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Re: rear end out of alignment

To: "Ofarrell, Fergus" <Ofarrell.Fergus@hitco.com>,
Subject: Re: rear end out of alignment
From: "datsunmike" <datsunmike@nyc.rr.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 12:32:08 -0500
I brought my car for an alignment last year and the alignment guy said my
car was in perfect alignment which he said in a solid axle vehicle is rare.
I had last done an alignment 15 years before and saw no abnormal wear on the
tires but just wanted to be sure everything was still OK.

BTW, the body has nothing to do w/an alignment as it's all in the frame.
None of these cars had bodies that aligned well. I used my eyes and a ruler
to mount the body.

MIke

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ofarrell, Fergus" <Ofarrell.Fergus@hitco.com>
To: "'roadster.netlist'" <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 11:34 AM
Subject: rear end out of alignment


> Gordon is right about shifting the rear end. Once you start, it'll be hard
> to determine when to stop, and these parts see so much vibration that
> slotting the mounting points will end up in the rear end alignment
migrating
> to-and-fro over time.
> I have found that a good method to line things up is to drive behind your
> own car, and see if it is 'crabbing' down the road. (you see this on a lot
> of 4x's, especially full-size Blazers) If it is not, then it is just your
> fenders are screwy. If it is, and you 'straighten it up', then your wheels
> will be straight but the frame will be a canted from corner to corner.
First
> thing noticed will be that the steering wheel position when going straight
> has moved. (no big, right?) But after that you'll notice that right turns
> feel different than left turns, as now your front suspension pivot points
> are no longer parallel/perpendicular to the direction of travel.
Off-camber
> roads and bumps that un-weight the car will point this out, when the car
> comes down it will have a twisting bounce, and may want to leap around in
> the lane. (airplane landings when the two sets of wheels don't touch
> together)
> Okay, I'll shut up now,
> Fergus O

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