fellas i could use some alignment help

Discussion in 'General Maverick/Comet' started by whitey68, Mar 28, 2011.

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  1. whitey68

    whitey68 Member

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    71 comet gt 65xxx orig miles .. 69 mercury marquis 2dr hard top land yaught, 62xxx orig 2 owner 429 4bbl 2000 heritage softail
    im taking the 71 in for an alignment, i have done the search and read till my eyes were bleeding, what alighment specs should i have the shop use??? 67 shelby?? 71 comet gt?? 47 whipit?? :huh: can you please help a brother out:hmmm:
    jeff
     
    whitey68, Mar 28, 2011
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  2. 71gold

    71gold Frank Cooper Supporting Member

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    first i would suggest taking it to a shop that can align these old cars. check with some of the Mustang crowd and see where they take their older Stangs to...:Handshake
     
    71gold, Mar 28, 2011
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  3. indyman13

    indyman13 Member

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    My car has original power steering and I found out the car needed to be running to align it. Pressurizing the slave cylinder takes the slack out.
     
    indyman13, Mar 28, 2011
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  4. mjm0395

    mjm0395 Member

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    47 whipit? whip it good!
     
    mjm0395, Mar 29, 2011
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  5. darren

    darren Member

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    We ended up at 1.1 degrees caster on my 72 manual steer with radial tires. Stock camber and toe settings. Drives a ton better with a bit of caster in it. Return to center is good, road feel improved and parking lot maneuvers easily handled. My wife can park it no problems.

    I could probably go up a tad more on caster but it drives good enough for me. Huge difference over stock specs. Dont forget stock specs are with the old bias ply tires.
     
    darren, Mar 29, 2011
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  6. whitey68

    whitey68 Member

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    mine has p/s and im pretty sure its factory, does that matter on these
     
    whitey68, Mar 30, 2011
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  7. Jsarnold

    Jsarnold Senior Member

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    Alignment Settings

    Just got back from getting the '72 Mav 302 w/PS aligned after rebuilding the steering and front suspension. I'm very happy with the results so I'll post the settings for others to consider.

    Caster: LF 2.22*, RF 2.78* (Add'l .5* in RF to compensate for road crown.)

    Camber: LF .38*, RF .34*

    Toe: LF 1/16", RF 1/16", Total: 1/8"

    Before the steering and front suspension rebuild, the car would wander and it took constant corrections to keep it in the lane. After rebuild and alignment, it follows the road with small, infrequent corrections. Its like a different car. Much nicer to drive.

    Alignment was done by M&H Tires & Retread in Creedmoor NC. That shop was recommended by the guy that installed my Traction Loc, who was recommend by LILREDTOY.
     
    Jsarnold, Apr 21, 2011
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  8. darren

    darren Member

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    Less Caster for manual steering vs power.

    Specs in above post look good.
     
    darren, Apr 21, 2011
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  9. darren

    darren Member

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    Isnt it a huge difference??
    We kind of get used to the worn out old floaty feeling. Night and day when its all freshened up and decent alignment specs.:thumbs2:
     
    darren, Apr 21, 2011
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  10. Jsarnold

    Jsarnold Senior Member

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    Sure is!! It was better with the new parts in it but alignment was a bigger improvement.
     
    Jsarnold, Apr 21, 2011
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  11. mojo

    mojo "Everett"- Senior Citizen Supporting Member

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    Those specs are in degrees? The " * "sign means a positive setting?
     
    mojo, Apr 21, 2011
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  12. Jsarnold

    Jsarnold Senior Member

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    Yes, degrees. Used "*" because its easier than figuring out how to get a superscript degree sign. All positive numbers.
     
    Jsarnold, Apr 21, 2011
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  13. RASelkirk

    RASelkirk Retired!

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    Hold down the "ALT" key and type 248 and you'll have a ° symbol...
     
    RASelkirk, Apr 22, 2011
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  14. Jsarnold

    Jsarnold Senior Member

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    Yep, I know the trick but too old to remember the number and too lazy to look it up. "*" is easier and a fairly common alternative.(y)
     
    Jsarnold, Apr 22, 2011
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  15. injectedmav

    injectedmav Member

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    Stock, those specs look good. If you're modified, it depends on the mods which specs you'll change.
     
    injectedmav, Apr 22, 2011
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