All new articulations underneath, cant align because of frame rail?

compubert

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I am having a helluva time getting my alignment done... 2nd try in the am... guy was retired and they called him back as primary alignment guys out with a broken foot... ugh. 55 mph and the tires were screaming on my way to get new ones... will have to wait now. . .

Well.. hopefully the rest of you guys and gals wont ever see this. The alignment guy says my toe in wont stay because my frame rails are eaten away. He didn't follow spec, and has it toed in pretty deep. Soon as forward motion starts because of camber/toe they pull in like a plow. At least they gave me back my moneys so I can use it for whatever else and set the toe in the old fashion way. I am banking on 0 degrees giving me fairly neutral steering and tire wear. I got the passenger side back where it was in spec by eye-and the driver side only needed a small tweak to get it in the middle. Fellow said "I never go by the factory spec, been doing this too long to make that mistake" so that is when I decided to cut my losses and take the refund.. . .. :)
 

compubert

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Here is the final result from yesterday. He didn't bother putting the hats back on as he felt he was correct yesterday....

IMG.jpg
 

compubert

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BTW if any of you folks out there have dealt with this recently please feel free to chime in, all experience welcome. I used to do this stuff about a thousand yrs ago... I know some of you got new bushings etc, if you have specs for my 76 Aspen wgn with sagged rear springs.. I am all ears.
 

compubert

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Driver side sub-frame is basically not there anymore, rest of the suspension is fine. But the steering gear is all attached to the kframe and the toe in should not be "moving around" as the fellow said. He confirmed that as well. . . said in all his years never seen anyone align one that close without a rack too. The upper lower ball joints, bushings, tie rod ends, idler arm, and thanks to F body deconstructor Jim so is the anti-sway bar links - all new and good. I had the toe in set at zero, and it pulled to the right but when I rolled in to the shop it wasn't screaming then. He basically only had to move the driver side a smidgen to get it in the green, then adjusted the toe in by eye. Wasn't measuring on the machine at that point. . . after the alignment the tires WERE screaming at 55.
 

compubert

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I've been meaning to weld some flat stock in there to keep it stable, got a big stick welder, would prefer wire welder instead and still need the metal. I don't go woods riding anymore so not afraid of ripping the nose off on my 1.1 mile commute, but he couldn't make anything move under the car by yanking, or shaking it. I asked about out of square but the machine would have caught that according to the fellow. He didn't quite say he hated Chrysler, but alluded to the fact they were not easy to align several times - with eye roll...
 

M_Body_Coupe

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So here are the BEFORE & AFTER alignment metrics for my '80 coupe...keep in mind, the BEFORE stuff is really a DIY garage stuff, just visually and tape measure type check...the AFTER on the other hand is what the shop felt was going to work best with this car...LOL...they did bring out the "old geezer" for that job...and he enjoyed doing the car and basically "shooting the shit"...part-owner of the shop, I felt comfortable having done my alignment there for the daily drivers...result is: car handling has literally nothing to complain about...handles great (as far as M-bodies do), all new suspension pieces, poly bushings, KONI adjustable shocks, big sway bars, etc, etc..

BEFORE
alignment_start_metrics.jpg


AFTER
alignment_finish_metrics.jpg
 

compubert

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So here are the BEFORE & AFTER alignment metrics for my '80 coupe...keep in mind, the BEFORE stuff is really a DIY garage stuff, just visually and tape measure type check...the AFTER on the other hand is what the shop felt was going to work best with this car...LOL...they did bring out the "old geezer" for that job...and he enjoyed doing the car and basically "shooting the shit"...part-owner of the shop, I felt comfortable having done my alignment there for the daily drivers...result is: car handling has literally nothing to complain about...handles great (as far as M-bodies do), all new suspension pieces, poly bushings, KONI adjustable shocks, big sway bars, etc, etc..

BEFORE
alignment_start_metrics.jpg


AFTER
alignment_finish_metrics.jpg
Thank you sir... much appreciated..!
 
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