Steering specs for 56 ford?

[wayne petty]

O.k. I got it set to the specs suggested by Wayne. Steering is much better, crisper and tracks better. But it still wanders a little bit on rough roads.


curious...     can you describe the Rough roads...

are these roads with RUTS where trucks and cars with studded tires have chewed away the pavement in shallow depressions...  if your suspension width does not match these... its going to cause darting to the side slightly as you ride down on one side and up on the other..

also how good is your long range eye sight???

can you have a friend drive your car toward you and away from you while you sight along the tires while its rolling  to see if the toe in is perfect...  this requires the driver to aim the car at a point and NOT turn the wheel. while you are shifting position to see the tire toe in..   perhaps this is a skill that i have... i can see a soft tire on a car going by in seconds..  i am not talking about flat.. i am talking down to 20 pounds from 32..

you might also be able to have a friend drive it.. and you follow along in another car.. so you can see the tire toe in vs toe out while in motion..

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now.. if you are talking about Rough roads.. where the suspension is moving up and down more than an inch or so..

and the car darts to the side .. when the suspension is compressed.. this could be a Bump Steer issue..

this is tons of ADVANCES automotive suspension geometry .. way beyond anything that i know..

what bump steer is...    at normal ride height.. the toe in is straight ahead...  when the suspension is compressed.. or released.. the toe in should NOT change very much at all..

do to swapping suspension components around..  issues can be raised where the suspension flexes and the tie rod ends are either not equal length or  the are at a different  angle from the 9 or 3 o clock position at ride height..

if the suspension is at say.. below the pivot point center. but the tie rod is above it. as the suspension moves through its arc of motion from the bushings..   if the tie rod is not at the same point of its curve..  the tie rod will get longer or shorter in and cause the tires to steer the car in an unintended direction when the suspension goes over a bump..  hence the term Bump steer.. .i realize i have butchered this.. so i will say i am sorry to all the suspension professionals who read this gibberish i have slung out on this page..

[32 Chevy]

Wayne,

Maybe 'wandering' isn't the right word.. On nice flat roads I need to make more steering corrections than expected.

If I hit a pothole or tar strip there's a bit of hop but that's expected in  50 year old designs..

I did  have some minor bump steer issues a while back but traced those to loose bolts in the rear leaf spring shackles. Went thought all the front suspension several times without finding a problem that Wes coming from the back.. I'm reasonably familiar enough with steering geometry to understand the causes of bump steer so don't think that's the cause of the current issue.

[wayne petty]

Maybe 'wandering' isn't the right word.. On nice flat roads I need to make more steering corrections than expected.

do the visual drive behind or stand in front to see if the front wheels are really pointed straight ahead when driving...

you may need more toe in or less...  as the front tires might be fighting each other under the resistance of being rolled along..

i know that there is no slop in your steering..

think of toe in needs as bump steer rotated 90 degrees...

so the drag of the tires being pushed along pushes back on the suspension..  depending on how much this is where to set the toe in so they are straight forward...

just had a thought.. do you have any ratcheting straps.. the 3/4 or 1 inch wide versions like is used to hold motor cycles down???  perhaps while its on the alignment machine..  see if there is a way to grab the back of the spindle with the straps to the frame.. then check the TOE CHANGE when the wheels are pointed forward..  

you might be able to do this at home even..


i have always wanted to create a spring loaded device.. to fit between the front wheels...  up on the spring door stoppers do it can get its legs bent without damage.   i was thinking of something like a TEE square on each end .. pivoted near the top center of the tee...

or some carpenters squares... the big L shaped things... pivoted somehow.. so i can lean them in against the inside of the tires while i am under the car to see the exact toe..


when i was in auto shop a LONG time ago.. the alignment bay had magnetic mount toe gauges with a bar..

i just don't know how the slight offset in some suspensions was handled...

mostly i use a tape measure hooked carefully over the blocks in the tread.. or if i dig out my scribe and the pointer from my storage garage....

[32 Chevy]

Your comment about the tires fighting themselves brings to mind a RRT post I called up from years ago.

The discussion was alignment with old school bias ply tires vs modern wide belted tires. Bias ply tires have a lot of squirm so had a lot of toe in to allow the tread to point straight ahead when rolling. If you set low profile modern tires with the same amount of toe in they'd fight themselves so called for less toe in, as low as 1/32 inch. Maybe I should try less toe in? What say you to this concept?

[wayne petty]

toe in like i posted.. might need to be adjusted... do to differences in the suspension .. the tires drag...


i don't know what you are using for steering linkage adjusters.

you might want to use some paint markers.. to mark quadrants on the adjuster sleeves.. so you know.. that you have moved it 1/4 turn or 1/2 turn...  on both sides equally..

so..  1, 2, 3, 4 on the adjuster tubes...  both in the same direction..

you might also want to use a tape measure..   measure 4 inches up...  between the front of the tires... and the same height between the back of the tires...  from the end of the tip of the tape measure.. to read exactly how much is sticking out of the case..  if you can easily read it..   note the exact number..

the calibrated eyeball toe in check is a good way to go...


i the ideal toe in is 0..  ZERO.. when the wheels are in motion.. so the wheels are pointed straight ahead..

i seem to recall a use for old computer paper.. by laying a strip of it across your path on a smooth concrete painted surface... drive across it..    does the paper lay flat.. or does it wrinkle up.. or tear in half...

hollywood spring and axle had an in ground machine in the entrance to the shop.. that as you drove it.. the little spiked saw blades were depressed and shifted.. it showed up as either toe in or toe out.. what a great machine.. must have sold a Lot of wheel alignments right on the spot..