Dear All,
Thanks very much indeed to Randall, Jim, Kevin and Alex, all of whom
have added immeasurably to my understanding of wheel alignment. Randall,
yes, we pay 17.5% VAT on most goods and services; Jim, no, I didn't fall
asleep!
I have a few specific comments/questions relating to my particular car,
prompted by the responses I have received from this generous team of
experts.
Front Camber
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Positive camber increased from less than one degree on each wheel to
between two and two-and-a-half degrees in the fourteen months since I
last had the wheel alignment done. In that time, I replaced the front
springs and shocks. Cause and effect?
From what has been said, it would appear that the 7 min reduction in
left wheel camber was probably made to obviate a problem I reported with
the car pulling to the left. The left wheel still has 23 mins of
positive camber more than the right wheel. The car still has a slight
tendency to pull to the left, so I conclude that they didn't reduce the
positive camber quite far enough on this wheel. Does this make sense?
Front Caster
^^^^^^^^^^^^
All the front suspension bushes (and, indeed, all the front suspension
components) were replaced within the last month, so it seems that I
would need to shim the A-arm mount to bring the front caster in line
with spec. However, the consensus appears to be that this is
unnecessary. That's good. :-)
Front Toe
^^^^^^^^^
Fourteen months ago, my toe was set within the specified parameters at
+11 mins. When the car went in for alignment this year, it was -18
mins. What causes this? Pot-holes?
Rear Camber
^^^^^^^^^^^
This car had a new rear spring (from Rimmer Bros.) fitted in April, 2001
(and it doesn't have a camber compensator). In December of that year,
the Rear Camber was recorded as -44 min (L) and -1 deg 24 min (R). I
have done nothing at all to affect the rear suspension since then
(except that I probably altered the ride height by changing the front
suspension, and I removed a whole heap of junk from the boot this time),
and it is now reading +53 min (L) and +5 min (R). HOWEVER, looking at
the back of the car after I've been for a drive, the wheels have visible
negative camber. From what I have been told, it sounds as though the
car wasn't allowed to settle before the readings were taken (on either
occasion). Is that a logical deduction? In any case, if the camber
is going to get more negative as the spring ages, I'm going to get
closer and closer to spec over the next few years without actually doing
anything! This is also good. :-)
Rear Toe
^^^^^^^^
Opinions seem divided on this one - so I deduce that the asymmetrical 11
min of toe-out is only borderline problematic. Is that a fair
assessment? If I did decide that I wanted to remove a shim from the
left, how easy is it for a ham-fisted mechanical ignoramus such as I to
do this?
Thrust Angle
^^^^^^^^^^^^
It would appear that this is pretty good (but not perfect) at -7 min. If
I did decide that I would like it to be zero, how would I go about
achieving this?
ATB
--
Mike
Ellie - 1963 White Herald 1200 Convertible GA125624 CV
Connie - 1968 Conifer Herald 1200 Saloon GA237511 DL
Carly - 1977 Inca Yellow Spitfire 1500 FH105671
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