Finally! 70 Roadrunner going to "the old guy" for its 2nd ever alignment. QA1 everything w/SPC UCAs

[biomedtechguy]

The strut rods are more than a 1/2" difference in length as it sits now an one tire is foward (rubbing) and the other might be slightly rear of center and does not rub. The difference in space between tire and lower front fender from one side to the other is almost 3/4".

That sounds like somewhat of a grand scale Cluster F...
How can any shop, especially a "high end" shop see that and say "it's all good"??

 

[biomedtechguy]

Seems like I will have to wait some more. The 315/35/17 drag radials on my 9" wide rear aluminum Rallye wheels don't allow the rear wheel mounted alignment "lamps" to attach. A friend is going to loan me some rear wheels and tires so that should be resolved.
AGAIN my front passenger tire is worn to the belts on the inside and the driver side isn't much better. Now I'm sure getting the "master" to align the front suspension will resolve this, but it's frustrating to have literally replaced EVERYTHING on my suspension and STILL have the same "symptom" that drew my attention to doing the upgrade to begin with!

 

[pnora]

Seems like I will have to wait some more. The 315/35/17 drag radials on my 9" wide rear aluminum Rallye wheels don't allow the rear wheel mounted alignment "lamps" to attach. A friend is going to loan me some rear wheels and tires so that should be resolved.
AGAIN my front passenger tire is worn to the belts on the inside and the driver side isn't much better. Now I'm sure getting the "master" to align the front suspension will resolve this, but it's frustrating to have literally replaced EVERYTHING on my suspension and STILL have the same "symptom" that drew my attention to doing the upgrade to begin with!

It would be nice to see the printout of where the car is aligned to now. That will tell a lot. Make sure you get the before and after print out.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

It would be nice to see the printout of where the car is aligned to now. That will tell a lot. Make sure you get the before and after print out.

My guy doesn't have print outs... He's old... Like me... But when he's done you drive the car & you'll know all you need to know...

 

[Kern Dog]

My guy doesn't have print outs... He's old... Like me... But when he's done you drive the car & you'll know all you need to know...

Linville Brothers in Sacramento did the same thing. No printout but the specs were written on the work order.
Tires worn heavily on the inside usually means you're toed out.
Does the car wander? Is it hard to hold it straight? Many high performance tires do not squeal to let you know that the alignment is off. You should have 3/32" to 1/8" toe in. If you're toed out at all, the tires are constantly scrubbing.

 

[pro451bee]

315/35/17 tire on a 9" wide rim ? that right there is part of the problem.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

315/35/17 tire on a 9" wide rim ? that right there is part of the problem.

On the one side the 315's are on the rear & his tire wear issues are up front... But I hadn't even paid attention to the fact the 9" is pretty narrow for a 315... My 315's are on 11" wheels

 

[biomedtechguy]

315/35/17 tire on a 9" wide rim ? that right there is part of the problem.

On the one side the 315's are on the rear & his tire wear issues are up front... But I hadn't even paid attention to the fact the 9" is pretty narrow for a 315... My 315's are on 11" wheels

I knew that I was pushing the recommended wheel width by being an inch narrower on my wheel, but that's only ½" per side, the sidewall doesn't bulge, and I've had them on for over 3 years.
I am looking for a company that can widen the aluminum wheels.

 

[pnora]

My guy doesn't have print outs... He's old... Like me... But when he's done you drive the car & you'll know all you need to know...

I hear you. Only suggested the print out is so many complain about why is my car driving like this all new parts and aligned twice. The print out tells the story.

 

[biomedtechguy]

It would be nice to see the printout of where the car is aligned to now. That will tell a lot. Make sure you get the before and after print out.

I will request the before and after.
Before (as it is now) is a disaster, so not really sure why anyone would want that.
"After" will be a benchmark for my car, I believe.
I will have to grab the loaner wheels and tires from my Mopar brother Harry, and then bring my car back to finally get it aligned. I am going to get 2 new front tires first as well. No sense in getting worn out tires aligned.

 

[pnora]

I will request the before and after.
Before (as it is now) is a disaster, so not really sure why anyone would want that.
"After" will be a benchmark for my car, I believe.
I will have to grab the loaner wheels and tires from my Mopar brother Harry, and then bring my car back to finally get it aligned. I am going to get 2 new front tires first as well. No sense in getting worn out tires aligned.

It will tell a lot and will explain why it drives so bad.

 

[Kern Dog]

I had a local guy that rebuilt carburetors. Sometimes for the sake of time, I had him fix mine. I’d always ask him what he found as he tore down the old ones. He said he didn’t take the time to inspect them, he just disassembled them for cleaning.
That annoyed me. I wanted to know why it ran bad so I can avoid making the mistake again.

 

[pnora]

I had a local guy that rebuilt carburetors. Sometimes for the sake of time, I had him fix mine. I’d always ask him what he found as he tore down the old ones. He said he didn’t take the time to inspect them, he just disassembled them for cleaning.
That annoyed me. I wanted to know why it ran bad so I can avoid making the mistake again.

That's the problem with carburetors you most of the time do not see what wrong. It is dirt or oxidation in the internal passages. You only hope soaking and blowing them out fixes them.

 

[biomedtechguy]

When it's tiny little clippings of stainless steel braid in the carb orifices from the inside of the brand new pre-made and terminated braided fuel lines you bought, "thought about" cleaning out but didn't because you're short on time as Cruisin the Coast is underway starting the next day, and after all, they are new...
And then you spend the week grinding your teeth because the $1100 you spent on carb accessories, rebuild, and tuning but your 6bbl car runs worse than ever...
If I had to do it again, I'd clean out the lines, or faced with the same problem, I wouldn't drive it until I fixed the problem.
Promax upper and lower fuel lines BTW...

 

[pnora]

When it's tiny little clippings of stainless steel braid in the carb orifices from the inside of the brand new pre-made and terminated braided fuel lines you bought, "thought about" cleaning out but didn't because you're short on time as Cruisin the Coast is underway starting the next day, and after all, they are new...
And then you spend the week grinding your teeth because the $1100 you spent on carb accessories, rebuild, and tuning but your 6bbl car runs worse than ever...
If I had to do it again, I'd clean out the lines, or faced with the same problem, I wouldn't drive it until I fixed the problem.
Promax upper and lower fuel lines BTW...

I wash out and blow all lines before using.

 

[biomedtechguy]

I wash out and blow all lines before using.

Oh, believe me, I always will moving forward, AND I recommend everyone do so as well!

 

[biomedtechguy]

It would be nice to see the printout of where the car is aligned to now. That will tell a lot. Make sure you get the before and after print out.

I wound up getting a different shop to do the alignment. Cruisin the Coast is October 1st-8th and I was running short on time.
My best friend and Mopar brother recently bought a 71 Duster 340 car, which is running low 11s in the quarter mile right now. The first time he took it to the dragstrip about a month ago, the front suspension was so whack he was in fear for his life. He recommended Patrick at a nearby Goodyear, and the manager is a mutual friend. We ALL know each other since our mid to late teens.I figured if the alignment tech got my friend's "Death" Duster straight, mine would be easier.
It came out GREAT, and the "lamps" he uses were able to mount on my existing rear 315/35/17s without ANY problem.
I'm so happy!! I will post the printout of the crappy, out of alignment starting point numbers and the numbers from the completed alignment.
I also got a pair of Toyo HP front tires, as both of the front tires I had fell victim to the bad misalignment that had developed, wearing the inside row of tread down to the belts. Before this alignment, I only had that first initial alignment done, right after having so many add-ons, upgrades, and systems installed, so I'm guessing that was a lot new stuff that had to "shakedown and settle". I'm hoping now that time has passed this alignment will stay set, straight, and TRUE.