Well, I took half a day off and beat the old people to sears. The good alignment guy was there. took him 2 hrs but everything great now:bananaman. I will defantaly check into self alignment and bypass the nonsense thanks for all the info
Oh for the love of God!.... Set both sides to 3/8ths positive camber and set the caster 1/2 degree towards negative on the driver's side. (Example: driver's side 1/2 degree positive, passenger's side 1 degree positive. driver's side 1/2 degree negative, passenger's side 0. Etc.) Set toe at 1/16th in. If your steering wheel is off-center, pull it off and center it! The eccentric bolts on the lower control arm move the camber, the strut rod nuts adjust the caster, and the tie rod end sleeves move the toe-in. If these kids can't figure it out, we are in more trouble than I thought. I have a Kwik-eze magnetic gauge that I have used on my Mavericks since the '70's. Craig.
I agree that all of this "your car is too old to align" nonsense is crap! It's like a carpenter saying he can't measure your house for siding because your house is too old... If you have the specs, they should be able to match them. Some guys at the shop I used to work at wouldn't touch caster or camber, they'd just use a function called Win-Toe. They're probably just worried about an older car having everything rusted/seized and breaking something? IDK? With lasers and wireless heads, things should be easier for these guys nowadays. I remember using strings and tripping over cables when doing alignments. Some of these young fellars have been watching too much TV!
All of the above! The concepts of alignment are the same on "knee action" or king pins or short-long arm suspension with rack-and-pinion or Ackermann articulated linkage steering. If you want to get technical, many small pickup trucks are based on cars that used to compete with the Mavericks and Comets. They don't seem to have a problem with them! Yeah, these young fellers don't want to work. Simple adjustments are all it takes and once these are done, lock it in position and unless an accident or the driver runs over something, it should be O.K. Craig.
I think it's mainly this. I work in a shop and it seems like many times when someone brings an old car in, stuff starts breaking and stripping. Then the customers (usually waving some sort of cheapie coupon) blame the shop and expect them to fix what breaks claiming it wasn't broke when it came in. We serviced the trans in an old car once (yes he had a coupon) and the fluid looked like dirty motor oil. The advisor told the guy we couldn't guarantee the car would even move with fresh fluid in it. Sure enough it wouldn't move out of it's own tracks. Suddenly it changes to "wait a minute, y'all mess up my transmission" and he wanted it fixed for free. After about 20 minutes of him screaming, I gave him the number to a wrecker service so he could get his car towed home.
Been there, done it! You explained what could happen and it did. I worked in a shop 14 years and have seen my share as well. Sounds like you were fair and if it were my car, I would have thanked you. I've had to throw a few out of my garage as well! Ah, the joys of dealing with the public! This "set toe and let it go" never did fly with me. If an angle couldn't be adjusted, for example caster on Fox bodies, tell the customer and let them decide before taking his money. In some cases a special "kit" was required like on early Escorts. But on our cars all angles are adjustable and there should be no reason save for rusty components or accidents why a Maverick couldn't be aligned. Craig.
My aligner goes back to the 50's. It's one of the latest units on the market. "Toe setters" have no business aligning an older car in my opinion. I actually PREFER the older cars due to their adjustability. Newer cars suck. Tire wearing POS with no adjustment. I tell the customer...I don't build them..just fix them .
Many new cars have the front suspension attached to the engine cradle and and for some adjustments you have to move the whole cradle to adjust the suspension.
Very aware of cradle alignments. But they only work to equal out caster/camber from side to side. If your camber is low on both sides then shifting the cradle will not help at all.
I have to agree and disagree.. I did alignments for alot of years and I moved many and I mean many cradles. Moving the cradle always helps. It is better than it was anyway.. Moving the cradle does not equal it out. It's already equaled out. Your just shifting it.
After thinking about how you said this I do agree. BUT I see that it does help bring angles closer to center even if both are in/out.
Where did you get your numbers from, Frank? R & C give you suggestions or did they go with Maverick or Mustang II numbers?
Bob, I pretty much "made up" my own numbers after looking at others' specs. You want enough castor so the wheel returns to center, with camber and toe as close to neutral as possible to minimize tire wear. Unless you're racing, then it all changes...
