Another Caster/Camber Question

[70 Steed]

I have just spent the last hour reading all of the alignment threads but still have a question. I have a '70 that has a Dana 44 swapped in by the PO.

I just got the alignment printout. The camber is .5 degrees on left and 1.6 degrees on the right. The alignment printout says the range should be 1-2 degrees. So I was thinking the right is ok and the left needed a shim to bring it closer to 1.6. But then someone posted that they like .5 degrees so is the left ok and the right needs to be brought closer to .5?

The printout says the caster is 1.0 degrees on both the left and right. I know I need closer to 4 degrees. I have a 2 1/2 lift. The WH catalog says for that lift I need a 4 degree C bushing. However DirtDonk recommends 7 degree bushings for all lifts. I don't know what degree C bushings I have in there now. Is there anyway to tell?

 

[Rustytruck]

If you have powersteering get the 7 degree if your manual steering get the 4 degree this is what I would do. With your short lift you shouldn't have any drive shaft issues. You will not see a 7 degree caster increase because your truck is lifted. As for your camber settings the 1.6 degree side may be loose wheel bearings or extra wear on the ball joints due to parking along the curb.

 

[70 Steed]

Yes, I have power steering.

 

[major]

I just had a discussion with a shop about my alignment. They had my Bronco for a few days and then told me they couldn't align it.

I have the Stonecrusher Steering setup on a 77. My Bronco has a Duff 3.5" lift, factory PS all new 4 deg bushings and suspension. This shop told me they couldn't align it unless they installed a drop pitman arm. Now I wonder if I need to swap to 7 deg C-bushings as well??

 

[DirtDonk]

I would think that with your '77 major, set up with Stonecrusher steering, you'd want a dropped pitman arm no matter what. Likely as not you would not need the usual trackbar riser or lowering bracket, as your stock upper bracket is huge compared to our older ones and typically lines up just fine with most pitman arms.
There's a discussion about this we had just a few days ago on a '76.

Did the shop at least tell you what the measurements were? It would have been nice to know what your caster readings were at least. By '77, Dana was finally getting their caster-act together, so those 4° bushings should be fine I would think. But it's still nice to know! That way you could swap out to 7° bushings ahead of time.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Steed, I think you're on the right track. Better for tire wear to get the one side down closer to the .5 degree side than the other way 'round.
It's not that they handle lousy with that much camber, but they wear the hell out of the tires! And it's not needed as much as they thought it would be, or as much as it used to be back when tires were different too.

And yes, with your low caster readings, any bushing other than the max is not going to be enough. In fact, you might find that even the 7's don't put you in the sweet spot. But if they can get you close, you'll be a happier camper at least.

The only way to easily tell what bushings you have in there now is if there are any markings left. If there were even any to begin with, most of them get wiped off the planet with the first install. It'd be nice if they put them on the outside or at least on a surface that didn't get plastered when installed.
Hmm, maybe I'll give a little shout out to Daystar and Prothane one of these days? Be a nice change after all these years.

At the very least, maybe we should start etching a number into the inside flange for later reference, when we go to install our own.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

How old is your lift Steed? If it's really old, it's possible that you're running only 2° offset bushings. That'd be sweet if true, because then you'd have 5 more degrees with the installation of 7's.
Even if 4 though (most likely), you'd have 3 more to work with. And +4° total caster ain't too shabby these days.

Unfortunately, if it was done more recently, and the PO was up on his game, you might have 7's already. And that would mean you have some yoke turning in your future!
But we'll think positive for now, and assume you have smaller bushings in there and you can really benefit from the 7's and a ball-joint eccentric on the one side.

Paul

 

[70 Steed]

Thanks for all the info Paul. I don't know how old the lift is, it was done by one of the PO's. Probably eight years minimum. I'll start with ordering up the 7 degree bushings. WH of course. I'm going to be installing disc brakes soon and will put the ball joint eccentric at that time.