ok so i have a couple questions about the alignmet on my roadster im using a 5 or 6 inch taffy pulled axle, 40's spindles dropped steering arms from pete & jakes and a f1 steering box everything is installed nice and clean, tight with no play other than what is needed. now i took the car for a small drive and noticed that when the steering wheel is center in the car and im rolling at a speed above id say 15 mph the car pulls left right left right now i noticed the car did this before i swapped to dropped steering arms so maybe the alignment is off does anyone have a diagram on how the wheels should be kicked when driving straight i have them kicked in towwards the grille where is a basic starting point to get a close to perfect alignment..so i have controll at the wheel.
When you say kicked out do you mean caster. Meaning like looking at the forks on a bicycle from the side.
I'm having trouble deciphering what you are actually saying just as Johnny Gee seems to be. Caster should be about 7 degrees positive or like the rake on a bicycle fork. Who ever dropped the axle should have set the camber so that shouldn't be a real issue but I usually like a quarter of a degree more positive camber on the left wheel than the right wheel. Toe in should be set at 1/8 inch to start. The most accurate way I have found to set the toe in on a car or truck by hand at home is to jack each wheel up and using something to steady your hand make a mark on the center of the tread with a pencil while you rotate the tire. When you have the mark on both tires let the car down and measure from mark to mark front and back and figure out what you have. hopefully you end up with 1/8" less on the front side than the back side. Using the pencil to place the mark on the tread and measuring from mark to mark compensates for any tread or wheel runout you might have and gives and accurate reading. Measure at the same height from the floor front an back when you do this.
yea im guessing its the toe i was trying to figure it out today but im lost when it comes to this someone told me the front side of the wheels should be facing outwards is this tru
ok so let me get this straight i mark the center of each wheel all the way around than measure the center line in the rear of the tire than measure the center line in the front of the tires across and kick the tires in 1/8th of a inch in front ?
i was about to try that today and thought i was gonna mess somthing up so i left it alone till i got some info .... will the toe affect the steering that much ..its a scary ride when the car wants to go in both directions at once
thats what its doing wandering like a damn drunking sailor ..i have very little control of it i thought it was the steering box so i adjusted the shit out of it ,than i thought it was the steering arms just replaced them so its gotta be something in the alignment .
Im no front end expert and get by on my own well. Also, I've only messed with A-frame stuff. Although the same applies I would look at the caster myself.
what should the caster be set at ill check that to i have a angle finder to help me so im sure i can figure it out
Caster is a good check but lets back up one step. Have you measured from the center of the front hub to the center of the back hub on each side of the car to make sure they are equal distance and square?
nothing is measured yet.thats was my next question is there a base to start at a formula from a to z to get me were i need to be
Good point. But to get a square measurement you need to also measure in an X manner as well. I prefer a 3 point measurement to get things squared up from a good center point. Lorodz do your toe and caster first and go from there.
Mr48Chev said " I usually like a quarter of a degree more positive camber on the left wheel than the right wheel. " Can ju 'splain how dat werks?
If I remember correctly is to compensate for crown in the road. However this is set into axel and cannot be changed by simple adjustment. Note: thats a 1/4 of a degree
well as far as i know the only thing i can check and change is the toe and the caster only thing is that i have split wish bones so i may have to pie cut and set the angle than re weld them ...
Bump steer could also be causing some of your problems, ie toe out throughout travel. Toe settings have a drastic affect on steering and even the slightest mis-alignment can cause problems. I'm not a fan of drawing a mark down the center of the tire as I don't have that steady of hands. Find some plate that you know is flat and stand them up on the outside of the tires and measure from there. If you really want to get exact take the rim off and bolt the plates to your hub and measure.
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