Alignment question

[Mopewbie]

Happy New year all.

When I replaced the whole front suspension on my 1970 Coronet 318. I took it to the alignment center in March 2025 and the picture is attached showing what they did at the time.

Now I changed the front drums to discs, and car wasn't feeling good, which is understandable.
So I took it back there and you can see the before (all red) and after (Dec 25) BUT...

Now the car is pulling the the left. A lot.
I took it back there to no improvement. I even considered the steering and re-centered the oil, etc, but no change. Started considering rebuilding the steering box (since it leaks a bit)

Before I start chasing ghosts, do you reckon the alignment/camber/caster is wrong?
And what it should be?

I also replaced wheels/tires and it's running with 235/60/15 front. Those where in storage so it's possible that the tire is no good anymore and causing it?

Thank you.

 

[dvw]

Based on the bottom picture in your post. The caster isn't where I'd like. It should be positive.the camber is't horrible but it can be negative. With stock upper control arm bushings this may not be achievable. If the rear is raised up this won't help either. That being said it shouldn't be pulling left. The first thing is swap the front tires left to right. See if that corrects the issue or it pulls the other way. If you post a picture of the cam position of all 4 cams in the engine compartment I can give you an idea if there is any adjustment left. Much rather see camber around - .5 and caster as far positive as posible cloer to +2 to +2 .5. I'd use -,19 total toe. I've probably aligned over 5000 vehicles in my day.
Doug

 

[Mopewbie]

Based on the bottom picture in your post. The caster isn't where I'd like. It should be positive.the camber is't horrible but it can be negative. With stock upper control arm bushings this may not be achievable. If the rear is raised up this won't help either. That being said it shouldn't be pulling left. The first thing is swap the front tires left to right. See if that corrects the issue or it pulls the other way. If you post a picture of the cam position of all 4 cams in the engine compartment I can give you an idea if there is any adjustment left. Much rather see camber around - .5 and caster as far positive as posible cloer to +2 to +2 .5. I'd use -,19 total toe. I've probably aligned over 5000 vehicles in my day.
Doug

Thank you so much for your reply, Doug.

I just did what you suggested, swapped the front tires and went for a driver but the issue remains the same.

I replaced both front and rear suspension. Car looks a bit "jacked up" at the rear but all I did was to install new set of spring leaves.

Here are the pics you requested, hope they are ok.

Thank you!

 

[Black_Sheep]

No thrust angle measurement? If the pull started after replacing the rear springs I’d want to check that too…

 

[dvw]

Thank you so much for your reply, Doug.

I just did what you suggested, swapped the front tires and went for a driver but the issue remains the same.

I replaced both front and rear suspension. Car looks a bit "jacked up" at the rear but all I did was to install new set of spring leaves.

Here are the pics you requested, hope they are ok.

Thank you!

View attachment 1973811

View attachment 1973812

View attachment 1973813

View attachment 1973814

View attachment 1973816

Looks like there is plenty if adjustment left. I usually start with the rear bolts on the cams all the way inward. That will put the rear of the upper control arm in its most rearward posistion. Then adjust the camber by moving the front bolts outward. This will put the upper ball joint in the furthest rearward position creating the maximum positive caster while allowing correct camber. It may take a adjustment of one of the rear cams outward to match the caster equally from side to side (along with a corresponding change of the front cam in that side to reestablish correct camber) after moving the rear cam.
Doug

 

[Mopewbie]

No thrust angle measurement? If the pull started after replacing the rear springs I’d want to check that too…

No, I replaced the springs back in February.

Looks like there is plenty if adjustment left. I usually start with the rear bolts on the cams all the way inward. That will put the rear of the upper control arm in its most rearward posistion. Then adjust the camber by moving the front bolts outward. This will put the upper ball joint in the furthest rearward position creating the maximum positive caster while allowing correct camber. It may take a adjustment of one of the rear cams outward to match the caster equally from side to side (along with a corresponding change of the front cam in that side to reestablish correct camber) after moving the rear cam.
Doug

Thanks for your input, Doug. It's very difficult to find people willing to deal with these motors around here and many just rely on what the machine says.

 

[WileE]

What Doug ^^ says. I started doing alignments 50+ years ago. Ignore the factory specs. Tell the mechanic you want 0.5 NEG camber, hopefully 2.0 POS caster, and 1/8" toe-in.

 

[R/T Boy 67]

The only thing you changed was the brakes, could one be dragging?

 

[Kern Dog]

I continue to be disappointed in "professional" mechanics that do such a piss-poor job on front end alignments.
It pissed me off enough to learn how to do them myself using tools that pay for themselves after 2 alignments as compared to paying a pro.

Alignment at home and aftermarket UCAS too.

The link above tells my story. In short, I too felt the alignment wasn't where it could be so I went about doing it myself.
These cars can handle as well as newer cars IF you use modern tires and a proper alignment. A skilled mechanic will know the tricks to get the most out of these cars. Read the thread in the link above to see the numerous things that you can do to get great alignment numbers.
Every one of these cars see benefit from some mild negative camber and they absolutely need POSITIVE caster. Do what it takes to get there.

 

[Runcharger]

Yup, check caliper.

 

[YY1]

Alignments are kind of "fiddly" and "not for everyone".

Not everyone in my auto shop class could do one "on the money".

That happened to be something I was good at.

I'd say 1/3 of us could do it "right on" (or even a tad better than the book)
The middle third could do it but got frustrated or got it "close enough" to drive OK.
The bottom third just never got it and never did it after passing the "book exam".
To "blow my own horn", I was the best in the class.
The one guy who was better than me on almost everything else was a somewhat close second.
I was also better than him on AC.
What kind of sucked is that, that guy showed up about a month into the school year.
Grrrrr.
We became friends, though and both went to the Plymouth Troubleshooting contest.

...and I still use that alignment skill.


Interestingly, I'm also good at water heaters.
Most building maintenance guys are scared of them.
I've kept mine working for 23 years.
Yuo gotta respect the 240 volts but not be afraid of it.
You gotta respect a sweat pipe connection, but not be afraid of it (ask me about the bread trick)
...and you have to understand a modicum of physics (heat rises) and relay operation.
...and it's usually better not to drain the tank... even to replace the bottom element.
More often than not, the valve won't close after it's opened.
I can change an element and only lose about a cup of water.

 

[dvw]

Alignments are like setting up ring and pinions. (although I do both I'm very fast at alignments, ring and pinion set up not so much. Some people know which way to move the adjustment to get close. Not many know how far to move the adjustment the 1st or 2nd time and be spot on. They get frustrated going to far or not far enough. Or worse yet, they don't have the knowledge of which adjustment to move at all. Modern cars don't always have upper control arms, or adjustable camber and caster. Many of these young guys have no knowledge of adjusting caster, or even camber. They are getting paid flat rate trying to make a living. They work on very few old cars. The majority of the repair industry may know how to swap pieces. But many techs don't have the theroy behind how something is actually designed. I spent close to 50 years as a flat rate tech. Learned pretty quick 3 things that made me money. Do it right the first time, the 2nd time made you zero. Learn how something works, otherwise repairing it is a guess. Be honest and communicate with your customer whether it's a good paying job or not, the next one they bring you will be. When you find a good tech, don't grumble about the cost. Get the job you need done and move on. You will be happier. Can't find a good tech? Learn to do it yourself. You'll have a skill you can use forever.
Doug