Front End Alignment Specs ?

[Mike Gaines]

I just finished a complete front end rebuild. Anyone know the best settings for Caster and Camber for Drag Racing ?
I read on HOT ROD's website that 0 to -1/2 degree negative camber and +3 degree positive Caster.
Any thoughts or experience.
(note toe-in seems pretty agreed upon to be 1/16")

 

[cdr]

just get as much caster as you can & as close to 0 camber on the neg side & 1/16 toe in,,, this is for stock upper control arms

 

[Cranky]

And I like to jack up the car 2" or so and check settings. I start with a static height then start checking it with the car at 2 and 3" and then just before the tires are about to leave the ground. Get someone to shoot vids of the car making a pass and estimate the ride height is during the pass and set it at that height. Some poo poo my techniques but they seem to let the car go just a little bit faster. If it's mostly on the street, forget what I typed

 

[dvw]

Camber really isn't a big issue. I set to zero but +/- .5 isn't a killer. Toe 0 to 1/8", push out on the tires while checking. A little up and down movement of the idler arm will toe it out. As for caster, be careful. The more caster you add the closer the outer tie rod gets to the ground. You can get into the bump steer mode. Also seldom taken into account is chassis rake. 5 degrees of positive caster becomes 2 degrees with 3 degrees of forward rake. Many times the outer tie rods are to high or to low. If they're to high more caster will help.
Personally my 64 has 2 degrees of chassis rake, an additional 2.5 degrees of positive caster. I still had to lowerthe outer tie rds a tad to get it perfect. It also needed offset front upper control arm bushings and the strut rods shortened .250". Drives strait as an arrow at close to 150 mph.
Doug