Alignment question

[AA-ron]

There's a good chance this is one of those "no reply needed" questions, but is there any specific instruction I need to give to the shop doing my first alignment? I've got it roughly aligned, enough for me to limp to the local Ford dealership a mile down the road. I've built ramps that should allow it to get it up on the rack safely (it sits 8" off the ground and their ramps look a bit steep). The Ford service manager said it shouldn't be a problem and he's not phased by performing the work. I have all the alignment spec's from FFR, so I'm good there. I'm just wondering if there's any piece of advice I can give the guy doing the work to help avoid any problems.
Thanks

[Jeff Kleiner]

Just make sure that he knows to loosen the 3 bolts on the upper control arms before attempting to move the adjuster sleeves.

Jeff

[rthomas98]

Most alignment computers require a starting vehicle before you can customize the specs. I recommend that they use 1991 Ford Mustang as their starting point before putting in custom alignment information. They initially started with 1965 Shelby cobra on mine and the alignment specs for that are very different from these cars and the alignment system kept erroring out as to far out of line. Once they switched to the mustang as the starting point no issues. Finally make sure to ask for a print out of the final alignment numbers.

[Jeff Kleiner]

My old school guy tells the computer that it's a 1958 Edsel. Since the computer doesn't have specs for a 1958 Edsel it doesn't argue with him when he enters numbers manually ;)

Jeff

[AA-ron]

Thanks for the advice. I'll pass it along to the shop.
Now it's just down to getting my VIN. The state of Maine is all up in my business when my Ez-pass doesn't work-- I get the letter the following day. I wish they had that same energy when it came to assigning VIN's.

[GoDadGo]

My old school guy tells the computer that it's a 1958 Edsel. Since the computer doesn't have specs for a 1958 Edsel it doesn't argue with him when he enters numbers manually ;)

Jeff

Interesting thing about the Edsel because that is where the F.E. engine comes from.

Motortrend Ford Edsel Engine Article:

https://www.motortrend.com/news/ford-edsel-410-engine/

[rponfick]

The problem I am currently dealing with is excessive steering effort with manual steering. The suggestion that has been given to me here is to back off the caster from the current 6+degrees to 3-2, which will supposedly lessen the effort required. I also plan to consider smaller front tires.
If you have manual steering, I suggest not using too much caster.
Ralph

[egchewy79]

The problem I am currently dealing with is excessive steering effort with manual steering. The suggestion that has been given to me here is to back off the caster from the current 6+degrees to 3-2, which will supposedly lessen the effort required. I also plan to consider smaller front tires.
If you have manual steering, I suggest not using too much caster.
Ralph

I'm running about 3-3.5* caster and it drives great. a bit of effort making a 3pt turn, but once it's rolling no major issues.

[EZ$]

Just got my car aligned at Roger Krause Racing this morning. Brandon put the car on the racing scales and discovered that the car was really well balanced and did not require any adjustment. The car weighed in at 2,454 pounds. When he did the alignment, he found that the rears were spot on and did not require any adjustments, thank you to the recommendations from North Racecars regarding how to set up the T-Bird IRS. But the fronts were a different story. Camber was close, but the caster was way off on the right front. He got as much caster as he could, around 6.5 degrees, before he ran out of adjustment. One thing he did find was that the tie rod on the left front was way loose, to the point of almost letting go. Could have been a fatal mistake on my part. I'm going to have to see if there's anything that I can do to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Anyhow, the car drives amazing now. Some of the best money I've spent on the car.

[GoDadGo]

I'm running about 3-3.5* caster and it drives great. a bit of effort making a 3pt turn, but once it's rolling no major issues.

Ditto regarding 3.5 caster angle.
You learn to turn just before you stop moving and you always begin turning when you start to scoot.

[Its Bruce]

Just got my car aligned at Roger Krause Racing this morning. Brandon put the car on the racing scales and discovered that the car was really well balanced and did not require any adjustment. The car weighed in at 2,454 pounds. When he did the alignment, he found that the rears were spot on and did not require any adjustments, thank you to the recommendations from North Racecars regarding how to set up the T-Bird IRS. But the fronts were a different story. Camber was close, but the caster was way off on the right front. He got as much caster as he could, around 6.5 degrees, before he ran out of adjustment. One thing he did find was that the tie rod on the left front was way loose, to the point of almost letting go. Could have been a fatal mistake on my part. I'm going to have to see if there's anything that I can do to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Anyhow, the car drives amazing now. Some of the best money I've spent on the car.

Care to share? I'm nearing the point of final alignment.

[EZ$]

Bruce, I'll have to try to find the info again. It's been years since I set this up. I'll try to find it but someone else might remember better than me. I'm so old I don't remember most of the things I did when I built this thing!

[EZ$]

OK Bruce, I went back through my notes from 7 years ago and found what I had written down regarding the T-Bird IRS alignment. As per my notes, Place one or two shims in the rear of the rear mount and fill the front. The rod ends need to be extended about 5/8" of thread showing inside the jamb nut. Lock it down and never touch it. Align and set the front - fill with shims and torque.
I hope that makes some sense. It's been so long that I think I would have to remove a rear wheel and look to see what I did to be able to answer any other questions. I'm not sure of he is on this forum, but Richard Oben of North Race Cars is who provided the method, and if you can locate him here, or possibly on the other forum, I'm sure he could provide way more clarification than I ever could. Good luck.

[mikeinatlanta]

Always one to offer a different opinion...

I recommend buying some basic alignment tools and do it yourself. There is no exact right or wrong alignment setting on these cars and doing yourself you can make changes and tailor the handling to how you like.

[RoadRacer]

Always one to offer a different opinion...

I recommend buying some basic alignment tools and do it yourself. There is no exact right or wrong alignment setting on these cars and doing yourself you can make changes and tailor the handling to how you like.

+1 for doing it yourself. I bought the Tenhulzen 4-Wheel Alignment System (https://wheelalignmenttools.com/product/4-wheel-alignment-system/) and it's great, although I only use the camber/caster part now and have a Longacre toe gauge (https://www.longacreracing.com/products.aspx?itemid=2445&prodid=7237&pagetitle=Toe-Gauge) for toe so I don't have to mess with the 'string'

[EZ$]

I initially had done my own. Got the rears dialed but was off by 3 degrees left to right on the fronts. Having never done this before I knew I was going to want a pro to confirm if I had really screwed up. The fact that he found that loose tie rod made it all worth the price and the time. At highway speed it could have been bad.

[JohnK]

Always one to offer a different opinion...

I recommend buying some basic alignment tools and do it yourself. There is no exact right or wrong alignment setting on these cars and doing yourself you can make changes and tailor the handling to how you like.

This is certainly a good way to go, but understand that there's sometimes a steep learning curve. Or perhaps I'm just a moron. I bought a set of the Fastrax caster/camber gauges and spent a good amount of time learning how to use them properly. I spent what I thought was a LOT of time dialing in the alignment on my lift. I didn't think I had it perfect was was pretty confident that it was close. When I finally took it in for a professional alignment and they put it on the rack, it was laughable how far off I was.

[mikeinatlanta]

It doesn't really matter if one is "off" on alignment when doing it yourself. The idea is to try differing settings to learn how each change affects handling characteristics. It won't take long and you will gain consistency and accuracy, or at least you will quickly learn how to feel when a setting is out of range. Why bother building a car if not also wanting to learn how to make basic adjustments?

Don't know what to say about the idea of trusting an alignment shop to make sure my car is properly nut-and-bolted. If there is more than a 0% chance any bolts are left loose then you may want to consider revisiting your maintenance practices.

[JohnK]

Why bother building a car if not also wanting to learn how to make basic adjustments?

The simple answer is because I choose to do the parts of the build I enjoy and leave other parts to the pros. I also didn't do my own paint and bodywork for the same reason. I know this might seem like heresy to some who might believe that having anyone do anything for you on your build somehow makes you an inferior builder, but... whatever.

[CraigS]

The simple answer is because I choose to do the parts of the build I enjoy and leave other parts to the pros. I also didn't do my own paint and bodywork for the same reason. I know this might seem like heresy to some who might believe that having anyone do anything for you on your build somehow makes you an inferior builder, but... whatever.

Agreed. I do everything myself except paint. I could do the paint as I have done plenty in the 20+ year past. But I chose to skip all the temporary paint booth stuff, the outside air for me the painter (asthma since a kid so I do not mess w/ breathing crap), learning all the current paint chemistry, etc.