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- Apr 13, 2012
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I've had good luck getting my Charger to steer and handle the way that I like, so I took what I'd learned and tried to help out a friend with his 71 Road Runner.
He is the original owner and has made small changes over the years, but nothing too drastic. He wanted a firmer ride and more responsive steering so we added the following:
1.0 torsion bars replaced the stock .90 bars.
MP XHD Hemi leaf springs replaced the stock 5 leaf pack.
Welded in 3x3 frame connectors.
upper Control Arms with offset bushings installed to increase caster.
Fast ratio Idler and Pitman arms.
The car sits at what may be considered stock height. I didn't measure it but it looks about where I've seen others sit. 15x7 wheels, 235-60-15 tires. He had the car aligned today. I went along to tell the man that he didn't want the stock 1971 alignment specs, I had the following:
0 to 1/2 degree NEG camber
2-4 degrees POS caster
1/8" toe in.
The alignment guy couldn't even get close to anything except the toe #. Why? the car has never been wrecked. The parts are all stock except the bushings in the upper control arms. The car came with 14" rally wheels but that shouldn't make much difference. I didn't get a copy of the sheet but the numbers I recall were almost zero caster on the left, something like 0.2 and about 0.8 on the right with slight positive camber on both sides. What the heck??? wouldn't adding some NEG camber automatically get you more caster? There is more adjustment left in the alignment cams, I could see that.
The owner said the car feels twitchy. I know that Fast Ratio arms with overboosted steering will make a car feel a bit funny but the car felt okay to me. The steering wheel returns to center after a turn. My Charger has the same basic setup as this Road Runner but mine feels rock solid. I had mine aligned at a different place and was able to get 4+ degrees of caster on both sides along with .75 NEG camber.
The obvious suggestion might be to take the car to a different shop. My first suggestion months ago was to go to the guy that I use. I'm just curious to learn if I did something wrong or if I missed something.
The bushings in the Upper control arms were pressed in so that the front side bushings had the thin spot toward the engine. The rear bushings have the thin spots toward the fenders. It seems that this should have easily resulted in getting the numbers we asked for. It was aligned 9 months ago at the same shop after he replaced tie rod ends. At that time it still had the stock UCA bushings. The numbers were not much better than what we got today.
The owner is not interested in buying tubular A-Arms. If he was dying of thirst he wouldn't spend $10 on a bottle of water.
I'd appreciate any suggestions on what else to try. I'd like to not only help this guy, but others in the future. Thanks, Greg
He is the original owner and has made small changes over the years, but nothing too drastic. He wanted a firmer ride and more responsive steering so we added the following:
1.0 torsion bars replaced the stock .90 bars.
MP XHD Hemi leaf springs replaced the stock 5 leaf pack.
Welded in 3x3 frame connectors.
upper Control Arms with offset bushings installed to increase caster.
Fast ratio Idler and Pitman arms.
The car sits at what may be considered stock height. I didn't measure it but it looks about where I've seen others sit. 15x7 wheels, 235-60-15 tires. He had the car aligned today. I went along to tell the man that he didn't want the stock 1971 alignment specs, I had the following:
0 to 1/2 degree NEG camber
2-4 degrees POS caster
1/8" toe in.
The alignment guy couldn't even get close to anything except the toe #. Why? the car has never been wrecked. The parts are all stock except the bushings in the upper control arms. The car came with 14" rally wheels but that shouldn't make much difference. I didn't get a copy of the sheet but the numbers I recall were almost zero caster on the left, something like 0.2 and about 0.8 on the right with slight positive camber on both sides. What the heck??? wouldn't adding some NEG camber automatically get you more caster? There is more adjustment left in the alignment cams, I could see that.
The owner said the car feels twitchy. I know that Fast Ratio arms with overboosted steering will make a car feel a bit funny but the car felt okay to me. The steering wheel returns to center after a turn. My Charger has the same basic setup as this Road Runner but mine feels rock solid. I had mine aligned at a different place and was able to get 4+ degrees of caster on both sides along with .75 NEG camber.
The obvious suggestion might be to take the car to a different shop. My first suggestion months ago was to go to the guy that I use. I'm just curious to learn if I did something wrong or if I missed something.
The bushings in the Upper control arms were pressed in so that the front side bushings had the thin spot toward the engine. The rear bushings have the thin spots toward the fenders. It seems that this should have easily resulted in getting the numbers we asked for. It was aligned 9 months ago at the same shop after he replaced tie rod ends. At that time it still had the stock UCA bushings. The numbers were not much better than what we got today.
The owner is not interested in buying tubular A-Arms. If he was dying of thirst he wouldn't spend $10 on a bottle of water.
I'd appreciate any suggestions on what else to try. I'd like to not only help this guy, but others in the future. Thanks, Greg