What am I missing???

[Triplegreen500]

Rebuilt the front end. All new bushings, all new ball joints. New adjustable strut rods. I drive backwards and I get this:

I drive forward and I get this:

WTH did I get wrong? No popping, no creaking, no steering wheel jumping...just a massive camber change.

I'm stumped.

 

[Beekeeper]

Looks like your toe setting is way out

 

[Triplegreen500]

Would that cause a camber change like that based on direction of travel?

I haven't been to the alignment shop yet...

 

[davek]

Did you double check everything is tight?

 

[Triplegreen500]

I guess, yeah, if they're toed in they could bunch going forward and spread going backward...makes sense. I was just terrified that I bolted something together wrong or I had some massively rotted out component in the body somewhere.....

Oh yeah...they're tight. And I mark my settings with a paint pen when torqued (motorcycle trick for quick pre-race checks). Checked them repeatedly, no fasteners are moving.

 

[Charged440]

Poly bushings?

 

[Kern Dog]

I have had this happen when THIS area is egged out:

That is where the LCA stud/pin attached to the K member. I weld washers over the K members when I have them out of the car.

Chances are, it is simply that the toe settings are just off enough to put the steering in a bind. A bad idler arm could cause this as well.

 

[khryslerkid]

Set your toe while it's on the ground/floor. If you just had it jacked up, roll the vehicle back a couple of feet and forward again then set the toe.

 

[Triplegreen500]

Roger that, thank you. I have new inners/outers/sleeves but didn't install them yet as I was gonna use the old settings to get to the alignment shop (tires are already trash). Maybe I won't do that.

LCA pivots are round. I put new greaseable pins in, and they fit tight with no wobble going in.

Rubber bushings. I figure they lasted 52 years...can't be all bad. And, no squeaking. It's a cruiser, not an autocrosser.

 

[zyzzyx]

You're supposed to leave the LCA nuts loose until you put the car down on the ground and
set the ride height. Then you torque them down so you don't twist the hell out of the new
bushings!

 

[Triplegreen500]

I put greaseable pivot pins on the LCAs. The bushing is only an outer sleeve pressed into the LCA, and a rubber bushing that's greased/rifled that slides over the pivot pin. No inner bushing "race". I guess I could crawl under there and loosen the nuts that hold the pins to the frame, and see if they spin at all....

 

[Fran Blacker]

Adjust strut rod not adjusted properly? Allowing fore/aft movement.

 

[Triplegreen500]

I *think* they're tight? I mean, I know they're locked down at both ends, and the jam nut is locked against the rod body. I approximated length based on my one good sticker that was removed. As to whether they're the *right* length....I honestly don't know. I set them tight with the car up and suspension unloaded. Didn't force them and push the LCAs backwards, but snugged them up so they didn't wobble around.

 

[zyzzyx]

Put a cell phone under the car and take a video. Something is moving alot!

 

[Triplegreen500]

There's zero noise. I suspect a toe issue as mentioned above. I had similar symptoms before replacing the bushings (they came out in pieces and there were regular, pronounced "thunks" from the suspension then). The only thing I haven't replaced yet is anything steering-related (inner/outer tie rods, sleeves, idler arm).

 

[dvw]

Toe won't change that much without something moving. Noise or no noise there is some serious movement of a component(s). Look at the two pictures. The top picture the camber is negative. In the bottom picture the camber is posistive.
Doug

 

[Darter6]

Would that cause a camber change like that based on direction of travel?

the toe settings are just off

Had the same with a 67 Coronet. Guy called me with the same problem. It was the toe way off.

 

[4mulas]

Strut rods in and or tight?. Also what Kern said. Also what zzyz said too.