Front suspension is totally stock, but it has a new (nonfirm feel)steering gearbox. I brought it in so they could center my steering wheel and check alignment. Here are the "after results"

Caster, left --.02, right .33. These are the same as the before.
Camber, left .72 right --.22
Toe left .02 right .03
Toe Total .05
Steering wheel is still not totally centered but is better than it was. How do these numbers look? I just want it to go down the road straight.

So basically they did nothing.


No it is not right.


Not even close.

I would have set it for around 0 to -0.5 deg camber, and(not that you will get much) as much pos caster as you can get while mainting 1/2 degree split between the 2 sides.

Ideally I'ld like to see around +2.5 degrees caster on a street car but without aftermarket bushings or control arms getting that much can be a challenge if at all possible.


Just my

If you paid to "align" the car, as opposed to "check" the alignment and center the steering wheel, one should expect:

1. Caster to be as positive as possible, and balanced, side to side. Practically, this might mean as little as .5 to 1.0 degree positive, to as much as 3.0 positive. If the car has rear-to-front downward rake, this can be hard without offset bushings or adjustable strut rods. At minimum, you want the caster the same on both sides.

2. The members on this board differ widely on what "good" camber is. I am old school, and would recommend around zero degrees, give or take a quarter. If there is ANY difference between the sides, there should be a bit more positive on the left than the right for crown climbing.

3. Toe should be about 1/8" total, and the steering wheel should be perfectly centered. Not kinda, not better-than-it-was.

I earned a living doing this when these cars were the used cars that came across my rack.

My preference would be

Caster as much + as possible but less than 6. Be happy if you can get more than 1 on a stock suspension.

Camber for the street negative 0.25

Toe is 1/8-3/16 toe in total so 0.125-0.1875

What he said...

I do tend to have a little more toe in on worn out suspension. A fair amount of wear happens when you apply the brakes and this tends to toe out the front tires.

So it looks like I need to bring it back. According to the print out, the after specs appear to be within the specified range. I would like both sides to be as equal as possible.
When I bring it back, should I ask them to set it up with these specs? I did give the guy a sheet with similar numbers that I got off Moparts, but he didn't seem to interested in looking at it.
Caster; as much positive as possible or .5 to 1 (equal both sides)
Camber; 0 to .--25
Total Toe in .125 -- .1875
Perfectly centered steering wheel

I called the place and talked to the technician, (which I should have done in person) and he said my caster on the left side was --.02 because the rear cam adjuster was was all the way inward as possible and the front cam adjuster was all the way outward and that was as close to positive as they could get. For the camber being .72, he said they could change it but that would make the --.02 even further away from a positive. He said a higher toe in would wear out my tires faster and keep what I have. This is the stock suspension.
I am bringing it back to get the steering centered.

A lot of techs have the assumption that zero toe is best for wear. When toe is set to near zero, it really is never zero in real life, and tends to be skittish when driving on the freeway because it actually toes out and darts to one direction or another when the car hits bumps or the suspension compresses. I do not believe in zero toe and to me .02 is basically zero toe.

If and when you have the money and the time, get at least some offset bushings for the upper a arms.

If what the tech said is true, my new recommendations would be:

1. Get the steering wheel centered.

2. Drive the car for a while, and see if you are satisfied with how it steers and wears the tires (I am not as freaked by the positive camber as are others). If steering and tire wear are acceptable, be happy driving a nice, vintage car. If you aren't happy, look into offset UCA bushings.

He said he could raise the toe if I want. Should I leave it be or change it. If so, to what degree?
I plan to do some suspension upgrades this winter.

I'd have it at 0.125 toe in, but in the end it is up to you. Take it for a test drive on the way to the shop, see if what he has currently is what you can live with.

Just to clarify, when Allen says .125 in and I say 1/8" in, we're saying the same thing.

I believe that the tech gave you toe-in in decimal DEGREES, which is completely different.

'course I was not thinking in degrees

Thanks for everyone's help. I brought it back and he trued the steering wheel. I had him set the Toe in total to .25 degrees. .15 deg left, .11 deg right. That changed camber. The left camber was .72 deg now it is .65 deg. The right camber was -- .22 deg and is now --.23 deg. I am planning on upgrading the suspension/steering because it still steers like a boat.

Be glad you got caster and camber where they are at.On my 65 all new suspension I had like neg 5 caster on one side and 6 on the other.I used the Moog offsets and got it to about 1/2 on both.Its manual steering so it handles decent.I played with mine on the alingment rack for probally 2 hours or better and Ive been doing alingments for 30 years.Rocky