Street/strip alignment recommendations?....

[cjshaker]

I've never had my alignment done before. Studying on how caster, camber and toe affect driving, I just eyeballed/guestimated and adjusted till it felt right. I've never trusted handing my keys over to anybody after seeing how most guys "test drive" customer cars   But with the MT Sportsmans up front I figured I better get it done this time so I worked out a deal with a local mechanic that I know (but I didn't say 'trust') where he will let ME drive it in and do the work while he just supervises and helps me. He's a decent guy but has bragged to me how he's "romped on" a few customers performance cars. Obviously he's not getting my keys...lol  I'm not an alignment specialist by any means and I've never used the machines to do it.

So with the new CalTrac suspension in place, the small block springs up front with 90/10s and adjustables in the rear, and planning on mostly street playing with a few ventures to the track mixed in, what kind of specs do you guys recommend and run? I've seen measurements all over the place on the net!

Generally toe-in seems to be around 1/8"-3/16", but caster and camber numbers are all over the place. Obviously I need some positive caster for stability, but how much? And camber greatly affects toe-in when it changes, so I need a happy medium for some street driving but need the stability of some toe-out when the front end rises. So I would appreciate your guys thoughts on this.

Edit; Oh yeah, it's a '69 Mustang with an all iron engine except for the intake.

[machoneman]

Go here:  http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/mump-1212-mustang-front-end-alignment/

But, if you need a drag race set-up, go 1/16 toe max., 3-4 degrees caster and set camber as close to zero as possible for minimal scrub. Opinions may vary here....LOL!   

Per guru Wayne Scaraba:
 
Because every car in (drag race) competition will be different, use the following basic guidelines for wheel alignment.

•Camber should be set at zero; try to keep the front wheels straight up and down
•Toe-in should be zero; toe-in change should be kept to an absolute minimum; be positive that the car does not exhibit any toe-out while the nose is in the air
•Caster should be between three degrees and six degrees
•Bump steer must be eliminated at all costs

[cjshaker]

Bob, your numbers are where I'm leaning. Almost every car I've driven has been void of power steering, so I'm used to having to muscle them around tighter corners. And with skinny tires up front it will be comparatively easy to steer even with the extra caster. Thanks for the advice and link.

[jayb]

For  Drag Week in 2005 I set my Mach 1 at 1/8" toe in, 1/2 degree negative camber (so that when the front end picked up it was zero), and 5 degrees caster.  Seemed to work fine that way.

[cjshaker]

For  Drag Week in 2005 I set my Mach 1 at 1/8" toe in, 1/2 degree negative camber (so that when the front end picked up it was zero), and 5 degrees caster.  Seemed to work fine that way.

Jay, with the long/short arm style of the Mustangs design, doesn't it pull the top of the tire in as the front rises? All the launch pictures I've seen show the top pulled way in. Wouldn't that mean you would want some slight positive camber (top out) instead of negative to reach zero as it rises?

[My427stang]

Call me crazy but I don't see where you'd care if the camber flattened the contact at WOT.  If the wheels are straight, let them ride on the inside, if something goes crazy, you'll be letting off the gas anyway when you need to traction up front

[cjshaker]

Call me crazy but I don't see where you'd care if the camber flattened the contact at WOT.  If the wheels are straight, let them ride on the inside, if something goes crazy, you'll be letting off the gas anyway when you need to traction up front

Ross, we're all a little crazy, but that's beside the point

And I think you're right. The Sportsmans are a pretty rounded tire, there is no "flat" contact point. So if it rides on the inside a little I don't think it's going to matter as long as it's not pulling the toe out.

[jayb]

For  Drag Week in 2005 I set my Mach 1 at 1/8" toe in, 1/2 degree negative camber (so that when the front end picked up it was zero), and 5 degrees caster.  Seemed to work fine that way.

Jay, with the long/short arm style of the Mustangs design, doesn't it pull the top of the tire in as the front rises? All the launch pictures I've seen show the top pulled way in. Wouldn't that mean you would want some slight positive camber (top out) instead of negative to reach zero as it rises?

Doug, I think you are right about that; apparently I have mis-remembered that spec.  Whatever it was, we set it so that with the front end raised up 3-4 inches the camber was zero.  I also think that Ross is correct, though, that it may not be an issue one way or the other.  The thing we worked on most when we were aligning it was caster; I wanted as much caster as possible.