1969 Plymouth sport satellite 318 torsion bar question

[Moparsam]

Hello, does lowering car cause positive camber? Or should i raise it? Inside of tires are wearing badly. My Plymouth has severe negative camber. Would like to add positive camber to drive to alignment shop which is 45 miles, without ruining tires. Tie tods and ball joints are good. Thank you .

 

[cheeseburgerhead69]

The upper control arms need to be adjusted, use a tape measure, measure front of the tires and the back to find out if it is close to being the same. This would tell you if the tie rods are set correctly. You could crank up the T-bars to help, but I think it's most likely that the upper control arm bushings are probably worn or out of adjustment.

 

[R/T Boy 67]

Make sure all bushings and joints are in good shape, otherwise you are wasting your time. The lower control arm bushings are somewhat hidden and often overlooked. If everything is OK then make sure the alignment cams are not seized up as well as the tie rod adjusters, then do a rudimentary alignment as stated above and go to the shop.

 

[GMP440]

Lowering the front suspension causes negative camber.

 

[Cranky]

Lowering the front suspension causes negative camber.

Uh, that's incorrect......tightening the torsion bars to raise the front end will add a bit of negative.

 

[GMP440]

Lowering the suspension does cause negative camber (bottoms of the tires come out and tops of the tire come in.)

 

[Cranky]

Lowering the suspension does cause negative camber (bottoms of the tires come out and tops of the tire come in.)

If you ever check out any drag race vids, look at how the tires look on most Mopars on the launch especially cars that are running in the mid 10's and faster....or any that launch hard. With the front end up high and the suspension hanging, the lower part of the tires will show them sticking out more than the tops.....like you said, negative camber. Some racers will set their front ends to '0' or even a hair + camber to help counter act that and have as close to 0 camber for the trip down the track. You can also jack up the front end off the ground and you'll see more negative camber than when the car is sitting static.....

 

[GMP440]

If you ever check out any drag race vids, look at how the tires look on most Mopars on the launch especially cars that are running in the mid 10's and faster....or any that launch hard. With the front end up high and the suspension hanging, the lower part of the tires will show them sticking out more than the tops.....like you said, negative camber. Some racers will set their front ends to '0' or even a hair + camber to help counter act that and have as close to 0 camber for the trip down the track. You can also jack up the front end off the ground and you'll see more negative camber than when the car is sitting static.....

I understand and have seen that as well. I have lowered Mopar suspensions and have seen the camber go negative. I was just answering Moparsam's question and gave an answer based on my experience. Thanks for the input.

Here is a link that discusses this.

 

[droptop]

Agree with RTboy67. Your lower control arm bushings are most likely the culprit.

 

[dvw]

Raising and lowering doesnt have a great amount to do with it. The upper arm is shorter. If the front height is low the arm points upwards at ride height. Then as the front is raised the upper balljoint moves though an arc outward and back inward. At the same time the lower ball joint moves inward. Measure the front track on the ground and with the tires in the air. With the wheels off the ground the track is narrower. B bodys normally stay pretty sure, A body geometry is a little worse. Look at the pic in y avatar. The wheels are close to zero camber in the air. I wouldnt even bother aligning the car without new upper control arm offset bushings, new lower bushings, and new strut rod bushings. This comes from over 40 years alignment experience.
Doug