Front suspension adjustments questions

lrsudog

Registered User
So I have just replaced all the front bushings with Urethane, and I am curious as to how the suspension geometry is adjusted.

I can see that the camber is set by the cam washers at the frame end of the LCA, and the Toe in/out by the tie rods, but do they adjust the caster just by the front strut rod or?

Just want to get it somewhat right for the short trip to the alignment shop.
 
You're correct about the camber and toe-in. The caster is set by the strut rod which runs from the outside of the lower control arm to the front frame. Generally the caster won't be affected by most of the work you do on the suspension. Most of the the time, you just mark what the current positions are with a piece of chalk on the threads or some fixed part of the frame and reassemble it with those lined up again.

I replaced my lower control arms last summer and had to try a few times to get the camber somewhat close. Just the slighest change on it threw the toe-in wayyyyyy off. So, I got it to basically where the car tracked straight, but the steering wheel was cocked sideways about 1/16 of a turn. I didn't care much because the tires needed replacing anyway.

I had it professionally aligned yesterday when I bought new tires and from the print out they gave me, I was off by quite a bit.
If your trip to the shop is short, I wouldn't worry as long as its not pulling very much to one side or the other.
 
Excellent. I figured that caster was pretty much "Set & forget" by the factory, since the strut rod end nuts had the strongest thread lock I've ever encountered on them when I pulled them off.

I only have to go a block or so for the allignment, so I figure I should be okay.
 
Back
Top