1) What are the alignment specs for a stock 64 Valiant. 2dr

2) What are the alignment specs for a stock 73 Dart? 2dr.

3) What alignment spec. should I ask the alignment shop to use? My 64 Valiant has the 73 UCA/Disk brake swap?

thanks

SUSPENSION HEIGHT: (must be checked and corrected before any other adjustments)
Standard suspension: 2.125 inch ± 0.125 inch
Heavy-duty suspension: 2.375 inch ± 0.125 inch

CAMBER:
Left: +0.25° to +0.75° (+0.5° preferred)
Right: 0° to +0.5° (+0.25° preferred)

CASTER: (max difference between sides should not exceed 0.75°)
Manual steering: 0° to -1°
Power steering: +0.25° to +1.25°

TOE-IN:
0.125 inch ± 0.03 inch

TOE-OUT ON TURNS when inner wheel is at 20°:
Outer wheel at 17.5° ±1°
CAMBER:
Left: +0° to +1° (+0.5° preferred)
Right: -0.25° to +0.75° (+0.25° preferred)

CASTER: (max difference between sides should not exceed 1.25°)
Manual steering: -1.75° to +0.5°
Power steering: -0.5° to +1.75°

TOE-IN:
0.0625 inch to 0.25 inch

TOE-OUT ON TURNS when inner wheel is at 20°:
Outer wheel at 18.5° ±1°
That depends on a few factors. How thorough is your alignment shop? It has gotten really hard to find a shop that'll even pretend to use your own specs, and even harder than that to find a shop that'll actually work to make adjustments more precise than "not too awfully wrong"...and even still harder yet to find a shop that remembers and minds how critical it is to set the suspension height correctly before attempting to align the wheels on a torsion-bar Mopar like yours.

Also, have you got power or manual steering?

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

SSD: great information...thanks.

It WAS power, but I switched boxes and went manual. How is the suspension height determined?

This is the second time to the shop, the first time, they used 73 Dart specs and set the ride height to be 26" to the inside edge of the front wheel arches to the ground. The car pulls to the right....so its going back.
I've got 24.5" tall tires on all corners (205/70-14). the back has HD springs, so it sits a little high. I want the 26" up front to look more level.

The front suspension height is measured one way per the '64 FSM, another way per the '73. Neither involves the wheel arches (which only tells you not-very-useful information about the body height). You do have at least one FSM...don't you...?

Manual steering + much of any positive caster = very difficult low-speed steering, car becomes a bear to park.

As you can see, the '64 and '73 specs are reasonably similar; shoot for the centre of either set of specs and you should be fine. But you've gotta measure the suspension height by the book (which contains an explanation and pictures of how to measure it properly).

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

thanks Dan!!!
Mike

This is why the search features is our friend. Can I assume that the 63/64 Valiant would be the same?

Can you explain the ride height one? My Valiant has been lowered, but we still want to achieve correct alignment at it's new ride height.

I would also like to know why the camber is different for each side?

_________________
Linder Tech.com
Bubba's Trailer Park

If the car is lowered then the ride height is out the window.....But one can and should make both sides the same.

After playing with a bunch of different specs Im back to stock 65 Valaint specs. It steers easier and the tires wear better.

The camber is different on both sides because roads are cambered....and because when you fall asleep at the wheel we want you to slowly drift toward the ditch instead my lane.

_________________
Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Thanks Sandy, never even thought about the roads camber.

_________________
Linder Tech.com
Bubba's Trailer Park

Crown or camber on roads these days is a bit to a lot less than what was the norm forty five years ago. A good front end man should know how to adjust for modern roads. Radial tires & air pressure add a second dimension to the way a car will go down the road when compared to the biased ply skins these cars came with from the factory.

A good shop will test drive your car before it goes on the rack, and after the alignment is completed. Additional adjustments my be needed to correct for modern roads and tires.

A lot of the younger mechanics have never seen a Chrysler torsion bar front end. Bring your FM to the appointment with the front end section book marked as most computerized racks' specifications don't go back past the late seventies, and this will hopefully eliminate any creative wrenching.

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

The stock specs are for bias ply tires. I have seen substantial handling gains and no tire wear issues from going to modified specs.

For a normal street car with manual steering, I would do:

Camber: 0 to -0.5 deg (yes, negative)
Caster: +1 to +2 deg, with about 0.25 to 0.5 more positive on pass side
Toe: 0.04 to 0.12 deg total (or around 1/16" but most shops use degrees now)

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988