BLKMGK Posted August 3, 2001 Share Posted August 3, 2001 Waiting on the flatbed looking at the car i th edriveway I'm noticing somehting weird I've not noticed before... The rear tires look like the front edges stick out further than the back edges. Car is at "normal" ride height but both sides seem to do this. Izzat normal?! Seems like it owould tear the tires up. I'm running through all th esuspension work I did in my mind and I just can't think of anything I did that could've caused this. Arms are symetrical, right? I'm pretty sure the struts weren't flipped side to side. I'm puzzled! Can anyone reassure me or tell me what I might have screwed up? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted August 3, 2001 Share Posted August 3, 2001 i wouldnt worry about it till you get a real alignment and see where the angles are at.. unless you buy some toe plates and a digital camber guage 1 to 1.5 degrees is max for a street driven car (if you want your tires to last) as for toe, 1/8" in is ok, some track cars go for toe out. up front.but street cars seem to like toe in better to avoid road rut searching.. its almost a more personal preference... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted August 3, 2001 Share Posted August 3, 2001 I don't know if you've driven the car yet. But, I would make double sure that the rear tires are not toed out. Toe out in the rear causes a very unstable condition(the rear end will come around easily and without notice). Measure between lines drawn on tires with the car in its normal driving position. Verify that you have either a slight toe-in or zero toe in the rear. Dan McGrath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted August 3, 2001 Share Posted August 3, 2001 "Measure b/t lines drawn on tires" sounds simple..can you elaborate, I raised my ride a bit during my EFI install as I noticed my inner tire wear was higher than I'd like...it's VERY unstable on ruts in a corner...anyone ever use the MSA adjustable ZX camber bushings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted August 3, 2001 Share Posted August 3, 2001 i think what dan was referring to is "stringing" a car. you use jackstands or something similar on all 4 corners and tie string front to back. so that the string just touches both edges of the rear tires and front tires. then take a tape measure and measure the string both in front and behind the tires.. this shows if the geometry is inline..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted August 3, 2001 Share Posted August 3, 2001 What I was referring to gives ball-park toe settings that are safe until the car is properly aligned at a shop. Here is what I do. 1. jack up rear of car. 2. hold a piece of chalk stationary below each tire and rotate the tires to get a line around the circumference of each that is in plane with the tire's axis of rotation. 3. Lower the car and settle the suspension (carefully drive or push the car so that the rear suspension is in normal driving position). 4. In front of the rear tires, measure between the lines marked on the tires as high up on the tire as the body will allow. 5. In the back of the rear tires, measure between the lines marked on the tires at the same height as front of tire measurement. 6. Subtract front measurement from rear measurement. If difference is positive(front measurement is smaller) then your rear tires are toe-in. A small amount of rear toe-in is desirable. This method does not measure true toe-in because you are not measuring along wheel axis. This methof gives a qualitative(am I toe-in or toe out) answer. To determine whether the tire are aligned with the length of the car more needs to be done. For further, elaboration on suspension set-up refer to Fred Puhn's book "How to make your car handle" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 4, 2001 Author Share Posted August 4, 2001 What I think I'm seeing is toe in. The fronts of the tires appear more "in" that the rear. I've got a friend with plates so maybe I'll have it measured. Since I see nowhere for adjustments to be made I'm not sure what to think. E-brake bracket is on back of strut, yes? Other than that there's really nothing I could've screwed up that I can think of. If I've got the struts on the wrong sides that'll be 2 for 2 - did that up front and then had to swap calipers too when I went to bleed things! Car hung up in shop today, ready tomorrow. No rear brake lines yet so it's not looking good for a drive this weekend unless I get bold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted August 6, 2001 Share Posted August 6, 2001 The Zs come from the factory toe-in. If you lower them they get more toe-in. The adjustable camber bushing that are available through G-machine and other can be used to adjust the rear toe. I recently installed them in mine, and I'm pretty happy so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 7, 2001 Author Share Posted August 7, 2001 Thank you, that explains much as the rear is pretty low right now. I expected the wheels to camber inwards but not to toe in like a kid needing a brace. I'll drive it before I get too panicked but I'm interested in the bushings too. Hrm, Mike's arms would fix this too wouldn't they? How much is too much? If there's one thing (okay one more thing) I'm ignorant about it's alignment. Will be watching tire wear closely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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