Question about wheel position with shelby drop

[SadbutTrue]

I did the shelby drop this summer, and as soon as we were done the wheels both tilted inboard (ie, the bottom of the wheel stuck out a tiny but noticeable bit more than the top of the wheel). After getting it aligned (at Marlon's frame and alignment in chatsworth) the issue remained.

At the time it struck me as normal, since it sorta made sense with how the UCAs were dropped. But then again, the inside of my front tires are wearing noticeably faster than the outside and I don't recall this being discussed with other shelby drops. So... is this normal? Should I get re-aligned again? Did I do something else wrong?

Thanks!

 

[Opentracker]

I did the shelby drop this summer, and as soon as we were done the wheels both tilted inboard (ie, the bottom of the wheel stuck out a tiny but noticeable bit more than the top of the wheel). After getting it aligned (at Marlon's frame and alignment in chatsworth) the issue remained.

At the time it struck me as normal, since it sorta made sense with how the UCAs were dropped. But then again, the inside of my front tires are wearing noticeably faster than the outside and I don't recall this being discussed with other shelby drops. So... is this normal? Should I get re-aligned again? Did I do something else wrong?

Thanks!

You need a new alignment. The tire should have 0 camber when the car is at rest. The only reason you would need neg. camber is to get more grip. I would think Marlon's would have done it that way but since they didn't, I would find another shop. These settings will work well and give even tire wear.

0 - Camber on both sides

2deg. positive caster on both sides

1/8" toe-in

The caster and camber should be the same on both sides or at least within .2deg of each other and do not let them set the car for road crown.

 

[SoCalCruising]

My understanding of this is that you should be able to attain your desired alignment (say, 0.0- 0.5 degree positive). The lowering of the control arm should not stop you from doing that. The main thing it does is provide positive camber gain when cornering. Anyway, a call to Marlon should answer your questions.

 

[65fastbackresto]

Takes a good shop to do these old cars

I had one nightmare alignment so far, the guy even broke one of my adjustable strut rods.

I`m trying a new guy next week, he told me to allow him at least 3 hours to do it, he said if he couldn`t do it right, he wasn`t gonna touch it. He is charging me $80 bucks, well worth it if he can do it right.

 

[bnickel]

man, my alignment guy charges 45 bucks and will align the car to whatever specs i tell him i want it set at.

 

[enferno]

You need a new alignment. The tire should have 0 camber when the car is at rest. The only reason you would need neg. camber is to get more grip. I would think Marlon's would have done it that way but since they didn't, I would find another shop. These settings will work well and give even tire wear.

0 - Camber on both sides

2deg. positive caster on both sides

1/8" toe-in

The caster and camber should be the same on both sides or at least within .2deg of each other and do not let them set the car for road crown.

is the 1/8" toe in (+0.2 degrees) total toe? so i would set 1/16" toe both sides, or do i just set one side to 1/8" toe?

 

[mustangracer]

I did a modified shelby drop on my 65, but my alignment specs were:

l/r
-1.2/-1.3 camber
+3.3/+3.6 caster
1/16" toe-in/side

I didn't have any unusual wear, I even got 20k+ miles out of a set of BFG Comp T/a's with 5-6 autocrosses scattered in.

I managed to find a set of ball joint wedges and modifed the template out of the branda catalog by dropping it another 3/8" and back another 1/16". I also moved the a-arm off center to the back by 1 turn in the bushings. Also I copied the template in 3/8" steel and used it as a reinforcing/spacer plate instead of a huge stack of spacers.

Of course the negative camber wear may have been offset by the fact I don't go slow around corners...

With the negative camber, I think the tire wear is very sensitive to toe, if it's 0 or positive, it may wear the insides quickly. It's not hard to set the toe improperly if the tech didn't settle the suspension out, thanks to the lovely bumpsteer issues they have anyway.