51 replies to this topic

[76lxhatch]

Now maybe they didnt know or were pushed for time, as shim type ajustments can take a lot longer if your not familiar with them, but thats no exuse it
should be done correctly.

Just sloppy, their alignment system would have shown the misalignment as a difference in left/right track at minimum

[S pack]

Now maybe they didnt know or were pushed for time, as shim type ajustments can take a lot longer if your not familiar with them, but thats no exuse it
should be done correctly.

Just sloppy, their alignment system would have shown the misalignment as a difference in left/right track at minimum

Wheelbase is the word you're looking for.

[76lxhatch]

Actually wheelbase was the word I meant to use (oops), it can be measured easily on a four wheel alignment machine and you will see the difference left to right. Setback is also a useful figure and will highlight an issue such as this when incorrectly adjusted.

[76lxhatch]

I found the sheet from my last alignment and it definitely has wheelbase info on it, but it doesn't say anything about the alignment equipment sorry. As I said though any 4 wheel aligner should do it as a matter of course, its very basic arithmetic from the inputs given (all the data is present from the figures required to calculate all the other settings). Perhaps it isn't always on the printout though? The sheet I'm looking at here only has the differences (same for track), not the detailed figures.

[76lxhatch]

Setback is only measured relative to the axle centreline so is measured a single end at a time only, but you could use it to calculate the wheelbase difference assuming that both ends were measured with no changes/movement in between. (In which case the report image below proves nothing! ) Perhaps the wheelbase is so trivial that its not considered necessary to show it?

Scanned alignment report

[S pack]

IT is also known as a 'castor bar'. Trying to achieve the optimum castor setting via the shims often ends up with the pivot touching the edges of the shims instead of sitting flat on them) which can often cause them to come loose/pop the shims out.

15/16" is the correct setting for the LC-LJ 6cyl lower control arm Control Rod and should only need minor adjustment to rectify wheelbase discrepancies.

They are not intended to be and normally should not need to be used for adjusting Castor settings.
As has already been said and is documented, Castor and Camber are set via the shim stacks.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me could explain how you would go about adjusting the castor on a HQ-Z or LH-X.
AFAIK these cars don't have lower control arm Control Rods/Radius Rods/Castor Bars or whatever else people like to call them.
The only way you can adjust the Castor on these cars is via the upper control arm shim stacks. Correct???

[Shtstr]

Hi,
I dont want to get into race type set ups, I'm only refering to a standard or every
day street driven settings.
I agree with some being adjusted by the radius rod like the 4 cylinder Torrys &
others that dont have any way of adjustment on the top arm fulcrum such as those
box type vans where access is very tight. They have a cam type bolt adjuster for camber
on the lower arm pivot & caster adjusted by the radius rod.
 adjustments.jpg   425.62K   15 downloads
But my take on the LC/J 6 cylinder & similar set ups is that the control rod positions
the lower arm lateraly & caster/camber adjustment is thru the shims. Ok if you've got
heaps of negative camber dialed in you could have a problem with the fulcrum bar sitting
flat against the shims or excessive threads at the K frame nut, then I'd be looking at bent
components, like this....
 100_1834.jpg   473.89K   21 downloads
Arm on the left came off my XU1, lower arm was replaced with a standard arm but you can see
the top was twisted rearward so they had to get the caster close by winding back on the control
rod. Just wasnt enough left at the shim stacks, but luckily I found an XU1 front end at the wreckers
to replace what was needed. The pivot bolt had to be replaced as pulling the lower arm back put extra
stress on the bush & the spacer had started to cut into the bolt.

I wont get into the dodgey or sloppy work stuff I've seen, but when I was talking of time well 1 tyre
retailer I worked at I was doing about 10 alignments per day. 8 hour day, thats about 35/40 mins each,
regardless of what type of vehicle or set up it had. So in that time you've gotta jack it up, check for
play in the steering linkage & mountings, wheel bearing play, bush condition, tyre pressures & rim
straightness. Then get it on the hoist, set the 4 heads up, calibrate them, do the adjustments & lock it
up, remove the heads, then test drive & check for steering wheel straightness & adjust if required. So
you can see your pretty under the pump & taking a short cut like adjusting the control rod instead of
going back to & farting around with the shim stacks can be tempting. & yes I'm guilty of taking a short
cut or 2 over the years.

The friends LJ I originally spoke of only had a very minor difference when cornering left compared to right,
I'm suprised he picked it as it was really hard to feel. Without access to an aligner at the time all I could do
was a visual check & the RH control rod had about an extra 1/2" on top of the 15/16ths.

J

Question? how do you tell the differance between a std uper arm and an xu1 upper arm?????

[S pack]

Question? how do you tell the differance between a std uper arm and an xu1 upper arm?????

You don't, they're identical. S & SL (6cyl models), GTR & GTR XU1 all use the same upper control arm.
Early LC had slightly different upper arms compared to later LC. However this change occurred before the GTR XU1 was released in 1970.

[Shtstr]

I didn't think there was a differance between the uper arms knew their was a differance with the lower arms so was courious when he said a xu1 front end to get the uper arms.