Typical Gen 1 shenanigans.

[DemonNeno]

So an update to the Ingalls arms on my '89. It seems as if i can't get ANY camber out of them w/o the 235s on my 17s rubbing the 1/4. I've already cut the lip flush to the outer quarter. Any input on this? Has anyone ever relocated the strut mounts on the towers? Since the spindles are pushed out for a lower arm adjustment, it's widening the rear track of the car too much to clear the lip. at this moment camber is set at -0.3 on both rears to clear. Wheels are 17x7 w/ a 40mm offset. Tire is pretty close to the strut as it is. Can't imagine more negative offset helping out.

 

[SHO Dude]

Sounds easy enough.

Couple of things. Lowering the car will increase negative camber.

You can slot the holes in the tower with a die grinder and a carbide bit. There's no caster in the rear so slotting the holes about half an inch should give you about 3 or 4 tenths of negative camber.

 

[DemonNeno]

I was considering slotting them but i can't remember if the rears have a plate on top? I didnt want to oblong the holes initially because of the possiblity of weakening the mounting points. At -0.3 in the rear, the car doesn't feel confident enough through a hard corner...

Here's a shot with the digi.. Maybe i'm a alignment freakazoid, but perhaps you can also see how positive the rear camber looks. Unusual look for a Taurus!

 

[LeddZepp8687]

Neno...What wheels are those?

 

[DemonNeno]

17x7 40mm offset ADR Competition 7 black spokes w/ machined lips.

 

[SHO Dude]

Take the shot again from the back of the car, looking down the long axis and frome about ground level.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

So you want to increase the negative camber or head more neutral? I've got GTP arms and had no problem going to -.75 with the rear with 235's on SVT T-bird wheels.

 

[DemonNeno]

More negative. What's the offset of the Tbird rims? I have the adjustment, it's just getting the wheels to clear the quarter panel lips. I wanted to set it around -1.25 in the rear. The furtherest i've gotten so far is -0.3 on both sides. these wheels have a 40mm offset and are 7" wide. The tires (GS-D3s) are a hair from the strut.

Here's the wheel shot...



I'll take another shot of the car from the angle you mentioned Doug.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

Going more negative should tuck the tires under the 1/4 instead of pushing them out. The Tbird's have a 42mm offset. Another question, what's your exact tire size? Sizes do vary among manufacturers, even with the same size. I think the biggest problem is you have chevy parts on your car!!

 

[DemonNeno]

going negative on the rear of a SHO wouldn't tuck the tires in more, it would push them out more. Technically, it would have more negative camber, but the wheel assembly moves outboard. Unlike the front camber adjustment, which pivots the strut inboard, the rear camber adjustment sets our spindles further from the centerline of the strut mount, while the strut itself remains in the same position (at the mount). THerefore, in order for our rear camber adjustment to work, we essentially increase the width of our rear track. At -1.25 degrees, the 1/4s rest on the edge of the tire. At -0.3, I have about a 1/4" clearance. It would be nice if we could just convert our cars to a GTP spindle. Zap loose the 2 strut to spindle bolts and VOILA! You have camber adjustment.

The Chevy parts are a WHOLE other ball game. The tires are 235/45 17s.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

that's odd. I also have 235 45 17's by Falken and with -1 on my plus and uncut wells there's plenty of clearance. I'm thinking it's probably your wheel offset.

 

[DemonNeno]

I found some bondo under the paint from a lip "rolling" accident the previous owner happened to have. I'm not sure what the case happens to be with this car. Not many people, however, get away with larger wheels & wider tires w/o modifying their 1/4s on a gen 1. You are one of the lucky ones! What's the offset of your wheel? I doubt a couple millimeters will result in ~1/2" of clearance, though.

 

[HotRodKid]

die grind the towers to gain camber

use washers on the studs to regain clamping force (not that much will be lost, slotted towers is factory on ALOT of cars)

 

[DemonNeno]

Yeah, that's the plan now that i'm lazy. I finally cut down the 1/4s enough to clear w/ less then half a degree negative in the rear, but the car is still doesn't bite the pavement hard enough in a really hard, tight turn (55mph+).

On factory vehicles w/ slotted towers, a plate that caps the top of the tower is used. It's not that the clamping force will be weakened, it's the idea of a 8mm bolt is threaded on about a 1/2" onto a nut that retains the alignment of over 800lbs of dead weight, along with inertia and everything else kickin its ****. Sure, it may not come loose, but why even step into that boundary? A washer should work, but i'm thinking about building a tower brace so not only will it "plate" off the slots but i can use it to alter my camber by tightening/loosening.