Alighnment help needed

[Gregory G.]

Last year I had my 70 aligned with older tires. I did not care for the way it handled. It felt a little squirrely. I since purchased new tires. It got a little better but still not satisfied. I think they set the car up for bias ply tires. Below are the final readings in degrees. From what I read hat with radials that the toe should be 0.015 F & R. Would this difference be enough for it not to feel right? I intend to have it realigned. What are the best specifications for the street. 235 60 15 front and 255 60 15 rear.

Front Left/Right
Camber 0.7/0.4
Caster -0.4/0.4
Toe 0.25/0.24

Rear Left/Right
Camber -0.9/-1.1
Toe 0.13/0.16

Thanks
Greg

[Duke W.]

Re: Alighnment help needed

Your alignment could be considerably improved.

For good road performance with radial tires (the primary difference is toe as radials need much less than bias ply tires):

front camber: 0 deg
front caster: 1.5-2.5 deg
toe: 1/16" toe-in, total

rear camber -0.5 deg.
rear toe: 1/32" toe-in per side

The cross camber and cross caster should be as close to zero as possible and rear toe must be as close to the same on both sides as possible.

The greater the front caster the better the self-centering effect and steering feel, but low speed steering effort will increase. For power steering cars get as much caster as you can up to the 2.5 deg. limit. For manual steering you may want to keep near the bottom of the range.

For more aggressive drivers who are looking for maximum grip, increase camber settings to up to -1 degree on both ends and as much caster as possible up to the 2.5 degree limit with or without power steering.

Are you sure the toe data is in degrees? Or is in in inches?

Duke

[Gregory G.]

Re: Alighnment help needed

All degrees. Sounds like maybe the caster and toe are way out. From what I read the toe in degrees should be ~0.015. IS this correct? I have 235 60 15 front and 255 50 15 rear.

[Gregory G.]

Re: Alighnment help needed

Do you know how to calculate how much to ajjust the shims on the rear trailing arms to change the toe. I would like to het it in as close as possible before I take it in. I currently have +0.13 left and +0.16 toe in the rear. I think I have to get to +0.015 for a 1/32" toe with 255 60 15 tires.
ANy help would be grately appreciated.

Thanks
Greg

[Duke W.]

Re: Alighnment help needed

One degree of toe angle is nearly a half inch of toe-in, and you can linearly proportion from there.

So if you absolutely believe that the rear "toe" you quoted is degrees and not inches, then the values are okay and not worth messing with. Swapping a 1/32" shim from the inside to outside or vice versa will change the toe about half the shim thickness.

Duke

[Gregory G.]

Re: Alighnment help needed

Thanks
Over the winter I will check the shims and then take the car to have the rear checked and the front realigned.

Greg