More camber talk *tearing up tires**

[70mstang 11]

Hey everyone, I've recently started going through tires pretty quick because my camber is looking a little like a drift car. I stopped into Ford today and my eccentric bolt is set all the way back and can't adjust any further. I've checked my shock towers and they aren't pulling in, I think I measured the center of the bolts closest to the engine at 30 1/4" I think that might be about 1/8" off.

 

So I was looking to see if anyone had run into something similiar and what you may have done. Are there shorter LCA that could be used? Or adjustable maybe?

 

Do I have to use shims on the UCA?

[DragPack69 0]

I ended up putting a shim behind the upper control arm front bolt to make up the difference.(says my alignment guy.)

Ask your guy if that will help.

 

John

[buening 63]

What is your camber setting right now?

[70mstang 11]

left : -1.2 degrees right : -0.6 degrees

 

Anyone use the eccentric bolt replacements that are square?

 

Was wondering if those might have more adjustment than the original? Shims may be a way to go but looking at any options before loosening up the A arms.

[buening 63]

I personally would highly recommend the square plates. If you look at the link in my sig, it is a PDF of the square plates that you can make yourself. The problem with the stock round eccentric washers is that if you hit a pothole, it can knock the eccentric washer out of place and you will lose your alignment settings. The square eccentric eliminates that potential. I would avoid shimming the UCA until the LCA is maxed out. How are you getting your camber values out of curiosity?

 

I'm amazed that much camber is tearing up your tires. Have you checked your toe setting?

[70mstang 11]

Ford service gave me the print out. [ATTACH]14861[/ATTACH]

 

The car drives & stops straight but the tires were getting eaten up and it sure looked like the wheels were leaning in an awful lot.

 

What do ya'll think? Camber or toe in? This is after the adjustment and I don't think he pulled the left front in.

[buening 63]

I calculate roughly 1/4" toe, which is a bit more than the typical 1/16" or 1/8" recommended but not sure its enough to kill tires. Are you seeing wear on the inside edge of the front tires, or where? I'd like to see more caster on your alignment. See here for some recommended specs:

 

http://www.opentrackerracingproducts.com/tech/

[Pakrat 1,043]

Open Tracker's street specs are pretty much out of the Shelby playbook but just FYR on how it was spec'd exactly back in the day yo, stock Mustang specs were:

 

1/4* positive caster

3/4* positive camber

3/16" toe in.

 

With the Shelby drop the optimal setting is:

 

2* positive caster

0* to 1* negative camber

1/8" toe in

 

The real problem is not a lot shops, even Ford ones, know how to adjust these cars properly anymore if you don't spoon feed them exactly the settings you want.

[70mstang 11]

I don't have a Shelby drop on mine .. would that make a difference in the specs below?

[Pakrat 1,043]

If it's stock up front still I would think the stock specs would work best.

[Rodman 11]

I would take your car back thats a lot of neg camber -1.2 degrees on a stock suspension. i know the service tech said the camber bolt was all the way in but take a look and see if it is.

 

Looking at your alignment the car should pull right with those spec.

Camber pulls most positive and caster pull most negative. you split is 0.6 camber and 0.2 caster that a total 0.8 degrees to the right,and your tires are toed out alot .sometimes you cant get the alignment perfect but thats just bad.

 

They gave you the screen shot of you alignment if it was in spec the arrows would all be in the middle like the steer ahead. here is a copy of alignment from 2010. mine car is lowered with global west suspension and 1inch drop and a 1/2 of a coil cut off.

[fordbsg 10]

What shape is your suspension in, how old, how many miles are on it?

What shape is your bushings and wheel bearings in?

[Grabber70Mach 107]

If it's stock up front still I would think the stock specs would work best.

 

I tend to disagree with that Pak, when I talked with John I got the impression

from him that the alignment specs could be used with or without the Shelby drop. Running the street specs on the 70 and a friends BB67 car both drive great and no noticeable difference in tire wear between them. It had more to do with the difference between the bias-ply tires vs. todays radial tires. If there's any doubt I would give him a call and talk to him about it.

[Boogerschnot 12]

I have some camber issues also that I havent fixed yet.. Mine came in after doing the shelby drop. I use the eccentric eliminators and cannot get the wheels to shelby spec. They are also a little forward in the wheel opening. Ive made a post or two about the problem and folks all say to go with the shims..

[buening 63]

I tend to disagree with that Pak, when I talked with John I got the impression

from him that the alignment specs could be used with or without the Shelby drop. Running the street specs on the 70 and a friends BB67 car both drive great and no noticeable difference in tire wear between them. It had more to do with the difference between the bias-ply tires vs. todays radial tires. If there's any doubt I would give him a call and talk to him about it.

 

I would have to agree with the bias ply vs radial tires as to the reason why the alignment settings are different today vs what was originally specified. If this were my car, I would tell the shop to set it at -0.5° camber, +2° caster, and 1/8" (-.3°ish total)toe in. For camber I like the middle road between street and street/performance specs, as you minimize tire wear while still giving good cornering. The higher negative camber range of the street/performance is more for a track car, where you are really tearing up the curves at speeds and tire wear is not a concern. Again, simply my opinion and you will likely get differing opinions on preferable alignment settings.

[70mstang 11]

Thanks all,

fordbsg - suspension is all new components, stock suspension only change is 600 lb springs. About 5000 miles on the car after getting back on the road. Tires are BFG Gforce TA KDWs 17 x 9" front.

 

I'm going to look into the eccentric eliminator, cause those stiffer springs can jolt the car and could knock out the eccentric cam and set it as far back as I can.

 

Then, I'll run it back to a shop and see how close they can get the 0 to -0.5° camber, 1.5° - +2° caster, and -.3° toe in. If they need shims then will have them add those. I don't want to play with those springs again after almost losing my fingers.