Caster adjustment

[J-440]

 Trying to dial in my front suspension and need some caster adjustment tips.  I do have an aftermarket suspension kit but I'm still using the stock upper caster adjustment bolts(?).  Looking at the car from the front, the driver side hex head is at the 2 o'clock position while the passenger side is around the 10 o'clock position.  I know there's 4 bolts total but I need to get a baseline first. 
  My alignment shop showed my suspension is all jacked up.  Was needing to know how many turns of the hex heads are needed to straighten the wheels up.  I'll worry about toe and camber later as those are easier to figure out.  Thanks again.

[Kern Dog]

If I understand you right, you still have stock type upper control arm eccentrics? If so, the baseline settings I use: Adjust the front cam to allow the LCA stick out & away from the engine as far as it allows. Adjust the rear the opposite, get it to sit as close to the engine as it will go. Good Luck.

[J-440]

  I'm just wondering if a 1/4 turn is equal to some amount of degree movement?  Would a plumb bob help also?

[HPP]

The build quality of our cars is too far out of wack to consistently say a 1/4 turn of the eccentric is equal to any repeatable degree portion.
Caster and camber are interdependant with a mopar, as is rear end rake. More the rake, the less caster is possible.

In any case, you want to do what kern dog suggest, position rear eccentrics closest to the engine, front eccentrics furthest from the engine. This create max caster, which with stock arms and bushings, is probably on 2-4*. Then using your plumb bob or angle app in a phone, turn the front eccentric in to create -.5 to-1 degree camber. Lock em down, your done. Then set toe. Don't change your ride height (front or rear) after this as it changes everything.

[Highbanked Hauler]

Trying to dial in my front suspension and need some caster adjustment tips.  I do have an aftermarket suspension kit but I'm still using the stock upper caster adjustment bolts(?).  Looking at the car from the front, the driver side hex head is at the 2 o'clock position while the passenger side is around the 10 o'clock position.  I know there's 4 bolts total but I need to get a baseline first. 
  My alignment shop showed my suspension is all jacked up.  Was needing to know how many turns of the hex heads are needed to straighten the wheels up.  I'll worry about toe and camber later as those are easier to figure out.  Thanks again.

    First, what do you have for aftermarket suspension and what do you have for an upper control arm ? Caster in these cars was minimal at best so they could be turned with manual steering. My 69 has a max of 1.2 caster on the left and .75 on the right.  I have a 2 ft. carpenters level for checking camber as you can take it from side to side for comparison with no setup.  As HPP said caster and camber are interdependent and you adjust one the other will move also. Unless I missed something your stock upper control arm bolts shouldn't make a difference in the amount of adjustment which is set by the length of slots in top of the frame.

[J-440]

My upper a arms are adjustable tubulars. Just need to know how to adjust caster. Still figuring this stuff out. Appreciate the help.

[Highbanked Hauler]

My upper a arms are adjustable tubulars. Just need to know how to adjust caster. Still figuring this stuff out. Appreciate the help.

   Your golden then as you have all kinds of adjustment and whoever does your alignment will have to spend more time on it. As K. D. said bring the front adjuster out and the rear one in but you will have to adjust both to get camber.  I have a set of non adjustable uppers from Firm Feel and dropped spindles and I got 2.5 caster and the best camber I can get is -1.5 which doesn't work for street driving.

[J-440]

 Ok since caster on these cars is not that great I shouldn't worry too much? Also, the lower LCA's are adjustable as well. Should the thread count from the rod ends be equal for the uppers as well?

[HPP]

Who's upper arms do you have, as that makes a difference as well.  If they have rod ends, you have almost unlimited settings, but you will want to at least rough them in as close to ideal as possible, or you will spend a lot of time adjustment them on the alignment rack where you may be paying by the hour. The same idea applies, rears in close to the engine, fronts out further. Do they still mount in the eccentrics or do they have straight bolts?

If your tubular arms have bushings, they likely have an extra 2-3* of positive caster built into them and you still need to fine tune them with the stock eccentrics.

I've not seen adjustable lowers except for ride height and all stock lower arms already have this capability. You also can space the lower ball joint mounting bolts to create more negative camber.

[J-440]

 I've got the complete Magnumforce Racing front suspension. Gonna give them a call and see what specs they use on one of their cars. Sucks because to adjust those rod ends, you have to remove the upper and lower a arms.
One more thing. What's the maximum amount of threads that can be exposed without losing some strength or rod end breakage?

[HPP]

I would have suspected they gave you a starting point with the kit. In any case, definetely contact them about where to begin and where to go.

[J-440]

 Ok I got my specs from magnumforce. All 4 cam bolts need to start off in the 12:00 position. I'm trying to visualize how turning each bolt will move the caster forward and backward.

[HPP]

Rotating the eccentric pulls the arm mounting points in or out a few degrees.  If the largest part of the eccentric washer is out towards eeh fender, the mount has been pushed towards the center line of the car or vice-versa.

For positive caster you are trying to move the upper ball joint towards the rear of the car. So front upper a arm mounts needs to move out towards the fender, rear mounts needs to move in towards engine. This applies to you rod ends as well.

For thread count, I'd recommend having as much threaded material into the arm as the rod end is wide. 1/4" wide threads, minimum of 1/4" threaded into the arm, but more is always better in this case. I'd run the rear rod end all the way into the arm and then thread the front one out to get caster, then use the eccentrics to get camber, but that's just IMO.

[J-440]

 Sorry for the late thanks...Thanks!!