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Front end changes...

It would be interesting to see what the toe is, I never had a problem with 1/8" toe in and I've been playing with toe out and have not had the squealing/scrubbing problem yet. I'm currently running 7/32" toe out!
 
I did install a Monte Carlo bar about 3-4 weeks ago and also a new Export brace that was a tighter fit than the other one I removed. Never noticed any difference to speak of other than a bit of an improvement in handling. Now this.

I will see if I can find the specs it was aligned to. I don't think I have them.
 
Sounds like they are hanging up on the upper arm like you said Dne' had with her arms/perches. You could probably get under there and grind some of the upper arm to make room for them to fully travel.
 
Mmmmmm...... The clearance front and back is not an issue while the car as at rest and at right height. Her issue was because the car had no motor in it. There is no way in hell she could have mounted the shocks with the motor out if the car had a rubber perch.
 
That is true. It did look like one of mine could catch a bit but I was not able to check it properly by my self. It could just be a scratch from other work.

With the wife to bounce the car while I lay under it was not a good position for me so I let that check ride for now.
 
"AzPete" said:
That is true. It did look like one of mine could catch a bit but I was not able to check it properly by my self. It could just be a scratch from other work.

With the wife to bounce the car while I lay under it was not a good position for me so I let that check ride for now.
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Well there you have it. I let the wife bounce all she wants.
 
Hey now, I was on thin ice when I asked her to ride along once today. I commented the car drove great with both of us in the car. She asked what made the difference and I bit my tongue there. No way I was going to mention the difference in weight. :roulette
 
:rofl after 30 some years pete, i thought that would be over by then! lol nice to know what i have to look forward too!
 
No use stirring the pot when there is no need. I will be the first to say "she has me well trained". :rofl Weight is never to be mentioned, good or bad, no matter how many years are behind you.

And that is your relationship lesson for today.
 
On the very first classic Mustang I rebuilt, I had the unpleasant experience of driving such as you've explained. The car drove great one minute, and horrible the next. WTF? I took it back to the alignment shop and explained to the mechanic that "something's definitley not right!" Sure enough, the LCA eccentric bolts hadn't been tightened enough to hold the alignment. The LCA position would change every time I hit a bump/turned a corner.

With your car being a '66 you shouldn't have LCA eccentrics unless it's been modified.... correct? Did you possibly lose some UCA shims? From when the spring compressor was pulling up on the spring and releasing tension on the UCA... it could have caused some shims to fall out if your UCA bolts weren't tightened properly.

Your symptoms sure sound like camber/toe problems to me.
 
No, nothing fell out or is loose.

What we decided this am is that the car needs more caster. It is at 2 neg and needs to go to 2 pos. He reset the toe and that made it drivable for now. I hope to get this change (longer bolts on the UCA's) made and back to his shop next week. Looks like extreme bump steer from a combination of the lacking caster and toe adjustments with the extra movement allowed by the roller perches.

Now, I know this is not the preferred method to achieve these results but it will work until I someday dig deeper onto the the car itself.

The nice thing about this is there was no charge for 45 min. of shop time today. This shop is a two man, old school place the Midlife recommended. He never even blinked an eye at the settings I asked for. No problem he says, looks good.

And, yes, he was looking the perches over pretty good as he had never seen any.

Update will follow when this is done.

E-mail sent to ORP....
 
It is at 2 neg and needs to go to 2 pos.
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Something ain't right..... a spring perch swap should not have sent your caster off by 4-5 degrees. Try +3 on the caster for better highway tracking, especially if it's a power steering car.

Ball joints? Tie rods? Everything checks out good?

Within this thread you stated that it used to drive great..... after the spring perch swap it drove like crap..... and then it drove good..... and then it drives like crap again.

This information and nothing else tells me that something is worn/loose causing the problem to come and go.
 
Three time under the car...nothing loose. All new street UCA's and LCA's from ORP. New shocks, 5000 miles on the springs, all tie rod ends check out good. The reason for the change in driving good or bad is based on two people in the front vs one. The weight difference changes how high the front gets on take off.

According to the alignment shop, the caster was never able to be set close enough for perfection. (ran out of bolt length for shims) Based on that, the ability of the roller perches to allow more lift caused a drastic change in the already off caster. Caster is still set where it was before the swap. Power steering was removed by PO.
 
Caster is still set where it was before the swap.
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Caster has always been at -2.0 degrees then? Yikes!

I still believe that something else must be amiss.....

When is the car going back in for it's alignment? The anticipation between now and then is going to bug me.
 
Yes, neg 2 was left that way from May. No problems with driving or tire wear either.

Everything else was checked for being proper while at the alignment shop this morning. I hope to get the changes made this weekend depending on the availability of a certain lift. If that is done, then into the shop the first of next week.

Have a beer, it will help settle the anticipation. lol But stay away from the vehicles........
 
May I step in on the discussions? No, well screw you anyway!

Pete and I have argued this over many a cold one, but I believe the passenger side shock tower is out of alignment. Argument against: the export brace fits reasonable well. Argument for: the export brace was at least 1/2" too long, and the spring itself has an odd tilt on that side. In addition, to get proper caster and camber requires a shitload of shims, more than the standard UCA bolt can handle. Other than that, everything seems to align well: fenders, aprons, cross-bars, etc. A warped shock tower? Who knows.

Short of pulling the engine and putting in an hydraulic ram to move the shock towers out, extending the UCA bolts seems the best means of achieving an end. Hopefully, the spindles are not from a Granada.

I'll bet ol' man Lamar scratched his head quite a bit seeing rollerized perches and pink stripes on them as well. If I was him, I wouldn't have accepted money from Pete as well...who knows where those dollar bills were...
 
Anyone heard from Midlife on this subject..... :rofl

Dang, now I gotta buy more Wattles to pay for the lift rent on Sat........ :boohoo
 
"AzPete" said:
Anyone heard from Midlife on this subject..... :rofl

Dang, now I gotta buy more Wattles to pay for the lift rent on Sat........ :boohoo
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Good luck. SWMBO said it's a seasonal beer and no longer available. No Wattles, no lifty.
 
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