Wheel Camber - Non Rh

[Joel]

Hi Chaps,

 

I need some kind of engineering solution to sort out the camber problem on the front wheels of my Dad's vintage Badsworth.

It basically uses the standard Sierra setup, complete with track control arms, anti-roll bar etc.

 

The wheels currently point out a lot at the top (not sure if that's positive or negative camber ), and unfortunately there's no way of adjusting it. The wheels do straighten closer to vertical as more weight is added to the chassis, but all major components are now in, so that's not going to change significantly.

The kit manufacturers solution is to shorten the shock absorber spring, but I've already cut about 3 inches off, and don't want to further compromise suspension travel.

The top mount of the shock is fixed, and there's no room to move it inward, which would otherwise produce the desired effect.

 

So come on boffins. I need a solution that firstly gets the wheel upright, and secondly give me a degree of adjustability.

 

Cheers

[Guest Ian & Carole]

Joel

 

Whats the ground clerance like ?

 

Your aim is to get the Track Control Arm parallel to the ground.

 

If you look at the steering arm, this sould also come out of the steering rack, and run parallel to the ground.

 

The way yours is at the moment there is no allowance for suspension travel at all on rebound and you are running the risk of pulling the track rod end ball joint to bits or even worse the ball joint in the rack its self.

 

Not a cure I realise but help with what you need to aim for.

 

HTHs

 

Ian J

[Guest chris brown]

If the car is complete (at full weight) then it I would think much lighter springs are required as the strut at the moment looks to be on full extension and as Ian says the track control arm and track rod should be parallel to the ground.

As for adjusting the camber. it is set by the top mounting position of the strut and should once you have got the ride height correct give you around 1 degree of negative (that is top of tyre closer to centre of car than bottom.

[Guest Paul Kirby]

This does not help, but to identify camber positive or negative; Negative is "knock kneed" i.e. leans in at the top

[Joel]

Thanks everyone

 

It does seem that the strut is at near full extension, there's no way of moving the top mount of the strut, and there's no more significant weight to go on the car, so I guess softer springs are the way to go. At least there's no issue with ground clearance - I can crawl under there without jacking it up at the moment!

 

Anyone know what the rating was on standard front Sierra springs, and where to get softer ones?

[Longboarder]

Can I suggest removing the front springs from the struts, putting the chassis of the car on blocks adjusted so that it is supported at its ride height and with wheels back on. You should then see how the camber looks with the bottom 'wishbone' close to horizontal. The steering arm will mirror the bottom 'wishbone' angle and camber should be about right. If this is OK then you can measure, spring pan to pan, and get the compressed length of the spring at normal ride height. Remember the new spring is going to be compressed to this length by the unsprung cornerweight of the car. A Mac strut compresses pretty much in a linear fashion. I would guess at about 100lb/in being a starting point for the new springs.

 

The ex sierra springs will be too hard and too long and are destined for the bin in any case. I would cut them now to about ¹/₂" longer than the measured compressed spring length, refit them and settle the car on its suspension, possibly adding some spacers if needed to correct ride height. I doubt they will compress by more than ¹/₂" with the weight of the car on them and the car will be mobile and look right although the suspension will be almost solid.

 

Nigel