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1973 charger driver side camber issue

Texas charger 73

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I have a 1973 charger. Never been wrecked. My driver side front wheel is cambered in at top. I have put all new ball joints and took it to alignment shop and they made it drivable, but I'm not happy with it. Anyone else had this problem? I know. Dodge doesn't have the best front ends, but I don't know what's up!!
 
it may have been curbed enough to shift the K member to the left. it could be worn out control arm bushings. it could be worn out isolated K member bushings.

can we please keep this in one thread to minimize the confusion ?
 
I don't know how to delete the other one. Sorry for the double posting.
 
I don't know how to delete the other one. Sorry for the double posting.
its all good man, it just helps to keep it all in one thread. is the upper control arm adjusted all the way out at the top? I do all my own alignments in my drive way because most shops are incompetent when it comes to our old mopars. I have seen guys even try to shim front end parts that were never meant to be.
 
60s and early 70s Dodge DOES have the best front ends.

One thing that can happen if you abuse the piss out of them though is the "bearing" for the lower control arm can crack.

Check it real close. K frames are not difficult to find or replace, but can be time consuming.
 
Well sits the top of the tire that cambered in real bad. It leans so bad it runs on like maybe an inch of tire. Has to be upper control arm bent possibly. I'm gonna see about pulling it apart today and looking at it.. Also pops when then steering wheel.
 
some pictures of all this would help. especially the upper control arm mounting point at the frame rail. these are very easily adjustable. I have a 74 charger and it was about the easiest driveway alignment I have ever done
 
I'll pull charger out today and get pics and see if I can post them.
 
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Also when I raise the car and take weight off it straightens up, I was looking and I think the front has been lowered because headers don't have much clearance
 
im betting your upper control arm bolt(s) are loose and letting the A arm slide around. that rear bolt adjuster is all the way in, which why your tire is leaning in. you need to loosen the rear bolt, and slightly loosen the front one, and with the tire on and in the air, pull out on the top, until the wheel looks straight up and down. I cant believe an alignment shop could not figure this out.

these bolts have to be TIGHT, but don't break them. I use a cheater on my ratchet when I tighten these.

this adjuster should be about halfway out or so , all cars vary, but its a good starting point. from the dark spot, it looks as though it was all the way out and has moved.
aaarm.JPG

it is easier to move the A arms around with all the tension off of the torsion bars, but then you will need to reset the ride height after you get the wheels straight up and down. then reset the toe. make sure you do this on flat garage floor or pad.

ive done enough of these and so many times , that I just eyeball the caster and camber. but you can use a framing square , or pay some professional shop, but I choose to do it myself. I try to equal out the caster on both sides, then the camber , then the ride height , then the toe.

I have seen a lot of K member shift because the design was poor in that, moisture gets trapped between the bushings , K member and frame rails and starts to rust creating weak points. over time the bushings go away and everything loosens up. LCA bushings wear out making more problems. if I were you I would replace the K member , LCA and UCA bushings. its not hard to do, as long as the K member bolts are not rusted. you can do them one at a time with the engine in the car and without removing the K member

I have seen them so bad there was virtually no metal left between the bushings and K member.
chances are its going to be different from side to side because these cars were built with tolerances and not exact specs, so you cant rely on one side to set the other.
 
Agree.
 
its all good man, it just helps to keep it all in one thread. is the upper control arm adjusted all the way out at the top? I do all my own alignments in my drive way because most shops are incompetent when it comes to our old mopars. I have seen guys even try to shim front end parts that were never meant to be.

How about doing a "how to" on the driveway alignments? It's getting real hard to find anybody who actually understands alignment.
 
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