Below are two photos of the front control arm mounts on the front crossmember of the 57 Tbird. They are different and I am trying to determine if there are parts missing or mismatched causing alignment problems. I am not sure what to make of the differences as they were this way when I purchased the car 10 plus years ago. Any explanation on the assembly, adjustments, torque specs, etc. would be a great help. Thanks.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

I'm no expert but they look ok to me. Little crack in the one rubber but usually when the bushing wear out the rubber gets distorted. They could have enlarged the hole that the bar bolts through. What kind of problems are you seeing? Chuck


Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

I am fighting finding a decent alignment. I set it and then road test and it changes afterward. I did the Granada disc brake swap and it seemed fine for awhile. I just installed a set of ball joints (premium set from Rare Parts) today and looking things over before dealing with another alignment. I was wondering if the difference in the bushing and arm on the front lower control arms could cause some kind of shift under a load or something like that. 

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

I think someone posted here, a while back, that the 'bird lower bushings installed differently than the pass car. I didn't quite follow the explanation and didn't find it in search. Might be related. Just out of curiosity, what settings do you start with, and what do they shift to?

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

I was struggling with this about 4 or 5 months ago. Got frustrated and then decided to finish a 445 stroker build and install on my 65 Galaxie. The Galaxie is done until a new C6 shows up in a few weeks. So I am back at the Tbird. The changing alignment was fairly dramatic back when I parked it. The toe would change enough to cause the tires to scrub around corners and could hear the front tires squeal braking over the paint stripes at a stop sign. Camber would go out of whack also. Wore myself out today doing the ball joints and set a quick toe by eyeball and road tested thinking I might get lucky..Ha! I will set up the alignment tomorrow to get a baseline and then road test again to see what happens. I am a former Ford wrench and did a few years of alignments way back then so I understand the fundamentals. I have toe-in gauge and a Fasttrack camber/caster gauge. Not the most high tech digital stuff but I can get it pretty damn close. 

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

I couldn't let it go tonight so after dinner I checked the alignment. I found the toe to be toed out about 3/4" or more and caster/camber was:

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Mark, PM sent.
Mike

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

the inner part of the assembly is missing in the upper picture.  As near as I can tell from my
Mark, the difference that I see is that the cylindrical sleeve over inner part of the assembly is missing in the upper picture.  As near as I can tell these sleeves are to keep crud out and should not contribute to any alignment issues.  But I could stand corrected - It wouldn't be the first time!I struggled with the installation with new bushings on my car as there was a difference in the way the bushings were assembled on my car and the way the manual said they should be assembled.  The manual said that the front bushing is pressed in from the outside of the arm for cars and from the inside for Thunderbirds.  Another member later posted (referencing Service letter P235) that the '55 manual was in error as it referred to a type of bushing that was never released by Ford.  All front  bushings are pressed in from inside.  I would guess that this carried over to 1957.


Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

MARK, you are correct, that sleeve is there as you say, has nothing to do with alignment, etc, one is missing thats all.


  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Thanks for clearing up the differences in the photos of the front control arms. That has been bugging me for years and never found information explaining it. That said after road testing today I still have some "bump steer-like" effects when hitting a bump at freeway speeds as it wants to turn from the straight ahead course. After reading some articles on the web, I think getting more significant caster will help. Maybe up to 4 degrees. Miker sent me a pm about possibly making some modifications to get more caster without throwing the camber out of range, not sure how this is done.  Any other advice on getting the caster I need will be appreciated.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto