I recently finished the frontend on it all new moog suspension parts it is a 72 Dart 318 4 speed with 10 inch drums front and rear, everything is new! I took it to my shop I work at a Dodge dealer and Im a tech there, I put it on our alignment rack which is the newer updated version rack. I was able to get the toe, camber, and caster within specs but when I looked down the chart I noticed that the SAI (steering axis inclination) was in the red. Now I know that they use specs from the older bias ply tires but dont understand why this is. the specs for the sai was 7.3-7.8 and mine was 6.3. Also my included angle was out of spec.

From what I read it said I could have a bent front end part????

I was hoping someone could shed some light on this for me. Also my caster was within spec but was -0.5 and I thought you should shoot for negative. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Angles are what they are nothing to do with tires. What specs did you input into the computer? And what did you align it to?

If your SAI and Included Angle are significantly different from side to side, then I would suggest a closer look for bent parts. If they are fairly well matched, and simply different from the "specs" carried by your machine, I would not sweat it. As you probably know, these angles are not adjustable.

As for caster, the negative specs are a throwback to "easier steering effort" days and are widely disregarded now. Caster matched side-to-side is much more important than the absolute number itself. If you have sufficient range of adjustment, go for more positive. Also consider offset UCA bushings (installed according to instructions found in this thread) to get it even more positive.

Ok thanks for your help my SAI was spec 7.3-7.8 mine is 6.2 on both sides in the red, My included angle is spec left 7.5-8.5 right 7.3-8.3 mine is left 6.8 red and right 6.2 same as sai on right diff on left.
here are the rest final reading of y car
camber left 0.6 right 0.1
caster left -0.5 right -0.7
toe left 0.14 right 0.12
total toe 0.26
i read that my included angle is the sum of my camber and sai????
also i have the moog 67-72 strut 2 piece improved bushings if that means anything???
THANKS AGAIN

I just used the specs in the machine. I know this is a mistake but didnt know about the bias ply tire days

Thanks for the help

To get the car to go straight down the highway, +3 degrees caster would be a lot better.
Check modern alignment specs to see what I mean.

R.

get the caster higher. the other angles will probably come in as well. the sai, and ia aren't anything to worry about. if you're running radial tires. camber at about 0 and get as much caster as possible.

My '73 Dart has been aligned to 1.5 caster and negative camber. Don't recall the actual camber spec, but it's very noticable looking at the car from the front.
Have the alignment printout in the garage somewhere.

I've 215/60/15 on the front and 235/60/15 in the rear. Front is lowered so the LCA bumpstops have 1/4" to 1/2" play.
KYB gasshocks upfront and Monroe SensaTrac's at the rear.
After I installed a Hellwig swaybar the car feels very stable and secure in corners.

Ideally, you probably want around 3 degrees positive caster, -.5 degree camber and factory toe settings for a driver. Radials matter because they can take the negative camber with less uneven wear problem.

As posted, its hard/impossible to get the above with factory parts. A good way to get the best is to adjust the eccentrics for max positive caster first. Then dial in a little negative camber. If you can get at least a degree or so positive caster and a little bit of negative camber evened up side to side, you've got it.

PS: Agree check for bent/broken worn parts. A good alignment guy will re-check. If parts look OK, alignment comes in as above and it drives OK, I wouldn't sweat the other stuff on the printout.