Thursday, May 25, 2023

HRPT Prep 26 - Front End Alignment

Today, I asked a local shop to perform an alignment on the Mustang.  The tires are wearing a bit on the inside edge and I wondered if the camber was off from replacing both upper ball joints.  Also, at times, it does not want to center well and seems to be thrown off a bit by grooves in the road.  

I printed the OpenTracker alignment specs and took them with me to the shop.  The technician came out and after looking at them said the -.5 to -1 spec would still cause the wear that I'm seeing.  He suggested just a little positive camber which I've seen mentioned many times as a negative in classic Mustangs.  In the end, I asked that he use all the OpenTracker specs but he could put the camber close to zero but not positive.

He provided a before and after report which I'll summarize below along with the OpenTracker specs.  Overall, it is probably best for the road trip but the positive camber bothers me a bit as I specifically indicated I did not want it to be positive and he did it anyway.  I'm interested to see if the increased caster or improved toe measurements make much of a difference on the highway.  

Caster:
OpenTracker Spec:        +2.5 to + 4.5
Before Measurement:     L +1.0         R +1.4
After Measurement:        L +2.6         R +2.8

Camber: 
OpenTracker Spec:        -.5 to -1
Before Measurement:    L -0.5    R +0.2
After Measurement:       L +0.6   R +0.8

Toe:
OpenTracker Spec:        1/8" in
Before Measurement:    .29 degrees (.23L and .08R)
After Measurement:       .30 degrees (.15L and .14R)




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