Alignment specs

[Giovanni89]

Does anyone have the alignment specs for a 2nd gen 2wd truck? What I'm really after is the degree of change per thickness of control arm shim. When I did my Falcon years ago which has an identical setup, A shim front or rear would affect the caster, and a shim on both would affect the camber. I set the strut rods so that they were in a "neutral" position when setting on the wheels. Our little trucks are the same yes?

[geezer101]

Err, let me put it to you this way. They're not exactly precision built performance vehicles. During the pull down of my Gen 1 front I noticed the shims were radically different. One side definitely had more shims packed in the upper wishbone. So I'm guessing that, during the frame welding, there's a degree of variation from frame to frame which has to be compensated for. I'd put a few bucks on the possibility of there being some movement as well. I would really like fully adjustable UCA's. It would be faster to dial in and you'd be able to set it the way you want with both camber and caster adjustment (maybe shed some weight too). I think there's some trial and error in getting it right...

[Giovanni89]

Thanks Geezer, I'm not looking to take the thing to the track, just get some even tire wear . The factory service manual for my 62 Falcon had a chart that showed roughly how many degrees of caster or camber change you would get based on added shim thickness and placement. I'm not looking for how many shims I need, just roughly how much of an effect a shim will roughly have so that I can get it dialed in with less guessing. I recall my Falcon having an extra 3/16" on one of the upper control arms. Everything is built to tolerance.
I forgot to say change per shim, that's actually what I'm after.

[geezer101]

Luckily I have a bunch of shims I can use when I refit the UCA's. There are nice quality shims on ebay but IDK if they'll fit the trucks. I'll probably end up buying camber gauges to set my front end up now I've added HD lowered springs - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aadjustable...9ZXfg~&vxp=mtr

[Giovanni89]

I have a big assortment of them. Bought a box full when I did the Falcon years ago. Maybe i'll do a write up on my home made alignment tools. Crude, but they work.
Thanks
Giovanni

[pennyman1]

to help complicate the issue further, the original shims are not all the same thickness, but they are one piece to span the whole distance. The shims are for camber, the strut rods are for caster.

[geezer101]

...I pulled horse shoe shims out of my truck And they were thick compared to the plate shims too. There was zero love put into my poor Gen 1. I wouldn't attempt to wind the caster in, it would butcher the lower control arm bushes (add insult to injury - the right side radius/caster rod on my truck was bent in 2 places as well - would've been a joy to drive...)

[tortron]

Manual says
toe in - 2 to 9mm A-B (front of wheel, back of wheel centre)

adjust caster before camber
to adjust caster adjust tightness of upper arm shaft
a half turn will result in 1.25mm fore or aft movement of the upper arm shaft - resulting in 16 minutes adjstment of camber
standard value 2 degrees 30' +/- 1 degree

Camber
adjust number of shims between upper arm shaft and crossmember
a total of 4mm shim thickness is normally required for standard camber
a 0.6mm adjustment in shim thickness results in 8 minutes adjustment in camber
standard value is 1 degree +/- 30'
(3 shims were available 0.6mm, 1.2mm, 2.3mm)

steering angle
37.5 degrees inner wheel
30.5 degrees outer wheel

[pennyman1]

I was right about the shims at least. I did forget about the UCA caster adjustment, but the strut rod also plays some role in the alignment process.

[Giovanni89]

Thank you for the info guys. I got it all back together this weekend. I couldn't find my homemade camber gauge anywhere, so i just set it to about 0 using a torpedo level across the raised ring in the wheel.
I have always thought that it is best to adjust the upper control arm for the bulk of your caster adjustment because cranking on the strut rod will keep your lower control arm bushings constantly pre-loaded.
The moog upper control arm shafts I got ended up being for the 4wd, so I had to order some complete upper control arms from auto zone. 300 bucks for the pair, ouch. The shafts on these control arms are noticeably shorter than the ones that were on the truck. The nuts on the end are flush with the end of the shaft. I really didn't feel like I had any adjustment, so I just used the strut rod to dial in a bit more caster to the passanger side. I have no idea what it is at, but I turned the wheel 1 turn left and 1 right and used my torpedo level on the wheel with a ruler to measure the distance of the the level to wheel. Got it even on both sides.
I used my homemade toe setting bar to get the toe to about 1/16" in.
Doesn't pull to either side, and my rolling resistance is definitely less. I can see it on my wideband O2. I'm running a bit leaner on the highway because i don't need quite as much throttle to hold speed.
Truck feels much better, especially in bumpy corners. I used all polyurethane bushings and moog parts where available. Pitman arm and upper control arms are not moog. Upper control arms are rubber bushings as well.
I'll either make another caber gauge or pony up a few bucks and buy one and get it properly dialed in later, but for now it handles much better and shouldn't shred my tires.

[Giovanni89]

Oh, and I started with 2 of the medium shims on the drivers side and one thing one on the passenger side. Ended up with 1 medium on each side to get the camber matching. Just dumb luck

[pennyman1]

As you found out, there are 2 types of UCA shafts - adjustable and non-adjustable. It is better to use the UCA adjustment for caster, but the strut rods will do for small adjustments. I have seen people use the small fender shims they sell for these trucks as alignment shims to set caster, but I feel you are stressing the UCA bolts doing that - it can side load the bolts because the arm isn't flush to the UCA mount.

[geezer101]

^ +1 on that. That is a ton of stress for 2 bolts to handle. If they fail you are in a world of hurt...

[Giovanni89]

Indeed it would be. I had a lower control arm snap at the ball joint on a late model hyundai elantra that I drove for a short while. The arms had no drainage hole and would rot from the inside out. There was a recall, but I had only had the car 2 days. 65mph in a curve. Was a fun experience! I hear what you're saying about too many shims on the bolt. To top it off, they are holding that force in a single shear. I believe my Falcon manual had a maximum shim tolerance, but I'm not sure. They were both in the same box that was at the hottest point of a house fire. Haven't replaced them yet.control arm fail.jpg

[geezer101]

My wife owns one of those (the model after). LOL not the only thing waiting to ambush you. Every radiator splits in the same location, top tank opposite face of the top inlet. Boils the engine in no time if you don't pull over and you can't get a used radiator as they're all toast. When you see a complete Elantra in the JY without a physical mark on it, you know why...