Roadster alignment nightmare

[Gene]

I took my newly completed mark IV to an alignment shop to get the wheels aligned. When I picked it up, I asked what was the caster setting they used. They said that they always set them at 3 degrees. I told them that according to FFR the spec for a power steering car like mine was 7 degrees. They said that they couldn't fix it that day and that I would have to take it back next week. I agreed and made an appointment.

On the way home I noticed that it felt like I had no springs. The ride was rock hard. At home I noticed that the gap between the right rear tire and fender was about 1 inch. The gap between the left rear tire and the fender was about 3 inches. I jacked the car up and started screwing the pan hard bar back in to get the wheels gaps equal. As I did that the left wheel suddenly dropped about an inch. As I continued to adjust the pan hard bar, the left wheel dropped again. I looked at the shock absorber and saw that they had cranked the pan hard bar so far out that it had jammed against the shock causing the no spring situation.

Frustrated, I did take the car back to get them to get the caster up to 7 degrees. When I want back at the end of the day, they told me that they could only get the caster to 4.2 degrees without making the camber unacceptable. According to FFR, they should be able to get the caster up to 12 degrees while keeping the camber in spec.

Dose anyone know an alignment shop that knows how to work on a Mark IV roadster with power steering in southern California?

Please help.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Get in touch with Frank Maslowski, "i.e. 427"

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=22850

He'll be sure that your car is done meticulously and done right.

BTW, with the latest UCAs it is pretty common to have the rear leg adjuster bottom out in the threads at 5 degrees or so depending on the camber. The way to reach 7 or 8 is to cut the rear adjuster sleeve down about 1/4" and trim back male stubs.

Jeff

[GoDadGo]

I took my newly completed mark IV to an alignment shop to get the wheels aligned. When I picked it up, I asked what was the caster setting they used. They said that they always set them at 3 degrees. I told them that according to FFR the spec for a power steering car like mine was 7 degrees. They said that they couldn't fix it that day and that I would have to take it back next week. I agreed and made an appointment.

On the way home I noticed that it felt like I had no springs. The ride was rock hard. At home I noticed that the gap between the right rear tire and fender was about 1 inch. The gap between the left rear tire and the fender was about 3 inches. I jacked the car up and started screwing the pan hard bar back in to get the wheels gaps equal. As I did that the left wheel suddenly dropped about an inch. As I continued to adjust the pan hard bar, the left wheel dropped again. I looked at the shock absorber and saw that they had cranked the pan hard bar so far out that it had jammed against the shock causing the no spring situation.

Frustrated, I did take the car back to get them to get the caster up to 7 degrees. When I want back at the end of the day, they told me that they could only get the caster to 4.2 degrees without making the camber unacceptable. According to FFR, they should be able to get the caster up to 12 degrees while keeping the camber in spec.

Dose anyone know an alignment shop that knows how to work on a Mark IV roadster with power steering in southern California?

Please help.

If you charged this substandard work on your credit card, contact your issuer and charge it back.
This is not only unacceptable, but down right dangerous.

[CalR80]

Get in touch with Frank Maslowski, "i.e. 427"

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=22850

He'll be sure that your car is done meticulously and done right.

BTW, with the latest UCAs it is pretty common to have the rear leg adjuster bottom out in the threads at 5 degrees or so depending on the camber. The way to reach 7 or 8 is to cut the rear adjuster sleeve down about 1/4" and trim back male stubs.

Jeff

Jeff, Would you have any pictures of this mod? I also have an alignment in my near future.

Dave

[boBQuincy]

This is why I do my own alignment. It may not be as accurate as the latest racks (although it is good to +/- 1/32") but at least I won't do something stupid and hand it to the customer that way.