I have air shocks, pumped up to get the hot rod rake. Honestly, its up too high, and I can stand to let some air pressure out of it. Whats happening when I drive it, when I hit a bump, the front seems to float,,, Uh best description would be to say, as Im looking out the windshield and hit a bump, I can see andfeel the car trying to work its self in a circular side to side movement as the suspension is trying to recover from the bounce from the bump inthe road. Fixing the contol arm seemed to help this tremendously. But if the rear is too high forthe alignment It sounds like I can be fighting something thats a little easier than what Im making it out to be. I thought of making plates that bolt onto the front hubs, that sit on the floor, and I can also rotate the hub to also check toe in front n back with the same plates. When they sit onthe floor, I can check camber angles. Im thinking of letting the bottom of the tires out a tad with the lower arm eccentric adjustment, they sit tilted in at the bottom, and I do belive the tires can sit more level to the ground, maybe too much camber can make the car act like its riding on a skinny set of tires than what I got on it! If you ever drove a car with bald ass tires onthe front, its kinda a good description. It handles ok, but I think I can get it better from where I got it now. I know its very difficult to troubleshoot something like this from a description, Im confident and patient enough to keep trying to dial er in. With gas being 3.79, I think I got more time than money these days. Chad
A lot of circle track guys use plates like you describe when setting up their cars. If you make rectangular plates that are the same width as your front tires' diameter and keep the spindle at the same height, you can use the front and rear edges of the plates to measure toe with a tape measure and the surface of the plates to check camber. You still need to have the car level from side-to-side.
Another thing I forgot to mention, and a lot of guys don't realize this, when you make alignment adjustments without using frictionless turnplates you need to roll the car a few feet then roll it back to settle the suspension. Then recheck your settings. It takes some trial and error. If you don't you'll go nuts trying to figure out why your settings keep changing after you drive the car.
You should never put those on a Maverick. They will punch a hole through the floor of your trunk sooner or later.
Yeah, they tilt inwards at the bottom when I drop it off the jack and stands, and they still have a tad tilt after I have test drove, and brought it back on the concrete floor. I know I can really tilt the tops in with the eccentric bolt on the lower arm. So could I say I have plenty of room to make an adjustment on the camber? Once, it has been said, that not all cars were built equal,, just like every engine built is not 100% identical, and things that work on on motor, can have a negative effect on its counterpart. Can this also be assumed in alignment from car to car? Same cars in comparisson, not like a maverick VS a mustang etc etc. mav to mav,,??? I have a tendancy to belive that, some cars, can get pretty close with some tweeking, and have nearly perfect results as the person who had it right VS the car that needs the adjusting. The dirt track refference has got me going here,, LOL My dad used to race back in the 70's,,, he was in it for a whole half a season! Got put into the wall and wrecked a real nice 67 cougar. But I was way young to remember, but Ive seen the pictures of the his car. And no, I wouldnt put my car on the track,, but, some roads out here,,, LOL! You can get air in some places, by hitting the right bump in the road. So tuning in this car to the road conditions seems like what the direction Im thinking of. But still, no, I wouldnt deliberatly find those places with the maverick,,, No, thats what we have the wifes Chevy lumina for!! But still travel the same paths ya know,,, Anyways,,, sorry I drifted off there,, two cars alike theory,,,,, most, with permission, in the past, you knew your buddy just had his car done up in a way that was way cool, and could pass him a few bucks to have a closer look,,,, If you done alot of drag racing, its mainly called the protest line. Cause not alot of people like to give away their secrets to their success, for nothing. Usually at the local drag strip, you protested a car, you had to pay a protesters fee of like 25-100 dollars, and either the guy submits, and they take his car apart, or he says, no, Ill take the disqualification and take the chance next week he wont get protested again,,, but, if he did take the challenge of the protest, and they took him apart, the guys that did it, always seemed to work together very well to put it back to the way it was to the T. The findings are given to the protester, and now he has the info he wanted to know in the first place, cost him 50 bucks, and a nights worth of work, or play to me or you, to put it all back and know it was just like it was when you worked you ass off to put it there in the winning condition that it is in. Me, myself and I,,, Im one of those guys who say go ahead, take it apart, I know where I had everything set,,,, may not be saying it outloud, but I know its in the back of my head when the moment arrises to make adjustments. But here is the thing,, and its back to the question, is it possible to set two cars up identically measurement by fraction of a measurement have the same results, cause now the competition has the info you worked and spent so much time and money on and we sometimes can have thousands of dollars in em, and he gets the tip for a measally 50 bucks and an hour in the protest row, or booth, or trailer,,, If you had a night like that, wouldnt that make you wanna flip? Not me, well sorta, when all he had to do was come over and ask me freindly like in the first place. In the end, you make can make a good freind, and have a happy racing envioronment. In my line of work well play hahaha, its dog eat dog, and asking somebody for advice or technical information might just spar up an argument!!! Competition is that fierce, and unfortunaly, can be rather rude. Most aint like that though,,, and I enjoy having a conversation about what we learn when we build projects, rather it be a car, a boat, or in my hobby, a pulling tractor. I do like to talk about em. I am sorry for such a long post on this, but, I wanted to show you where I am comming from, and how much it is really appreciated, that we are fortunate to meet people that share interest and teach something, I sometimes pay attention, and I do enjoy a conversation. The tech stuff, I respect peoples privacy, and hard work, so If I happen to ask the wrong question, and info that people work hard for, that say, and in my world, its sorry pal, no info for ya, figure it out man!! I understand, and respect that. ChadS
Man, thats a nasty rip. I deflated em tonight. Not all the way, but bout half way down so it has plenty of travel to absorb the shock. So, a stock shock, and a heavier leaf spring, or a loosly set snubber set on a traction bar is a better way to go that the air shocks. Belive it or not, this had a hitch on it, still does, and I think they put the air shocks on for the hitch. So it can tow a boat or something, but I know it hasnt pulled a boat in 20 years, and the hitch dont have a scratch on it for signs of use. Chad
