BIG BRAKES alignmant

[82LTDQS]

Ok my big brake upgrade is completely done. Suspension, brakes, steering, tires and all. I took it to get aligned under the original chassis specs (1982 Ford LTD Country Squire). Here is the deal. It drives perfectly straight when the steering wheel is in the middle, However, If I turn the wheel ever so slightly in any direction, the car want to shoot in that direction and I have to fight to make it go straight again. This is mainly at high speeds 65+. It feels as if it’s got a bad toe out, but according to the specs it does not. I thought the camber was out so I checked it with a level and is shows a positive camber. I have not gone back to complain to the shop because of the mixture of car parts which they can use as an excuse. I’m here to ask what you BIG BRAKE guys set your cars to. Being that most of the front end parts average from a 2000 CV, I thought I would use those specs. Also the Upper ball joints and control arms are from 92-95, so I though that could also be an option. Please advise what Year, make, and model you guys recommend for setting the alignment to.

[85crownHPP]

sounds like bad caster to me... just take it to a different shop... you could look around for one that's willing to work on 'modified' stuff, it might cost more, but you might wind up paying for a few more alignment-by-morons if you don't.

[82LTDQS]

Yeah, when I eye ball it. the toe "seem" ok. However, I can see the positive caster. Also, Should I stick with the 82 LTD specs? Or switch to what I mentioned above?

[85crownHPP]

IIRC folks here are just setting them to stock specs for that car... its hard to say what they could have boogered up.
How did it drive on the way to the shop?

[Blaze86Vic]

If you have positive camber, go back and rip them a new one! They simply did not do a complete alignment, they adjusted your toe for you and sent you one your way. Apparently it's getting more and more common now that people simply won't do the rest of the alignment. Many will say the adjustment is not possible on factory suspension, which is a load of crap. You can't really 'see' caster as it's the angle of the axis of rotation from front to back, not inside-outside (which is camber).

If you don'tr trust them go to shop that has some kind of decent reputation in the performance market (or a Ford Dealership, at least here you can force them to do the job right) and get an alignment to stock or what ever you choose.

I have mine setup for my driving (which is a little on the aggressive side.) It tracks well, but does tend to follow the road. But that's mostly due to the very small toe-in (almost toe-out), which I intentionally have for handling reasons. Generally they call for 1/16th" toe-in, which is equal to about 0.23°.
Camber: -2.3°
Caster: +4.5°
Toe-in: ~0.05°

[gadget73]

I had that happen, they set the toe and left the caster and camber alone. It drove horribly. I tried other specs, and nothing made it happy until I had it set to stock 1986 specs. It drives fine now.

[82LTDQS]

Thank you gentlemen.

[82LTDQS]

Ok, these shops are pissing me off. I been on the phone with a few of them all day. They dont want to mess with the whole BBS thing. How about this. Im going to walk in to this same shop that did my alignment and give them the specs to set the front end to. BLAZE provided some numbers above. However, he mentioned that they are aggressive settings. Could someone advise on some street friendly settings with a hint of performance?? PLEASE and thanks.

[gadget73]

Use Blaze's spec for caster and camber and set the toe to stock settings which I believe is 1/16" or .25 degrees in. The closer you get to zero toe, the more reactive the turning is, but the more tendency it has to follow ruts in the road. The stock toe in settings tend to numb the wheel a little in the center so its a little more road friendly.

[82LTDQS]

Thanks gadget as always. You too Blaze

[Blaze86Vic]

Gadget is spot on. Toe is really the only alignment setting that makes drivability worse with increased performance. The lower the toe-in (or more toe-out if you want to go there) makes the car very twitchy. With a well maintained system it will still track well, even with toe-out (I had this setup when I was tracking the Vic and it still tracked well), but it will jump at the thought of turning.

I would suggest going down to about -1.5° to -1.75° of camber, as going to over 2 degrees will likely cause the inside to wear out fast (unless you push your car a little through corners on a fairly regular basis.)

[82LTDQS]

Ok, so if I bring these numbers to the, they should understand?
"Camber: -1.5 to 1.75, Caster: +4.5, Toe: 0.25." Does that look ok? Should the toe have a POSIZTIVE(+) or NEGATIVE(-) in fornt of it. Blaze said 0.05 toe is was aggressive, Gadget said .25 was more streeable? does that seem ok? .25 seems more aggressive to me. However, Im not an alignment guy. Whats a good toe number that will be streetable, good on tire wear, and just a hint of numbness to road grade and pot holes? Thanks.

[gadget73]

toe basics
(figures in degrees, and purely for example)
0.00 - both tires pointing dead ahead
+0.25 - both tires pointing slightly outward
-0.25 - both tires pointing slightly inward

The more negative the toe is (toe in), the more dead the wheel is in the middle, so -0.25 is less aggressive than -0.05, where +0.05 is less aggressive than +0.25

Mind you I'm not sure if its -0.25 degrees or not, that just sounds about right. I found an old post of mine somewhere that shows the toe range from +0.125" to -0.125" (inches, not degrees), nominal at -0.125". Not sure what that translates to in degrees exactly but its an eighth of an inch, not 1/16. 1/16 will probably feel a little sportier.

[82LTDQS]

OHHH, cool. thanks

[82LTDQS]

Blaze said they are generaly set to .23%. Is that -.23% or +.23. Im just learning this stuff so sorry for all the questions. Hows this look?
"Camber: -1.5 to 1.75, Caster: +4.5, Toe: 0.23." Should there be a + or - in front of the .23?