I got a lecture from a really great front end guy today on why too much caster will not work on a steering box car. He said even BMW with rack and pinion steering is backing away from excessive caster. He had it on the alignment rack today, and instructed me on how to adjust the heim joints on my upper control arms to bring it down to 3 degrees. I will miss the positive road feel, but he says my very high positive caster was causing the wicked, bouncy chatter on a hard bump at highway speeds. Three degrees is still fairly high for a steering box car. He did manage to get it to 4, and that feels less direct in its road feel, but drives more easily, and with better manners over bumps. I am not sure why this is, but I really trust this guy. I have known him for 32 years, and have great respect for his knowledge in this area. I am glad I looked him up, and asked for his help.

He also checked the thrust angle, and that is not quite right, so I am fixing that some time soon.

He also said both front tires are really bad, so I have to decide soon on a size wheel and tire. If I stay 15" then I am good to go get new ones now if I want.

Sam

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Hmmm, can't say I've heard about too much caster. Bill Reilly would be a good guy to talk to about this. FWIW, I have +4 on the '64 Dart and about +3.5 on Project V. I can imagine an effect of too much, though.

Why not use your wheels and space them differently? Some nice 15s are available, but 17" is really where the awesome tires are.

Yeah, I had my rear axle checked on my last alignment before VIR and it was not right. Haven't fixed it yet...

If you come to visit, we could try nice 15s, 16s, and 17s on your car and see what you think...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I would imagine you can adjust the rears with a spacer between front spring mount and the body?

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

Thanks for that offer Lou. I do need new tires right away, and might have to make a decision before I take it on the road. My left front tire was a used tire I bought cheap, and my man said it was run flat, or very low for a ways.

I think high caster numbers are fine as long as the road is smooth. It is when the road suface is such that the tires leave the ground in a turn that you get goofy things happening. I am going to drive this over my rough spot in the highway that has been giving me troubles before I change anything further. He set it up at 4 degrees positive. He also did not want to put more than .2 degrees negative camber into it.

YOu have gotten me to thinking manual steering. That would free up space under the hood around the turbo. Do they make a manual one with the bigger sector shaft? How big a PITA is it to change? I have had that steering colum out many times. In fact, I might be willing to put a better column back in if there was such a thing. Would I need the column for a manual steering box? This might be a winter project. I can see it coinciding perhaps with remaking the turbo header in stainless.

Sandy, you can adjust it with shims. In fact, there was a shim in there already, which I am removing to get it right. That shim was used on the old hanger boxes to get it right, and I debated about whether to put it back in with the new ones. It was a crap shoot, and I lost. It only takes about an hour to pull that spring and take the shim out. I am that far already. I just have to put the u bolts back through the shock plate, and bolt everything back down.

Sam

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The 17x8 Mustang rims with 5.72 BS are close to a bolt on when using the late model disc brake setup up front on an A body car. I think you need about a .250 spacer to make it work. In the rear if you use a B body rear end it also ends up being very close. Maybe a thin spacer to get everything in the correct location. The hubs are different diameters so the wheels need to be opened up or the hub centers turned down a bit.

I picked up the wheels the other day. 16X8 P205 55's. Back spacing is 5.5 or 5.75 or so. I didn't have a short enough straight edge.

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'72 Duster 198 stock cam, 3:23's Hookers on jack stands for 8 years in the driveway
'79 Maxivan 360 Offy Qjet Comp RV cam/rusting in the driveway.
93 D350 160HP Cummins Auto Dually Clubcab needs a injector pump
2005 Golden Couch Buick