Just got back from the alignment shop. The left side (driver) Caster was waaaaaay Negative. After setting the front-end up properly, it goes and goes and goes straight down the road with your hands off the steering wheel. Thanks to all for their input~~~~~~~~~Ron

Still Livin In The 50's!!!  '55 Tudor Customline with a 312ci Merc/4-Speed/Granada Rear.

Not sure about pass. car specs., but factory shop manual alignment/shimming limitations for 55 T-bird required shuffling the washers on lower A-frame bolt to stay within shim specs..

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

OK....Got it!!!! A street rod buddy owns a tire & brake shop with front-end alignment equipment. Now that I have the specs., we are going to play with it one day next week. I'll give you an update as what we end up with to get it to run straight down the road.

Love this forum~~~~~Tough-55

Still Livin In The 50's!!!  '55 Tudor Customline with a 312ci Merc/4-Speed/Granada Rear.

I set my 61 to as much positive caster as possible without binding, end up with about +4 each side, try to get some negative camber but with all the shims stacked on to get positive caster the best i could do is +1camber

the specs i gave you are for manual,i'm sorry if i confused you.when i suggested a little extra caster it was for p/s.you would want as follows [camber left and right 1/4 positive];[caster left 1/2 positive,right 1 positive],[toe 0"].now itf you were to set up for p/s the only difference would be in caster[ left 1 degree,right 1 1/2 degree positive];now this would be the common setting for most areas that have a normal crown in the road;some areas that do not recieve substantial rainfall could be set up equally on both side for caster,but not many areas are dry climates.antway if you have any other questions,feel free to ask

56 Fairlane Post: Would you give me total specs for a manual steering car. I'm sure you did in your original post but I'm alittle dense (senior moments).  Thanks to all~~~~~~Tough55

Still Livin In The 50's!!!  '55 Tudor Customline with a 312ci Merc/4-Speed/Granada Rear.

i,ve always found them at napa parts stores or from my local tire vender.one question is are you running manual or power steering with your radial tires?if manual then you specs should be as close to zero as possible.if you have p/s then you can run a little positive caster.specs should be cam 0 to +1/4 both sides;caster 1/2 to 1 positive allowing 1/2 for crown.and total toe 0.now i would set my caster as i described with 1/2 degree on left or drivers sides and 1 degree on right or passengers side and you slould track just fine.i,ve aligning these cars for 30 years plus and still enjoy setting these cars up,good luck

I found them easily at my local parts store. I think they were on one of the odd parts rotators. Chuck in NH

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've got the suggested spec's for a '56:

Caster- +1/2° to +1-1/2° (preferred +1°)

Camber- +1/4° to +1-1/4° (preferred +3/4°)

Toe In- 1/16 to 1/8 inches

I've heard that you should be adjusting the caster more toward maximum to accomodate radial tires.

The shims don't look like anything special - 1.50 wide by 1.88 tall and shaped like an "H" - the opening slots are 9/16 to fit over the 1/2 inch diameter pivot bar bolts. There are three thicknesses - 22 gauge (.030), 16 gauge (.060) and 10 gauge (.130).  

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Anyone know what the Caster/Camber specs should be on these old Fords with original front-end and Radial Tires? I'm told they were set at negative caster for the old (non Radial) tires. But now should be set to Positive for Radials.

Got to locate someone that knows how to use shims and set the caster/camber. Any suggestions will help..........Thanks~~~~~Tough55

Still Livin In The 50's!!!  '55 Tudor Customline with a 312ci Merc/4-Speed/Granada Rear.