Front End Alignment Specs?

[DaisyPusher]

I just realized that I replied to my own question so I'm reposting as a new question. I loosened but did not remove the steering arm during the procedure and now it appears that my front left wheel is just a little bit off (or my eyes are playing tricks on me.) I've looked through all the literature I own and cannot find the front end alignment specs and the shop I called doesn't list Sunbeams in their system so I was asked to provide them. I read that stock specs work fine for a V6 so would anyone be gracious enough to share those numbers with me? Any info or modified numbers would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Matt

 

[whiskytangofoxtrot]

1/8th inch toe out. Camber 1/2 a degree negative works well, caster as much as you can get(most likely 4 for 5 degrees)

 

[DaisyPusher]

1/8th inch toe out. Camber 1/2 a degree negative works well, caster as much as you can get(most likely 4 for 5 degrees)

Excellent. Thank you very much! I truly appreciate it

 

[Barry]

I just realized that I replied to my own question so I'm reposting as a new question. I loosened but did not remove the steering arm during the procedure and now it appears that my front left wheel is just a little bit off (or my eyes are playing tricks on me.) I've looked through all the literature I own and cannot find the front end alignment specs and the shop I called doesn't list Sunbeams in their system so I was asked to provide them. I read that stock specs work fine for a V6 so would anyone be gracious enough to share those numbers with me? Any info or modified numbers would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Matt

The alignment values are listed in Section 3, page 21 of WSM 124 (Home / Tech Data / Original Tech Manuals / WSM 124 SI -SIV / General Data).

WSM 124 calls for:

Castor = 3 degrees, 50 minutes +/- 15 minutes (3.83 +/- 0.25 degrees)
Camber = 0 degrees, 30 minutes +/- 15 minutes (0.50 +/- 0.25 degrees)
Toe-in = 1/8"
​

Those values were for an Alpine loaded to the specified ride height (covered in Section 9 of WSM 124) with bias ply tires.

For radial tires, I think the castor should be increased to 4-6 degrees (as WTF noted, that may not be possible) and I would reduce the toe-in to 1/16".

HTH

 

[DaisyPusher]

The alignment values are listed in Section 3, page 21 of WSM 124 (Home / Tech Data / Original Tech Manuals / WSM 124 SI -SIV / General Data).

WSM 124 calls for:

Castor = 3 degrees, 50 minutes +/- 15 minutes (3.83 +/- 0.25 degrees)
Camber = 0 degrees, 30 minutes +/- 15 minutes (0.50 +/- 0.25 degrees)
Toe-in = 1/8"
​

Those values were for an Alpine loaded to the specified ride height (covered in Section 9 of WSM 124) with bias ply tires.

For radial tires, the castor should be increased to 4-6 degrees (as WTF noted, that may not be possible) and I would reduce the toe-in to 1/16".

HTH

Wow that's very thorough. Hopefully things go well because it still drives beautifully but I don't want to risk anything or cause premature wear. Thank you very much!

 

[Barry]

Wow that's very thorough. Hopefully things go well because it still drives beautifully but I don't want to risk anything or cause premature wear. Thank you very much!

For a street car, wheel alignment is basically about tire wear and driver "feel". If your tire wear patterns are OK and you like the feel of the car, I can't see any reason to mess with the alignment settings.

 

[Ken Ellis]

I read an interesting series of tech tips on front ends over at Tigers United, when looking for ball joint info. Interesting string of anecdotal comments, etc., but they were unedited with regard to format, etc. and pretty challenging to read thru. Took some time the other day and edited a few annoyances out (formatting control codes) and will submit to them for possible reposting. (Seems it's a crowdsourced effort.) I'll put a link here when done.

Some dealt with caster adjustments, and others with the pros and cons of increased camber. Including the interesting effect that camber helps a lot on cornering, but eventually impacts braking since you're only using a portion of the front wheel tread when going straight. Balancing act, as all things are.

 

[Barry]

I read an interesting series of tech tips on front ends over at Tigers United, when looking for ball joint info. Interesting string of anecdotal comments, etc., but they were unedited with regard to format, etc. and pretty challenging to read thru. Took some time the other day and edited a few annoyances out (formatting control codes) and will submit to them for possible reposting. (Seems it's a crowdsourced effort.) I'll put a link here when done.

Some dealt with caster adjustments, and others with the pros and cons of increased camber. Including the interesting effect that camber helps a lot on cornering, but eventually impacts braking since you're only using a portion of the front wheel tread when going straight. Balancing act, as all things are.

For "high performance" driving, the solution is close to zero static camber (for good braking), lots of initial negative camber gain during suspension compression (for good cornering), as much roll stiffness as feasible, and lots of anti-dive to prevent front suspension compression / camber gain during hard braking.

Unfortunately, the Alpine front suspension has little (if any) initial negative camber gain, low roll stiffness and little (if any) anti-dive.