would coil springs cause this?

when I put the 302 in I didnt change out the stock springs. which means they are the origonals for the I6 that was in there. is this why my tires are wearing badly on the inside? Ive put maybe 5000 miles on this car in the 4 years since I finished it, and look how quickly they are wearing.....
the rears will show you how much tread the fronts "should have"

if coil springs is the cause, does anyone have a used set for a 302? and whatever else id need to make the swap work. thanks guys.

 

Does your car ride lower now than it used to? When was the last time you had a front end alignment? Since the engine swap?

Any time you change your ride height or vehicle stance, you should get your alignment checked. If you lower the front, raise the rear, lower the rear, etc., you change the angles of your front suspension. Excesive wear on the inside edges of the tires can be caused by lowering the front ride height, among other things.

 

Adam; I swapped from an I6 to a 302, left the springs in, and never had a problem. The ride height is just where is should be, and the tires are wearing well. Jay is right, you need to have the front end aligned. Find a front end man that knows and understands old cars. Good luck!

 

when i took out my 170 and put the 302....my front tires did the same exact thing....wore real bad....took 4 months and they were completely bald.... replaced tires....got a front end alignment...and no problems....

replaced my coils..... cut out one link.....and had a wear problem again....alignment....fixed....


just my experience...but any time you change anything in the front suspension characteristics....get an alignment

 

thanks guys. I am kicking myself for being lazy on the alignment. I knew I shouldve done it. I was just more concerned with spending money on other things.


looks like my priorities have just changed. lol

what I plan to do is put the rear tires on the front and replace the rears with some 15" wider rims/tires

the wider kelly charger tires are about $100 a peice. anyone got any wide 15" steel wheels? i dont care what they look like. they are getting caps put on them.

I have the 5 bolt 8" rear end.

 

Hey AdamMav Led Zepplin is one of my favorite bands and Ur Mav is so cool good Luck on everthing else

 

Different ride height changes the camber a little, and depending on the difference can throw off the toe just a bit... that's all it takes.

Even improving the rear suspension can affect front alignment if the change is enough. It would have to be over an inch drop or so. Just go sit on the front of your car next time you get it lined up and watch the screen.

 

If your I-6 was a 250, then the springs are the same as 302 springs and should not need to be changed. You just need an alignment. If it was a 170 or 200 (I don't know what year your car is), then the springs are not as stiff...

 

Nice shiny sidepipes...show a picture of the entire profile.

I just swapped the stock rim/tire combo for some 15X6 Cragars, and put new rubber on them. Lost almost all tread on the inside within 200 miles.

Allignment, and no more wear, but, new front springs should be in tomorrow. All over again...

 

Adam , Earl touched on a key to alignment of our cars...make sure the shop can do an old school alignment. I went to 3 shops before I found one that could.

 

Most of the guys doing alignments nowadays don't realize our old car's suspensions were designed to run bias belted tires, so with the radials we have now the settings have to be tweaked some, especially the caster.

 

I don't see why the caster would need to be tweaked for radials.

I would think that Camber and Toe would have more of an affect on tire wear, unless the caster was so far out of spec that it caused pulling to one side...

 

I'm with T.L.

Caster sets steering difficulty, if you constantly pull, yea, I can see it, but any shop that screws that up shouldn't be doing modern cars either.

Camber doesn't cause horrible wear, just slants it, not like toe. Toe causes the inner or outer to wear fast and typically in cycles, uneven. makes for wobble in the steering and wobble in the tire even when on the back.

 

thank you very much guys for the good info. I do have a couple questions before I get the alignment.

when I turn the wheel going down the road, the wheel does not correct itself. Going down the highway, if I take a turn the wheel will not gow back to straight, itl just stay where it is from the turn. what does this mean?

oh, also there is alot of play in the steering wheel. I have PS and I have traced the play to where the pitman arm connects the the PS cylinder, there is alot of play at that connection. is that normal? what needs to be replaced to fix that?

its kind of scary how the car floats back and forth on the raod with the play. I contantly have to turn the wheel back and forth to keep her straight.


thanks.