Brian Conway 264 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 Replaced the strut rod bushings and was careful to note the caster adjustments on the rods. Well the car wants to drift to the right. So I looks like I need to do some correction? What's the fix ? Thanks Brian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barnett468 418 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 the fix is to take it to an alignment shop and have them align it providing not of your parts are worn out of spec. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midlife 814 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 Caster settings should not make the car drift one way or another. Toe and Camber can. Barnett's comments are right on target. With a $50 tool, you can do your own alignment as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 Ditto on Midlife's post. Huskinhano over on the Mustang Steve site has a great write up on home DIY alignments. After reading his story I did my own, I won't pay for another alignment. http://fyi.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=61324 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barnett468 418 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 one alignment spec does not fit all applications. also, if you set both sides to exactly the same spec, the car will favor turning slightly to the right on crowned roads. I was paying around $65.00 for alignments a few years back so it wasn't worth getting my hands dirty and dealing with the hassle and doing them myself. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
unilec 57 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 1 hour ago, RPM said: Ditto on Midlife's post. Huskinhano over on the Mustang Steve site has a great write up on home DIY alignments. After reading his story I did my own, I won't pay for another alignment. http://fyi.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=61324 I don't see any pics showing up on the VMF site, just interested to see what he did. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969_Mach1 333 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 14 hours ago, Midlife said: Caster settings should not make the car drift one way or another. Toe and Camber can. Barnett's comments are right on target. With a $50 tool, you can do your own alignment as well. Caster actually does contribute to the car drifting to one side or the other. It also contributes to stability. Typically on cars of this era, the passenger side will need about 1/4 to 1/2 degree more positive caster than the drivers side to compensate for the crown in the road and keep the car going straight. If you cannot get it to an alignment shop soon and want to tinker with it on your own, adjust the passenger side (rt side) strut rod to shorten it and pull the lower ball joint forward a little. This will move the caster for that wheel in a in a positive direction. You can also lengthen the strut rod on the drivers side to move the caster for that wheel in a negative direction. If you get it going straight but it feels a little unstable, like it wants to wander, then increasing caster on both sides (shorten the strut rods) can reduce that affect. Basically, as I remember: Positive Caster will cause the front of the wheel to turn inward. Negative Caster will cause the front of the wheel to turn outward. So you can see with a slight side to side caster split, that the right wheel having a little more positive caster will compensate for the crown in the road to keep the car going straight. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 Me thinks Brian has a toe alignment issue. I believe Brian's caster not being set as it was before the new strut rod replacement, has resulted in toe out of the r/f tire which makes his car now pull to the right. I'd bet that if he fixed the toe by adjusting both the upper and lower and keeping the caster the same as now, it wouldn't pull. Imo, assuming his prior alignment was good, this would not be the way to align it, just showing it could be done. I would adjust the caster via the strut rod until the toe was set. 1 det0326 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Conway 264 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 Thanks for the interest guys. Yes caster does affect drifting as well as centering. Off to my favorite alignment shop this AM and all's right with the world now. The new strut rod bushings had more of an effect on the alignment than I would have guessed. New spec's are the same as the old 2011 spec's. In the notation the shop owner confused Left with Right drift. In San Diego this was a $95.00 fix. Brian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aslanefe 333 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 Looking at your after specs, I would increase the caster. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAC390 327 Report post Posted June 14, 2018 My big block car has . Caster 2.5 positive caster Camber .5 degrees negative Toe in 1/16 My suspension is fairly firm and handles well and these settings work for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted June 15, 2018 Glad you got her running true. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
