Torsion Bar Height Adjustment

[john108]

1968 Dodge Charger R/T
Torsion Bar changer to Hotchkis 1.1" dia.
Their info states that road Height "unchanged" . Other of their literature says it is lower.
The service manual shows 1-7/8" difference between the indicated 2 measurements.
Can someone please provide a good recommendation?

Also, Looking at Camber and Caster.
Based on current radial tire construction street/highway construction, I have received considerably different settings.
CAMBER: -1.5 deg.
CASTER: +3.0 deg.
TOW IN: 1/8 inch
Please provide what you have your Charger adjusted to.

I have attached the specs from my service manual.

[b5blue]

Look in the how to section of alignment. Set the tire pressure on all 4 tires. Measure from the ground to the bottom of the lower ball joint. Add between 2 1/8 to 1 7/8 to that ball joint number. (I use a chop stick or coffee stirrer cut to length.) Raise or lower till bottom of LCA bushing area touches the stick you made.

[HPP]

The factory numbers are for skinny, bias ply tire. Unless you are using these, I wouldn't recommend staying with them.  Radials will tolerate a wider range of settings without wearing unusually.  How far you go with these depends on power or manual steering, how wide are your tires, and how do you drive it. Additionally, different height tires front to rear, can also be a consideration.

So, on the three most common adjustments, here are the theories:

Ride height - set it where you like the look of the car with the tires you intend to use. Factory numbers typically result in a level to slightly nose high appearance. Additionally, tire height will also change this if you are not running all four tires of the exact same height. If your rears are taller, you can adjust the front up slightly.

Caster - higher positive numbers here increase steering effort, increase return to center characteristics, increase high speed stability, increase dynamic camber changes during body roll. Negative figures offset all of these and are usually preferred for manual steering.

Camber - higher negative numbers allow great tread face to ground contact during body roll.  The softer your springs, the more body roll you have, and the more aggressively you drive, the  more negative camber you should have. Negative camber, IMO, isn't even a consdieration unless you are totally stock everything with bias ply tires.

Toe - typically want negative (in) measurements here. Slight toe in allows road friction to push the tire into toe out condition so the slight toe in means tires end up in a zero position thus creating less wear and resistance. Too  much toe in makes a car feel unstable going into a turn while too much toe out will make it feel darty and overly sensitive. The more worn your suspension, the more toe in you might need.

So with a a typical 235/60 radial, stock to slightly improved t-bar diameter suspension and power steering for a car used as a moderate weekend cruiser, I'd recommend 3-5* positive caster, 0-1* negative camber, and 1/16" or around negative .5* toe.

[john108]

Thank You for the education.
I took it in to get the alignment. 
He wasn't able to achieve what I gave him. 
Lack of experience even though all new parts.
I am adding a new post on the idler arm.