I built the front suspension about a year ago, had it aligned to the shelby drop spec's on the daze cars website, which proved a little difficult because the camber really didnt want to be set to 0. The closest we got it was around -1* on both sides with the camber locking plates.

Yesterday I had it re-aligned because I could totally see that the car was sitting knee knocked with way to much camber and it had been feeling really floaty and skiddish on the road. Every bump or ridge in the road felt horrible and would throw the car around alot. Plus I knew that after a year of driving the new bushings were probably starting to wear and had changed up the alignment.

Well it did. Here are my specs from alignment

Camber -1.6 left -1.5 right
caster 2.2 left 2.4 right before was .4 left and -.9right yuck
Toe .2* left .21 right before was -.37 on both sides

Cross caber is -.1
cross caster -.2*
total toe is .41*

So hopefully that all makes sense. The problem I have and have had for a while is that when I turn full right my left front tire scrubs the inside of the bottom of the valance. You can visibly see that the wheel is foward in the wheel well but it seems that way on both sides. And another thing is that it took two different type locking camber plates to get the same measurement on both sides.

PO must have gotten hit at some point and threw everything off. Here are a couple of pics.

 

So the question is: Is the negative camber going to cause any problems other than me going through tires quicker than normal? And has anyone else had problems with the wheel rubbing with the 245-45 front tire?

I forgot to add that I cut a half coil off the front springs plus the shelby drop to get this ride height.

Ive thought about taking a cut off wheel and maybe a dolly and hammer to the inner valance to give it a little more room. not too sure yet.

But the car does drive straight and feels a lot more solid on the road after the alignment.

 

That extra camber is going to affect your tire wear a little. Factory specs are 0 +/-1 degree with 1/2 degree split max. Daze's specs are even tighter. The tire rub may be induced by the caster setting since it draws the lower part of the wheel forward or reverse to get the angle.

 

First of all I have never looked at a 69 front end, so I may be wrong.... but, if it was my car I think I might look into using a shim or two on the front mount on the UPPER control arms... Yea I know, your not supposed to use shims here on this year Mustang, but I know it has BEEN done whether it is strictly "right" or not.

I think this might take care of your caster, camber, and wheel fit in one fell swoop.

I would want to see this with my eyes to make sure it was safe, but just off the top of my head, I think it would be safe enough. But of course you will have to make the call.

You could have the frame pulled also, but I am more inclined to go with the shims....

 

Camber in the -1.5° neighborhood is pretty aggressive for most street use. But it is do-able, however, though you have to drive the corners more enthusiastically than most other drivers that you share the road with. It takes harder cornering to put much wear on the outside shoulders, which is a good thing on the road course or autocross layout but more difficult to achieve in the usual street setting.

I'm with JMD about shimming the upper arms. In order to get nearly 1.5° more positive caster than OE preferred, the lower balljoints would have been pulled forward quite a bit. Pushing the upper balljoints rearward by shimming their front attachments would let you dial out an equal amount of lower balljoint position without sacrificing caster, while simultaneously backing a little out of that negative camber.


Norm

 

Sounds like an idea. I see how shimming the front of the upper A arm would bring it all back a little and push the top of the wheel outwards helping out the camber too. Ill look into the shims. I just dont want to pay for the alignment again.

 

is shimming the front upper A not standard procedure for sorting out the alignment? in my car (ya.... it's a 65) I have to use the shims (more/less on front and rear at upper A) for camber. and shim only one side (front or back) for caster ... or is there a different way?

 

Kalli, the camber on the 69-70 is set through an eccentric at the lower a arm. Loosen the bolt and turn how the arm sits in the mounting hole. The caster is set using the strut rod. It seems that the shims would give me more adjustment.

 

The pictures make it look like the wheel center is forward of the wheel opening center, why is that?

 

I agree with addition of shims or even washers to the tower side of the uca's to offset the negative camber as well. If you're lucky, you may be able to gain some caster change out of it as well. Unfortunately, there's no way to do this without putting it back on a alignment rack or similar fixture.
A late thought I've had:How sure are you that the LCA bushings haven't deformed and shifted (we used to see this back in the day quite a bit, even after only 1 year of service)