** I've used similar (even gone as far as a straight-edge and a protractor
** once) and should get you real close in the ball park (bubble gauges are only
** so good) if you split hairs. Two things to be sure of.... the rim needs to
** be dead true and the ground you're on needs to be flat and level. If you've
** had the car jacked up, move it a few feet to let the suspension normalize...
The rims are perfect, but the ground the car sits on is suspect. I plan to obtain a long bubble level Saturday and check it.
I'm hopeful that it is off by about 0.5 deg. You see, the tech that set it up promised me exactly -0.50 deg. on both sides. I leveled the tool by using a separate bubble level to shim up the side of the garage door using thin cardboard and duct tape to make it perfectly straight vertically, then I zero'ed the alignment tool by placing it up against that, making sure it was also perfectly horizontal using that other bubble level as well.
After zero'ing it out both vertically and horizontally, I checked both wheels. They're both set to exactly -0.9375 degrees, which is a far cry from the -0.50 deg. I asked for. I'm hopeful that the floor the car sits on is off a bit, which would explain the difference. A long piece of 2X4 and a long bubble level placed on the cement foundation that the car sits on should tell me for sure. I'll probably just calculate the difference, rather than shim the floor underneath the tires. I also plan to drive the car forward 2 feet and check again, just to be 100% sure the wheels aren't throwing it off.
My goal is to obtain 0.00 deg. camber. The toe is already set to 0.00 as well. I'm one of those people who believe that Mustangs exhibit way too much neg. camber from the factory, and that given a +4.00 deg. pos. caster rate, enough dynamic negative camber is generated in tight turns, negating the need for any static neg. camber. Some claim I will burn the outside edges on long freeway drives. I've never found this to be a problem with any car I've ever driven. And I'm sure the inside sidewalls will thank me when I'm done.
Thanks for the advice, Jim. And you're right: mechanical tools ARE only as good as the person holding them.
Quick question: must I remove the weight from the front end before adjusting the cam angle? I'm sure there is some weight borne by the strut towers, but is it enough to concern myself with? I assume so, and plan to lift the chassis and adjust each side a tiny bit, then drop it back down to check. Close? I would imagine I'd also have to drive it a few feet back, then forward to the same spot after dropping it back down as well.
-JD
________________________________________________________ | | | 1998 Laser Red GT RAMFM Member Since 1998 | | M-5400-A Suspension http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams || Subframe Connectors & Seat Bracing, Strut Tower Brace || 4-point K-frame Brace, Tremec T-45 & OEM 3.27:1 Gears ||________________________________________________________|