alignment problem

[Aussi440]

Guys, I'm having trouble getting my 68 charger aligned.  I've got 225/70 15 all around and I set the wheel opening at the top of the front tire for ride height.  It drives terrible, pulls left and wears the tires.  The guys at MR Tire are telling me there is no more adjustment for caster, and they can't get it right b/c somebody switched it from drum to disc drakes and messed up the geometry, they tell me I need these double adjustable tubular A Arms from Magnum Force Racing to be able to adjust it,  here's the specs it is set at  camber left -.61, caster left -6.63, toe left .06, camber right .86, caster right -1.03, toe right .06, cross camber -1.48, cross caster, -5.60, total toe .12

I need some guidance, I don't want to spend $400 for these a arms if it can be aligned without them.  Do any of you know a good alignment shop in the Rockville/Gaithersburg, Maryland, area?  Or can you give me some ideas on what to do or if they are pulling my leg.

[mopar0166]

Cant help you with a shop, but ive been there done that.  I got mine finally aligned right but i had to find a guy that had done them before.  Meaning some trained in not using a computer.  I have the tublualr A arms becuase i had a control arm fail on me.  they are great and the i have had zero issues with them.  Still there should be no reason why a shop can get it close, i know te tubular controls will help you get a better alignment but they arent required.

[HPP]

I've got 225/70 15 all around and I set the wheel opening at the top of the front tire for ride height. 

The trade off that is made for putting a mopar down low is you loose chassis adjustment, however, 225/70 is 27" tall, so you haven't dropped the car to the weeds yet and there should still have some adjustment left to get things fixed.

It drives terrible, pulls left and wears the tires.  The guys at MR Tire are telling me there is no more adjustment for caster, and they can't get it right b/c somebody switched it from drum to disc drakes and messed up the geometry, 

They may be out of adjustment (somehow I doubt it) but the geometry being out of whack because it has disc brakes is Baloney. Geometry is identical between drum and disc spindles, the exception being if the later style FJM body spindles are used, but they still don't impact the alignment, only the dynamic geometric changes. With the large amount of cross caster you have quoted below, I'm not suprised it pulls left. WTH were they thinking.

they tell me I need these double adjustable tubular A Arms from Magnum Force Racing to be able to adjust it,  here's the specs it is set at  camber left -.61, caster left -6.63, toe left .06, camber right .86, caster right -1.03, toe right .06, cross camber -1.48, cross caster, -5.60, total toe .12

Those arms are one way to gain additional adjustment. Of course, most aftermarket tubular arms are designed to increase caster naturally, so even less expensive arms will work, but expensive is a relative term in the mopar world. Personally, I wouldn't pay for than $150 for tubular arms, but thats just me. Another less expensive way to achieve this is to swap out the centric upper control arm bushings for the offset Moog units. Two sets of these will run around $80 US. But, before you jump on that, tell them to throw away the factory spec sheet. It was design for skinny bias ply tires and you're not doing yourself any favors using those specs. Ask them to get as much POSITIVE caster as possible up to 5 degrees. My guess is they will get around 3*, maybe more if you're lucky. Once they have that, put camber at zero to negative .5 degrees. Mopars trade caster for camber so going high on one compromises the other. Their toe set up was okay at .12, so tell them to leave it there. Don't let them talk you into any cross caster crap because of road crowns. These are performance cars, not granny wagons.

If they can acheive that, it will transform the feel of the car, stop wearing out tires, and be a pleasure to drive while handling better than stock.



Not sure where they were going on the specs. They're kinda all over the place.

[charger Downunder]

Wasnt there a washer or something you could put behind the nuckle.\
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=6154471&an=0&page=7

What about offset upper control arm bushings.

[Aussi440]

Thanks guys, the shop told me they are out of caster adjustment and that's why they have it so negative.  If I tell them to adjust the caster as far positive as possible 3-5 degrees and then bring the camber to 0, should they be able to do that?  Is there any reason why they wouldn't be able to?

[Chryco Psycho]

they should be able to get 2.5 * of caster & still get the camber close to 0 but it depends on the range of the adjustment , if something is bend or at the edge of the allowable range when they welded the car together it may not be possible without offset bushings

[RallyeMike]

Good advice by HPP.

The best caster they can get is -6 on one side? If true, I would be concerned about something bent.

[heal0048]

Good advice by HPP.

The best caster they can get is -6 on one side? If true, I would be concerned about something bent.

I agree.  I just replaced all my joints and bushings up front and have the Moog cam bolts in the upper control arms.  When I aligned it, I don't recall having more than 3-4 degrees of caster adjustment available...  Best I could get was 3/4 positive with 1/2 degree of camber.

[Stretch]

I agree with HHP 100%. Who ever is doing the alignment at that shop doesn't know what he is doing. This is what I do for a living and the specs HHP gave you are spot on.