that work?
You're idea of flipping the spindles makes it sound like they're upside down to begin with. Is there any way of double checking that things are where they should be?
Anytime you ***emble a front end from correct new or used parts and the tires are leaning way out at the top or way in at the top, you have ***embled that front end incorrectly. Usually it will be that the spindles, or steering knuckles, are either on the wrong sides or upside down or both.
That makes sense. Here is a pic of how they are installed in the car. to me they look upside down, but I was told when I first installed them that they went this way. Does look upside down?
I think they're upside down. You could try flipping one and see what happens. Then you could compare the two sides.
There is a groove in the spindle that the washer slides into that covers the outer bearing. The groove goes to the top. Also when you go to do your alignment the frame of the car must be level. Todd
the car should be aligned at ride height ,even with bags ,anyway i ve done a few of these ,the best thing to do is look at the factory manual for the car , if you dont have one i do but i will try to explain
ok here we go ,in the pic in my manual , the pic shows the upright in the up and down position with the spindle horizontal -the kingpin should be angled inward
The picture of the spindle looks correct. There should probably be about 7* of king pin inclination with the spindle pin level. How 'bout a couple pictures of the whole thing ***embled.
thanks , for addin that , you might have to adjust the eccentric at the top , to get you in the ballpark ,to take it to an alignment shop
I have adjusted the accentric at top. Its still way out. Here is a pic of it installed. Also notice in the pic where the steering arm and the tire cam in contact. Upside down spindle would explain that too... sorry its sideways
just went out and looked at mine ,to see how it was ,its the same , no tire rub though what size rim are u running , are the tops of the tires leaning in or out , ,i also remember reajusting the drivers side tierod ,
Back in the olden days we often had to get the uprights bent at an alignment shop that did trucks and such, and had the bending tools. Your uprights appear to have been fabricated...could they be the problem? Charlie
The wheels are the stock 15 inch. Tires are 215/75/15. the tops of the tires lean out, enough that you can just look at them and see that they are way off.
Any chance theese spindles could be made fro a lower ride height that what you have? as you slam a vehicle with IFS typically the camber changes and the top of the tire sinks in, which is why your drop spindles would carry a different axis angle to compensate the camber, in turn moving the top of the tire back out. I am guessing your car is lowered but the top of your tire is still pushed out. Sounds like they a designed to compensate for being lower that what your car is sitting. Get a couple fat guys to sit on the front or your car, roll it forward or backward a couple feet to allow the tires to flex and see if it looks better. If so either lower your car some more or get different parts or move the lower control arms out. Funny how 51's have wierd problems about them.
thats a thought, but even aired out, the tops of the tires stick out. This is how low it gets. I doubt they designed the uprights for a car lower than this.
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