Mark, The orgional settings did not take into account radial tires. If I remember correct the setting should be different for radials. If you HAVE radials I should have asked.

Gary Ryan San Antonio.TX.

As I remember from my alignment classes back in the Stone Age, the only difference for radial tire specs is the toe-in should be about 1/8th toe-in as opposed to straight ahead for the 'vintage" bias ply tires. I have 225/60-15 Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S blackwalls on the Tbird and the 65 Galaxie. Awesome tire. Unfortunately Michelin no longer makes 15 inch tires. I spent much time rounding up a set of four needed for the Tbird a year or so ago. May have been the last ones available.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

I agree with getting as much caster as you can if you are running radials on California freeways.  There is a limit to how much is available with the shims... I don't have my last printout handy, but I think my alignment guy got me almost 2 degrees.  

I believe the spacers are for pressing the bushes in, as I used them for earlier this year. 

Oh and the lower control arm bolts in the chassis was tough to budge, how about yours?

I am using the Ford specs as a starting point being the front suspension is modified and the tire diameter is smaller (26" vs 27"). The rolling diameter is kind of a crapshoot as the difference between the bias ply and radial is a bit mysterious. The lower control arm mounting bolts were tight but not frozen and with some penetrating oil and a large breaker bar they came loose. I made some homemade turning plates using 12" by 12" floor tiles and chassis lube. Works great. I check the alignment after driving a mile or so and jounce the suspension also to make sure it sits normally. If I can get 2 degrees caster and the car is stable at "reasonable" speed (75mph) I will be happy. I used the Granada spindles and Aerostar springs when doing the disc brake swap but it sat far too low for the front tire clearance so now using new stock springs. Sits a little high for my taste but it is a compromise.  

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

So I am working out a plan to shim the upper a-arm to get to or close to 2 degrees caster. The Ford service manual states that the difference between the shim packs ( front and rear) should not exceed 1/8 inch. That's not going to get me there. Is this a hard and fast rule or can it be cheated some?

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

I don't know about the rules, but my car was more than 1/8" different on one side if not both. The problem I ran into was at 1* and 1 1/2* caster, I had as much neg camber as the alignment guy would go. That was with the 225/60-15's on the front. I had that alignment done when I replaced the 205/70-15's. There was an increase in camber, but I don't know how much. The 205's had not shown any unusual wear, so the original setting had to be close.

So I guess the next question is, how much neg camber can you run on a 225/60-15 on a 7" rim?

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

I am wondering what change in camber would result from trying to shim the lower control arm forward at the crossmember front and rear mounting points. 

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

the 1 side has a lock washer,the other side is missing the lock washer,it apears the nut may have run out of thread and not compressing the rubber.alowing movement