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help me find out what is wrong with my front axle alignment

12david34

New member
Joined
Sep 1, 2012
Location
Slovak Rep.
Hello guys
im here to ask for a help as i ran into into some weird issue with my car.

the car:
1989 245 N/A
no brutal performance stuff except polybushing everywhere, revalved bilsteins, custom made (stock OD sized) springs and camber plates.

the issue:
somehow im not able to set the caster to the ,,factory?? specs. according to greenbook, the caster on power steering equipped car should be in +3?-+4? range..
i spent like 1 and half our trying to set my camber/caster to desired numbers , but i simply couldnt get it to where i want it without going crazy with negative camber..

before alignment specs:
13438974_1058128350944163_2527381428821013220_n.jpg


after 1 1/2 hour of setting i ended up with this.. (the strange thing is the passanger side can be easily set to -1 camber and +3? something caster, but the drivers side was differend )

13529245_1058133407610324_285330323414736357_n.jpg


and the camber plates
13524577_1058123150944683_6251439916074090638_n.jpg


all i want is have that caster at factory specs with max -1? camber, not more..
greeting David
 
can you adjust the angle of that upper mount? ive seen some people install them so they are kind of diagonal instead of exactly cross car. like kind of parallel to that firewall brace. then you could get more caster and camber at the same time by adjusting back toward the firewall and in?
 
can you adjust the angle of that upper mount? ive seen some people install them so they are kind of diagonal instead of exactly cross car. like kind of parallel to that firewall brace. then you could get more caster and camber at the same time by adjusting back toward the firewall and in?

im not sure if these can be used like that.. they do not have a pre-drilled holes for mounting them in that position.. but we still talking about setting the caster back to stock/factory specs.. that means that it has to be possible with oem rubber mounts and not only with camber places.. heck, it should have been more easier with camber plates..
 
I've fought this one my wife's 85 wagon for some time. I aligned 3 or 4 times, always had camber dead on, toe dead on, but couldn't get caster quite to spec. Got as close to possible but always had a pull to the right.

This last time, after I put another p/s rack on it, threw it on the alignment rack and just set as close as I could on the driver side and added .3 degrees on the passenger side, and it now drives straight down the road. It takes the slightest bit more steering effort but not even so much that my wife noticed.
 
I've fought this one my wife's 85 wagon for some time. I aligned 3 or 4 times, always had camber dead on, toe dead on, but couldn't get caster quite to spec. Got as close to possible but always had a pull to the right.

This last time, after I put another p/s rack on it, threw it on the alignment rack and just set as close as I could on the driver side and added .3 degrees on the passenger side, and it now drives straight down the road. It takes the slightest bit more steering effort but not even so much that my wife noticed.

the steering rack was rebuilt.. i have no other good replacement for it.. i wonder what could go wrong
 
30-40mm. i never thought tha lowering springs may affect the geometry

Of course lowering spring means the lower arm swings ^ upward in an arc MORE than at designed static ride height... if the strut looks like a slightly tilted L (upward part strut, the horisonatal bar being the spindle)
+--------------------- L"

Of course if the whole thing swings around the pivot "+" the L will tilt inwards as the arc begins going not just up but inward.


2750594A5201124817CBB3



That's one of the problems of the McPherson strut design.
 
Lowering will have an influence on the amount of camber you can get.

With stock diameter springs I was only able to get -0.5deg of camber (no clue on caster) with camber plates. I recently went back to stock ride height (yay!) and stock strut mounts. +0.5deg of camber is the lowest I can go. Caster is about 0.5 to 1.0 deg less than stock. As far as I can tell, there's nothing bent and the bushings are fresh. So there's that.
 
Posting for posterity. I'm in a similar situation. Lowered quite a bit in front, using the same camber plates. Steers, tracks, wears tires just fine, so I'm really not worried about it being .5 - 1 degree off in caster.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/perrylens/22389834236/in/dateposted/" title="image"><img src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5636/22389834236_fbb0537b8f_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="image"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Of course lowering spring means the lower arm swings ^ upward in an arc MORE than at designed static ride height... if the strut looks like a slightly tilted L (upward part strut, the horisonatal bar being the spindle)
+--------------------- L"

Of course if the whole thing swings around the pivot "+" the L will tilt inwards as the arc begins going not just up but inward.


2750594A5201124817CBB3



That's one of the problems of the McPherson strut design.

John thank you for the input.. but i will have to re read this 3 more times , hope it will be enogh for my brain to understant it.. :D
 
Lowering will have an influence on the amount of camber you can get.

With stock diameter springs I was only able to get -0.5deg of camber (no clue on caster) with camber plates. I recently went back to stock ride height (yay!) and stock strut mounts. +0.5deg of camber is the lowest I can go. Caster is about 0.5 to 1.0 deg less than stock. As far as I can tell, there's nothing bent and the bushings are fresh. So there's that.

yeah, im fighting with caster.. camber is just fine.. maybe a bit more than i wanted..
 
John thank you for the input.. but i will have to re read this 3 more times , hope it will be enogh for my brain to understant it.. :D


The key is to NOT think too hard but more LOOK at the design of strut with the spindle fixed and one single pivot point..Maybe draw a crude drawing. and draw arrrows..maybe cut out a paper strut and pin the arm at inner pivot and move the strut in an arc

..It's not thinking...its all looking..
 
Posting for posterity. I'm in a similar situation. Lowered quite a bit in front, using the same camber plates. Steers, tracks, wears tires just fine, so I'm really not worried about it being .5 - 1 degree off in caster.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/perrylens/22389834236/in/dateposted/" title="image"><img src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5636/22389834236_fbb0537b8f_c.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="image"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

hey man, im glad you posted this.. seriously.thank you
i just dont understand hows that possible..(maybe the answer is in Johns comment?!)
that i cant have more then +3? caster on both sides.. have you tried to set more caster on your car? because i did.. i ended up with -1,2? camber and +3,1? caster on passanger side while the other side was like: +2,8-2,9? caster, but camber was crazy.. like close to -2? if not more.. cant remember now
D.
 
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