[DeTomaso] Alignment specs

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/13/06 10:23:15 AM, johnmaffeo1 at yahoo.com writes:

<< My car is a '72 pre-L. I have 17x11 on the rear with 335x35x17 and 16x8.5 
front with 245X45X16. I have Aldan adjustable shocks, 1" sway bars front and 
rear with heim joints. I also have a camber lock kit. The car will mosly be 
driven on the street but will see some track time too. >>

Before you take the thing in, if you haven't already done this, I'd suggest 
you change any rubber suspension bushings to polyurethane, and get the ones for 
the front that are offset so when installed, they increase the caster to 4.6- 
5.2 degrees- around twice what you can dial in as-stock. Once this is done, 
you'll need to realign the front wheels anyway. The extra caster greatly 
improves higher speed stabilty and reduces 'nervousness' in the front end, with a 
small amount of increased steering heaviness at low speeds. With any poly 
bushings, big super-lo-profile tires & healthy swaybars, you can get away with about 
1/16" of front toe-in (or maybe even zero!) and the camber at maybe 1/2 
degree negative (inboard). I'd also be sure all 4 corners of the car are 
weight-balanced to minimize tire wear & further improve handling. 
In the rear, caster is not adjustable and camber is usually more than you 
need but is almost always un-adjustable due to subframe collapse, so a small 
amount of toe-in, 1/16-1/8" is about all you can adjust. Then drive the car hard 
on twisty roads & maybe a short high-speed blast to see if you like it this 
way, and readjust as necessary. The settings above not only improve handling, 
they should prolong your tire life, but all this stuff is personal & you may not 
like it for some reason. Good luck- J DeRyke