1957 wheel alignment problems

[Hele]

Greetings from Germany,

I would like to ask you for help.

My local alignment shop has no solution for my 1957 Thunderbird.

After they changed the front-end bushings and they did a conversion to disc brakes, they tried to do the alignment.

They have done the front-end alignment with the specs written in the FORD Car and Thunderbird Manual. Now the car is no more drivable.

The steering wheel goes not back to the straight-ahead position after I made a turn (a curve).

I heard that with Radial tires there are different specifications?

Please help me to get my beloved T-Bird back to normal drive.

Thank you!

Helmut Arzmueller

 

[CSPIDY]

Perhaps you can take your car to a different alignment shop and I have never heard of a different alignment for radial tires.

 

[henro]

Greetings from Germany,

I would like to ask you for help.

My local alignment shop has no solution for my 1957 Thunderbird.

After they changed the front-end bushings and they did a conversion to disc brakes, they tried to do the alignment.

They have done the front-end alignment with the specs written in the FORD Car and Thunderbird Manual. Now the car is no more drivable.

The steering wheel goes not back to the straight-ahead position after I made a turn (a curve).

I heard that with Radial tires there are different specifications?

Please help me to get my beloved T-Bird back to normal drive.

Thank you!

Helmut Arzmueller

Have the shop set the caster about 4* more than it is now.caster is what makes the steering center itself.

 

[randy d]

Replied once but can't see it so maybe it got sent somewhere else. Sorry if this is a repeat. You did not say if your car has power steering or not. P/S car idler arms must have the wheels straight ahead when the nuts are tightened to help recovery after a turn. Manual steering idler arms do not have this feature. More likely is that you need to alter the alignment specs. Since camber is a tire wearing angle you should stick to the original spec of 1/2 degree positive. Ford called for negative caster to make steering easier on manual steering cars and did not change the specs for those equipped with P/S. I have aligned many old cars at 1 1/2 to 2 degrees positive caster with good results. You can go higher with P/S. Caster has no effect on tire wear but provides straight line stability and steering wheel recovery and centering after a turn. Your alignment shop could also check steering axis inclination if there is any reason to suspect bent parts. Unless you have installed high offset wheels the toe-in specs should remain the same. Of course all bushings and components must be tight and properly installed. Hope you find the problem. These cars are too cool to not be driven and enjoyed.