Ford Restomod: Front Suspension and Steering Guide. A Restomod has a few key modifications. One of them is the pursuit of better handling, and that makes the front suspension an important focus. This chapter will cover some basics and performance aspects of front suspension alignment, as well as separate components and complete front suspension packages. Getting your car pointed in the right direction is important too, so performance aspects of the steering system are also covered. Front suspension and steering work together to increase performance and drivability, which is why they are matched together in this chapter to help you get your car tuned for your style of driving. This Tech Tip is From the Full Book, HOW TO BUILD FORD RESTOMOD STREET MACHINES. For a comprehensive guide on this entire subject you can visit this link: SHARE THIS ARTICLE: Please feel free to share this article on Facebook, in Forums, or with any Clubs you participate in. You can copy and paste this link to share: http: //diyford. Alignment. There are three main settings of front suspension that affect the performance and drivability of your car: camber, caster, and toe. If your front suspension bushings and steering components are loose, worn, or broken, you should have them replaced before considering an alignment. An alignment performed on a car with worn- out tie- rod ends or deteriorated control- arm bushings is a waste of time and money. The settings will most likely change before the car gets out of the shop. Worn suspension and steering components are also a safety issue, so take care of these things as a matter of course. A worn steering gear won’t affect the alignment between the two front tires, but it will keep the driver from enjoying the benefits of the alignment. The worn gear will cause steering to be sloppy, less responsive, and even dangerous in some cases. This front suspension is a mix of off- the- shelf stock- car racing parts and custom fabricated and machined parts. Suspension analysis software and experience were combined to pull off this feat. Even the frame is completely fabricated. Caster is the forward or rearward tilt of the spindle on this axis as viewed from the side of the car. On most cars with this type of suspension, caster is changed by adjusting the strut rod or moving the upper control arm on its pivots using shims. Subscribe and SAVE, give a gift subscription or get help with an existing subscription by clicking the links below each cover image.From bike racks to heavy 5th wheel trailers, turning your vehicle into the ultimate hauling machine requires the right tools and know-how. If you're looking to beef. C6 Corvette: How to Install Aftermarket Navigation. Navigation receivers keep getting more user-friendly while adding new features. But what's involved with. A strut front suspension without an upper control arm uses an adjustable upper strut mount known as a camber plate to adjust camber and caster. When viewed from the side, if the upper ball joint is behind (toward the back of the car) the lower ball joint, the car has positive caster. Negative caster is when the upper ball joint is ahead of the lower. Caster has a tendency to cause the tires to move vertically a small amount as they are steered right or left from the centered position. This vertical movement acts to push the weight of the car off the ground, while gravity tries to pull it back down. The force of gravity, which is trying to pull the car down, pushes up on the tire. This upward force on the tire causes the spindle to rotate about its axis to the point that the forces on both the right and left spindles find equilibrium. This equilibrium is found when both tires are pointing straight ahead, assuming, of course, that the caster is the same on both sides of the car and there is nothing bent or out of alignment on either side. This section contains adapters that allow you to use your vehicle's factory steering wheel audio controls to control your new aftermarket car stereo. Pioneer DEH-X3800S On a car with upper and lower control arms (as opposed to some strut suspensions that have only a lower control arm), the spindle pivots on the axis. We have the largest selection of Oldsmobile Delta 88 parts and accessories. Lowest Price Guarantee on all products. Welcome to the TVR Trader, the classified ads for the TVR Car Club of North America. Listings in the TVR Trader are free of charge to TVRCCNA members. And by “fully take control,” I mean it lets drivers totally just screw around behind the wheel. According to Audi, drivers can even watch TV. Street Rods by Michael is your source for quality street rod, hotrod, classic truck and muscle car parts and accessories. Both negative and positive caster can induce this self- centering action of the wheels and give the car more stability at higher speeds. Rubber suspension bushings deflect and distort under hard driving conditions. This distortion helps isolate road shock under normal driving conditions. This movement also allows the suspension geometry to change, hampering handling characteristics. Notice how the spindle is tilted and the tire is barely contacting the ground. Urethane or solid suspension bushings transfer road feel to the chassis. Solid suspension bushings also help the suspension keep its intended geometry. Notice how the tire is contacting the ground more evenly for better cornering traction. The top of the illustration shows the front spindle in extreme positive- caster position. The bottom of the illustration shows the front spindle in extreme negative caster. Positive caster is preferred over negative caster. The self- centering effect does not come from caster alone. It can also come from steering axis inclination. This is the same basic principle as caster, but in the front view of the suspension. If the axis of the upper and lower ball joints leans inward at the top, as a lot of cars do, there will again be a force trying to push up on the car. Some cars get this selfcentering effect using only steering axis inclination and zero caster. Camber Camber is the inward or outward tilt of the top of the tire as viewed from the front of the car. Negative camber is when the top of the tire tilts inward, and positive camber is when the top of the tire tilts outward. Positive camber is not desirable for handling, because it makes the outer edge of the tire dig into the pavement. If only the outside edge of the tire is on the ground, it does not produce as much cornering traction as having the entire width of the tire on the ground. With negative camber, when the top of the tire is tilting inward, the entire width of the tire has a better chance to evenly plant on the road surface for optimum traction. As with anything in life, negative camber is only good in moderation. Too much negative camber will have the inside edge of the tire trying to keep your car from sliding with unwanted understeer. Camber can be set on your car with an alignment. Camber- curve is something completely separate from the camber adjustment you get with an alignment (except in the case of a racebred suspension with adjustable controlarm pivot points). The camber- curve is affected by the length of the control arms and the control- arm pivot points. A positive camber- curve actually increases the outward tilt of the top of the tire during suspension articulation, which is completely undesirable and intensifies understeer. A negative camber- curve tilts the top of the tire inward during suspension articulation, which is much more desirable for improved handling around corners. I mention articulation because when your car is steered into the corner, the body leans. When the body leans, the outer front tire articulates upward in the fender opening. An extremely aggressive negative cambercurve can be bad, too. The key to a car that handles well is to keep the largest amount of the tire tread on the road surface, if possible. Negative camber settings help compensate for tire distortion under high lateral loads. This photo shows a front tire exhibiting positive camber; the top of the tire is pushing out. If you took a hard corner in this car, it would have understeer. Only the outside edge of the tire is biting the ground. This front tire is exhibiting slight negative camber. The top of the tire is tilted slightly inward. This car corners well. The entire width of the tire tread is able to get traction on the ground. It’s possible a little more camber would increase cornering performance. Toe Toe is the relationship between two tires on one end of the car as viewed from above. If, when viewed from above, both tires are parallel, there is zero toe. Toe- in is when the front of the tires are closer together than the rear, and toe- out is when the rear of the tires are closer than the front. Now that you know what zero toe, toe- in, and toe- out are, you need to know how the settings affect your car. If you aligned the tires with zero toe, the motion of the car moving forward will actually pull the front tires to a toe- out position from the distortion of the rubber suspension bushings and from road friction on the tires. To compensate for the road friction and movement of rubber suspension bushings, most factory cars are designed with a small amount of toe- in. The goal is to have the tires at zero toe for the intended average speed of the car. Factory alignment specifications are intended to minimize premature tire wear and to lower the rolling resistance of the tires. Since factory specs create less rolling resistance, fuel economy is increased. So, if you are planning on driving your Restomod across the United States on the Hot Rod Magazine’s Power Tour, you may want to have your car aligned to factory specs. With excessive amounts of toe, whether in or out, your tires will wear out faster and your fuel economy will decrease. Most cars are aligned with around 1 . A setting of a 5 . Consider 1 . Toe- out has a tendency to make the car turn in faster. People looking for the fast way around corners will find benefits from careful experimentation with toe- out settings. Too much toe- out will cause the car to wander back and forth on the straights because the two tires are trying to steer in different directions. Wandering will get worse with increased road speed as a result of toe- out. Keep in mind that altering the factory alignment specs should only be done at the track. A little toe- out will help your car’s turn- in around corners and can also help to minimize understeer. What type of driving or racing you plan to do will determine what toe setting is correct for your application. Just as a warning, beware of the condition of your front suspension components. Worn or damaged bushings, ball joints, bearings, tie- rod ends, and other suspension components will act to alter your alignment settings. Getting your car aligned will not compensate for broken or worn parts. Street Alignment If you want your car to handle predictably on the street and your tires to wear evenly, you should go with the stock alignment settings. However, if you have replaced your rubber controlarm bushings with urethane or solid bushings, you may need less toe- in than the factory’s specs. The factory toe- in compensates for the flex and distortion of rubber bushings.
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