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What the Hell Happened To My Front Tires?

Dibbons

Dibbons

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A month or two ago I adjusted my torsion bars up some, pushing up and down on the front bumper like you are supposed to do.

I pushed the vehicle in and out of the garage about ten times since, but never drove the car anywhere.

Today I drove less than 5 miles to the gas station and back. The front tires were very noisy and they both got very warm quickly. Back home I noticed the vehicle was sitting an inch or two higher in the front than I had set it, and the camber had gone crazy. Too dark now to investigate further.

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You can get by with a couple of turns of the adjustments if they are sagging from age. But cranking them much more than that will require a new alignment.
 
Screwing with the torsion bars throws the alignment out instantly. Scrubbing the tires out is going to happen.
 
Camber And toe both change with a ride height change. The toe change is what really wears the tires. The procedure to do an alignment is to set the ride height first. Then set caster/camber. Lastly set the toe. Raise or lower the cars height and the whole alignment instantly goes out. The noise you heard was the squeeling of the tires scrubbing because the tires were towed in. Should be excessive wear on the out side edges of the tires.
 
Just read on another FBBO thread that when adjusting torsion bars, bouncing on the bumper is ineffective compared to rolling the vehicle. That would explain how and why my vehicle came home higher in the front (with a corresponding camber change) after my little drive down to the gas station. Actually, I did notice the change beginning (little by little) during the weeks I was rolling/pushing the vehicle in and out of the garage.

Now I can lower it back down to where I wanted it and get the alignment checked.
 
Dibbons said:
Just read on another FBBO thread that when adjusting torsion bars, bouncing on the bumper is ineffective compared to rolling the vehicle.
Click to expand...
That maybe true on solid ground, but most good Alignment shops use floating plates to align cars.
 
I can attest to this as well. Do a turn or a couple turns then take it for a ride. It changes a lot more after being driven and everything settles rather than just bouncing the front end.
:thumbsup:
 
You have the bounce the bumper and roll the car back and forth.

You can also put garbage bags under the tires. Little trick we used setting up tractor trailer front ends.
 
Unless you went like 20 rounds I can’t image it throwing it off that much. No idea how it was before. Make sure all your upper control hardware is tight. But it does look like you cranked the hell out of the front end. Run the adjusters out a bit and see what happens.
 
I was gonna say-

how many turns did you give it?

I've raised and/or lowered over an inch without markedly affecting the alignment.

I'll agree that driving it does allow it to totally settle in but jouncing should settle most of the change.
 
Dibbons said:
Just read on another FBBO thread that when adjusting torsion bars, bouncing on the bumper is ineffective compared to rolling the vehicle. That would explain how and why my vehicle came home higher in the front (with a corresponding camber change) after my little drive down to the gas station. Actually, I did notice the change beginning (little by little) during the weeks I was rolling/pushing the vehicle in and out of the garage.

Now I can lower it back down to where I wanted it and get the alignment checked.
Click to expand...

I went through this last year. After adjusting torsion bars, start the car, put it in gear, drive backward and forward several feet (I think I moved about 20-30 feet). I did it twice for good measure. You have to give all of the moving suspension parts the opportunity to return to normal operating positions after it had been jacked up off the ground and adjusted:)
 
Having done this on my '63 years ago with only doing a mild adjustment, found my tires were wearing unevenly and ended up getting it set at the preferred height at the alignment shop with some other front suspension parts replaced due to wear, then full alignment. This was after getting new tires and wheels and wanting to avoid undue wear with the cost of my new radial tires. While it's easy to play with the height with T-bars, my thought is better done with an alignment. Not knowing the overall condition of your front suspension, bushing condition, etc. that might a played into this, I'd think an alignment is a good idea looking at your tires...
 
Maybe this matters-

I usually don't adjust my t bars with the weight off of them!

I just get under there and turn them, without jacking up anything.
 
Take a real good look at your lower control arm bushings ! You say the front end rose after road test. Have seen this before and lower bushings were toast both times.
 
YY1 said:
Maybe this matters-

I usually don't adjust my t bars with the weight off of them!

I just get under there and turn them, without jacking up anything.
Click to expand...

I used to do it that way also, until I broke an adjuster cranking it up several years ago. Quite a shock and lucky I didnt get hurt. Learned my lesson though.
 
I think the factory service manual suggestion of simply bouncing on the bumpers was fine for factory fresh vehicles, but fifty years later a trip around the block is required after torsion bar adjustments.
 
I've never bounced my cars up and down after a height change but did roll them several feet back and forth. Also, if the adjusters are lubed well, then you can turn them without jacking the front up but I usually jacked it up some....just not all the way up where the tires were off the ground.
 
65wgn440 said:
Take a real good look at your lower control arm bushings ! You say the front end rose after road test. Have seen this before and lower bushings were toast both times.
Click to expand...
About 7 years ago,I was just getting my 71 back on the road again after sitting for about 20 years in my garage. I had an alignment done and the car was very squirrely driving home. I pulled into a friends driveway a couple of days later and I noticed that the front end looked about the same as these pictures. I backed out and then back into the driveway and the wheels then were straight up and down. The front was still high and I took it back to the shop and had the front end lowered. The car drove well after that, but it was a bit low, almost on the bumpstops. I've raised the front end since, but I think I will go back and check those bushings.
 
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