caster camber adjustments

[wht93atx]

I got a 93atx, and just got back from the tire shop after getting some contiextreme's put on and an alignment, the alignment was pretty far off(was in a small accident)and they said one of the rears camber was pretty bad, but its not adjustable. and also the fronts caster were both too far out to adjust and they could drill out the strut tower for $40 each side, $80 total. do they make camber caster plates for this, and if so how hard are they to install. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[gosho89]

wht93atx,

If you use the "search" feature you should have came up with this link from last week that addressed this problem.

http://www.shoforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=21;t=000696

 

[sdpatt]

Drilling out the spot welds on the strut tower alignment plates should be done for no charge as part of the alignment. You too can drill these welds out. Only use a very shallow *********** of the metal and ermove only as much nmaterial as necessary.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

sdpatt:
Drilling out the spot welds on the strut tower alignment plates should be done for no charge as part of the alignment. You too can drill these welds out. Only use a very shallow *********** of the metal and ermove only as much nmaterial as necessary.

Almost everywhere now charges for the welds to be broken Scott. They found a new way to make extra cash. At NTB/Sears it's $30 or $40 a side, and that policy came into effect only in the past 3-4 months.

For rear camber adjustment, there are eccentrics that you buy to be pressed into the outer arms of the control arms. This will allow you your camber adjustment. The total price of the parts is well under 100. Check out Rockauto.com under the alignment section, and there'll be a MOOG part for the rear to solve your problem. It'll be called a camber/toe bushing or eccentric. As for the front pieces, you won't need them once the welds are broken.

 

[shojuan]

What about using the Moog K8821 Camber/Caster Front plate kit that's $43 a side a rockauto.com? That kit includes new strut mounts. If you need new strut mounts anyways and you get one of those kits instead of a stock mount replacement then will you need to drill out any spot welds?

SHO91MTX:

sdpatt:
Drilling out the spot welds on the strut tower alignment plates should be done for no charge as part of the alignment. You too can drill these welds out. Only use a very shallow *********** of the metal and ermove only as much nmaterial as necessary.

Almost everywhere now charges for the welds to be broken Scott. They found a new way to make extra cash. At NTB/Sears it's $30 or $40 a side, and that policy came into effect only in the past 3-4 months.

For rear camber adjustment, there are eccentrics that you buy to be pressed into the outer arms of the control arms. This will allow you your camber adjustment. The total price of the parts is well under 100. Check out Rockauto.com under the alignment section, and there'll be a MOOG part for the rear to solve your problem. It'll be called a camber/toe bushing or eccentric. As for the front pieces, you won't need them once the welds are broken.

 

[wht93atx]

Thanks for the info, I'll see what I'll look into it a bit more, and post back when I figure it out, again thanks for the help

 

[Dave Kegel]

I've heard the front caster/camber kits raise the front of the car up, not what most of us are looking for. You should be fine just drilling out the spot welds and moving the stock camber plates.

Dave Kegel

 

[89 black SHO mtx]

drilling out the spot welds should be a last resort unless the shop you took it to is just plain lazy. per Hunter alignment catalogs to adjust any taurusfrontend move the sub frame first then move the caster/camber plates. most shops just look for the quick buck and tell you to spend more money for a job that shouldn't cost that. but then you have the average mom and pop shop where there techs don't know their butt from a hole in the ground.
now with that said i know some people on here are saying "WHAT IN THE $@#@#$%^ IS HE TALKING ABOUT" if you have access to a hunter alignment book read up on ford alignment procedures. it suprised me when i read it. i know its not the eaisest way to do an alignment but think about this if you've had the cradle dropped anytime at all where is your setback at. just twisting it 1/8 of an inch will create a caster issue of .5 degrees or more i think(scott help me out here i can't remember the conversion from inch to degrees).
Ken

 

[Dave Kegel]

I do not believe drilling the spot welds is a last resort. It's the only way to adjust camber. You cannot adjust camber by moving the subframe, only caster.

Dave Kegel