Setting caster and camber

I've got a stock mustang II front end I want to align, and I have been looking for some tips on how to do it right. I haven't had much luck.

I purchased this caster/camber guage.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/xq/asp...qx/Product.htm

My biggest issue at the moment is figuring out how to set the caster. What part of the spindle do I use to measure the angle from? There are a couple of flat machined spots on the spindle, but i don't know if they are "level" with the spindle. The only way i can figure is to cut a piece of angle that would rest against the ends of the upper and lower mounting/pivot studs and measure it that way.

Does anyone have any links or tips that might help me out?

in my speedway book it shows a pic. of how it mounts. on the outside of the hub.

Here's an explanation compliments of Circle Track Magazine....
http://circletrack.com/howto/138_030...caster_camber/

thanks tech. that's just what i needed.


looks like it's going to be fun.

I was just going to post on this topic.
Would you guys recommend setting this stuff up manually, or
just ballparking it and going to a modern alignment shop with
computer controlled equiptment?

I didn't think I'd have a prayer getting it even close in my garage. I was just gonna eyeball it and take it to a shop.
I also thought maybe it would help to put some kind of paint on the tire tread that would show me quickly what kind of wear pattern I'm getting without waiting for the rubber to wear.

Does this stuff exist?

.

Some of the fellows at the dragstrip will paint a stripe of white shoe polish (like you wipe on your tennie-pumpers to whiten 'em) maybe 3-4" wide all the way across the tread on a tire to determine the best tire pressure when using street tires.

As far as doing this to check front end alignment, I think you'd see toe-in / toe-out and tire pressure, but I doubt you'd see camber and caster is out of the question.

If you don't feel confident about learning to do it yourself, do like you said, get it close and drive it to a shop.

I'll try the polish thing for toe-in just so I don't scrub my new tires while driving it to the shop.
thanks for the info.

Wondering what settings do you use for caster,camber and toe when using a MII front end. I have a manual for the original MII. Do you use those numbers or does it depend on the car that you are putting the MII into and/or tire/wheel choice?

I'd use the original MII figures to establish a baseline and see how she handles. You can always change it a little either way and see how the car reacts.

I must be going about this wrong because I thought I could just eyeball everything close enough until I get it to a shop.

Well, this weekend I put the tires on and thought they were pretty good and it was so far off the thing was practically hopping.

It's tough to tell what to adjust because I can't watch the front end and drive it at the same time.

its hard to set by eye, use a level and a string. hope you can read this,

thanks, I'll have to try that and see how far off I am.

those top bolts that place the upper A arm can be loosened with
the coils in place right?

used the tire measurement method tonight, I just measured from the same tread line on each tire. It turns out I had a full inch of toe in.
Probly why it wasn't rolling well.

Quote:

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Originally posted by tcodi
used the tire measurement method tonight, I just measured from the same tread line on each tire. It turns out I had a full inch of toe in.
Probly why it wasn't rolling well.

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thats a lot of toe in. . you should be able to loosen the A-FRAME bolts to add or take away the shims. jack the car up will help take some weight off of the top A-RAME, for the camber use the level and for the caster all you can do is eyeball that. top ball joint in line with the bottom ball joint would be 0 caster. this all need to be done at ride height. the last thing you need to do will be a 4 wheel alignment.

well, i tried using the method on the link that tech posted, but i don't think i have the right guage for that.

when you turn from 20 deg. right to 20 deg. left, the important angle to note is the rotation of the hub and not the change in the vertical angle of the hub is it not?

Quote:

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Originally posted by bulldogcountry1
well, i tried using the method on the link that tech posted, but i don't think i have the right guage for that.

when you turn from 20 deg. right to 20 deg. left, the important angle to note is the rotation of the hub and not the change in the vertical angle of the hub is it not?

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i was looking at that gauge and i dont see how you set caster with one bubble, or one level. how many levels is there on that gauge you have? when you turn the hub 20 deg. right, level the gauge, center the bubble, turn the wheel back left 20 deg. and that should be your caster, but the wheel cant roll one way or the other. the gauge i always used is like the one in the link. thats got 3 levels on it. what kind of reading are you getting?

I used to help a buddy that had the 427 cobra that set the track record road coarse, at MIS. we used fish line and carpenters levels and leveled the car, the strings and measured every thing to the line, all 4 wheels were pointing in different directions to get to fastest lap time