Suspension woes! Just getting upset at this point.

[Purepony]

i agree that stock is good BUT the age of our cars and with more alignment's done the cam bracket in the body get week and one good pot hole can move the adjuster to move. With these control arms they are fixed at the body and hold better. if you got a trailer queen then stock is fine.

That’s a good point I was considering the control arms but I’m gonna stick with the stock for now. I think I’ve decided to take the suspension apart for a good cleanup and just to check if anything’s been or binding.

I really wanted to take a chance at this before I gave up and just went to an alignment shop.

I think what adds to the frustration is all the stuff that’s been done to the car and the car is still practically undrivable

 

[RemCharger]

i agree that stock is good BUT the age of our cars and with more alignment's done the cam bracket in the body get week and one good pot hole can move the adjuster to move. With these control arms they are fixed at the body and hold better. if you got a trailer queen then stock is fine.

I've put many sets of the spc control arms in, but they're still attached the same way as stock.
Are you welding them in somehow?

 

[Kern Dog]

if you got a trailer queen then stock is fine.

Everything that I own is a driver, none have aftermarket control arms. This car:

Completely stock based everything with some little changes to enhance what the factory had designed. It tracks and handles great and does not get irregular wear from the tires. Fronts wear evenly, rears do wear out faster though.
Those aftermarket control arms may make alignment easier for the dim witted alignment guy since they are a more straightforward adjustment. The eccentrics design is still used in other cars and trucks though. I have them in the lower control arm adjustment in my 2007 Ram 1500 truck. They are far easier to reach than in these classic cars when they have large diameter wheels. Getting up and into the back side of the wheels and brakes takes longer arms and a thinner built worker.

 

[69 GeeTeeX]

I called 3 alignments places
1. Won’t work on anything older than 10 years
2. Doesn’t have specs he said
3. Will align but doesn’t adjust camber or caster he said ://

I had the same problem and heard the same excuses earlier this year. I rebuilt the entire front end, got new tires and wheels during the winter. I figured getting an alignment would be the easy part, wrong!

Ended up taking about six weeks to find an old timer that knew how to do alignments and was willing to do the work. We road tested the car when he was done. I was so happy with the way it drove I paid him extra $$ for taking the time and willing to help.

 

[vance.dykes]

I've put many sets of the spc control arms in, but they're still attached the same way as stock.
Are you welding them in somehow?

no welding and no rubber bushings to ware. just bolt and torque to spec

 

[Frank Mopar]

Here is the aligment spec. Get as much caster as you can. When you set the camber some of the caster will go away. Lock it down and set the toe. Thats all you can do with a stock setup.

 

[vance.dykes]

Everything that I own is a driver, none have aftermarket control arms. This car:

View attachment 1493770

Completely stock based everything with some little changes to enhance what the factory had designed. It tracks and handles great and does not get irregular wear from the tires. Fronts wear evenly, rears do wear out faster though.
Those aftermarket control arms may make alignment easier for the dim witted alignment guy since they are a more straightforward adjustment. The eccentrics design is still used in other cars and trucks though. I have them in the lower control arm adjustment in my 2007 Ram 1500 truck. They are far easier to reach than in these classic cars when they have large diameter wheels. Getting up and into the back side of the wheels and brakes takes longer arms and a thinner built worker.

i know you are special

 

[beanhead]

I called 3 alignments places
1. Won’t work on anything older than 10 years
2. Doesn’t have specs he said
3. Will align but doesn’t adjust camber or caster he said ://

I'm going to assume that 'SFV' is the San Fernando Valley?
Brother you're in SoCal, the hot rodding capital of the world...there HAS to be some shops not too far from you that know old-school stuff including Mopars. There's a good shop in Fresno that I (and lots of the hot rod/muscle crowd) go to, so I'd think there's plenty where you are...just have to find them.
I'm all for DIY, believe me...but some things really are better left to a pro.
This is from an OLD Fabo thread, but maybe some of them are still around?:
Alignment Shop in SoCal

Edit** I was chatting with a cousin from the L.A. area that's built a few Mopars and he said check out Glenn's in Costa Mesa. I can't vouch personally as I've never been there but it's worth a shot if you get to that point.

 

[Orig69]

That’s a good point I was considering the control arms but I’m gonna stick with the stock for now. I think I’ve decided to take the suspension apart for a good cleanup and just to check if anything’s been or binding.

I really wanted to take a chance at this before I gave up and just went to an alignment shop.

I think what adds to the frustration is all the stuff that’s been done to the car and the car is still practically undrivable

Can you post some pictures?

 

[Purepony]

I'm going to assume that 'SFV' is the San Fernando Valley?
Brother you're in SoCal, the hot rodding capital of the world...there HAS to be some shops not too far from you that know old-school stuff including Mopars. There's a good shop in Fresno that I (and lots of the hot rod/muscle crowd) go to, so I'd think there's plenty where you are...just have to find them.
I'm all for DIY, believe me...but some things really are better left to a pro.
This is from an OLD Fabo thread, but maybe some of them are still around?:
Alignment Shop in SoCal

Edit** I was chatting with a cousin from the L.A. area that's built a few Mopars and he said check out Glenn's in Costa Mesa. I can't vouch personally as I've never been there but it's worth a shot if you get to that point.

Thanks but those are two or kore hours away with traffic and a busted car to drive.

Thanks for the input

 

[66 Sat]

this is the best in my book these eliminate the cam bolts and gives all the adjustment.

http://[URL]https://www.ebay.com/it...1291&msclkid=6fb6fbaf85071174e80f9f0065170e36

[/URL]

The SPC arms have too many areas of adjustment for my liking. I count 8 different joints to either come loose or have some movement develop over time. Aren't they China made as well?

The adjustable arms from PST seem a more straightforward design Pro-Touring Adjustable Tubular Upper Control Arms - probably also made in China though.

The Hotchkis ones look like the gold standard but are pretty expensive Mopar B and E Body Tubular Upper Control Arms from Hotchkis - made in USA.

 

[Purepony]

Can you post some pictures?

 

[Purepony]

So I was able to what I believe is match both sides up

I achieved this by rotating the cam bolt on the driver side rear all the way out so now I have both bolts, pulling the arm out on the driver side and on the pass side I have front bolt pulling out and rear bolt pulling in as per what I’ve read online.


I have not driven the car yet, but I wanted to get some input. Should I leave it this way as it looks like it matches or should I just disassemble the control arms disassemble the tie rods and replace or check and see if anything is binding?

I did the upper ball joints about a year and a half ago I did the lowers as well, and I think I did the tie rods too , the Pitman arm and idler arm, are either new or the one that was in the car when I got it but it was usable because I believe that’s a reusable part. One of them is at least.

So the only thing I could really think of would be some thing binding but as I was looking under the car, everything seems fine I didn’t notice that the k member is a little bit off maybe like credit card thin off but I don’t think that would really be it would it?

And the steering gear box is new along with the power steering pump

I know I know Go to an alignment shop but in order to get there I still need the car to be straight. Plus I don’t want to get there and have them tell me hey there’s something wrong with your car fixed this fix that. Etc

 

[1 Wild R/T]

To need the adjusters as they are either something is bent or the lower bushings are toast... Possibly the K member isn't square in the frame... There is some movement in how the bolts fit the K member allowing it to get shifted...

I'd be measuring from the outboard end of the lower control arms to a known fixed point in the frame to compare measurements...

Look between the K member & the lower control arms... See if the pin looks centered in the bushing or if it looks displaced... Any sign of rubber extruding from the bushing is a bad sign...

 

[Orig69]

When your driving the car does it move to the left and the right without moving the steering wheel?

 

[Purepony]

When your driving the car does it move to the left and the right without moving the steering wheel?

I haven’t driven it since I started moving things around.

 

[Purepony]

To need the adjusters as they are either something is bent or the lower bushings are toast... Possibly the K member isn't square in the frame... There is some movement in how the bolts fit the K member allowing it to get shifted...

I'd be measuring from the outboard end of the lower control arms to a known fixed point in the frame to compare measurements...

Look between the K member & the lower control arms... See if the pin looks centered in the bushing or if it looks displaced... Any sign of rubber extruding from the bushing is a bad sign...

Thank you for the advice I’ve been focusing on the lower control arm. I’m almost thinking it’s related to the strut rod. I think I torqued the strut rod when the car was in the air and had no weight could that cause a binding?

 

[Purepony]

To need the adjusters as they are either something is bent or the lower bushings are toast... Possibly the K member isn't square in the frame... There is some movement in how the bolts fit the K member allowing it to get shifted...

I'd be measuring from the outboard end of the lower control arms to a known fixed point in the frame to compare measurements...

Look between the K member & the lower control arms... See if the pin looks centered in the bushing or if it looks displaced... Any sign of rubber extruding from the bushing is a bad sign...

I think I’m just gonna have to take it apart :-/
I wasn’t looking forward to that, but it looks like it’s the best solution. That way I can actually check things out.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

The strut rods obviously need to be the same length, Some guys use urethane strut rod bushings one of the problems with that is often they are thicker than the rubber strut rod bushings & they don't compress so if you have a thicker bushing it will push the outboard end of the LCA further rearward... That translates into killing caster...

The strut rods aren't as critical as the upper & lower control arm bushing hardware They swivel more than rotate so you don't bind and twist the bushings....

 

[66 Sat]

It sounds like you're over thinking all this. Set the toe yourself with a tape measure, the camber looks fine, make sure everything is tight, and go for a little drive. You won't just spin off the road. If the car drives reasonably ok, then you're fine to drive to an alignment shop.