Castor Kit w/ Perch Installation

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Seems screwy the way the rear measurements are moving
A crooked perch wouldn't cause toe in changes in the rear
Some castor wedges and some u bolts in front and it would be good imo
But really hard to say without seeing it
I would get your truck and take it somewhere for another opinion seems like a lot of money to me
For what it would take to correct a few degrees of caster and a spring perch
 
BTG88 said:
.......my 1975 40 is out of alignment.....
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Join the club! Ha ha. If I had to guess I would say that more than half of the vehicles on this forum have similar issues- probably mine included.

And I am not able to understand how it's possible for a solid axle to have to toe in or out on the rear without without it being bent. Additionally how the caster can be so different from one side to the other on the front axle also baffles me. Not saying it's not possible but if you look at the thing you'll see it's a solid chunk of steel from one side to the other and if they just did a knuckle job then you know it's not anything loose there. That said maybe it is bent. Maybe it's been in a wreck. I have no idea.


OK so your alignment is out. I would shim the front and get the caster to reasonable balance- re-adjust the toe afterwards And just try out for a while. You may find that you don't like the springs that you have and which case you have to go through all this again anyway. You may find out that if you have never measured it everything would have been just fine. If this was my BMW yes I would be concerned. If the cars not annoying to drive you might just rotate the tires a little bit more often and not worry about it. If it doesn't drive right or you get bad tire wear issues right off the bat then take it back or go somewhere and get a second opinion.

Pete
 
Stumpalama said:
Have the TLC take pictures.... they know better (maybe not) than to assume a customer is going to blindly say yes to everything without some pictures (I hope).
If they won't, I would start to get very nervous, because that usually means someone is hiding something. TLC has a good rep, or at least not a bad one, that I know of, so I am giving them the benefit of the doubt.
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Yes- I'm putting that request in to them this evening. Hopefully, the team here will have an 'aha' moment if the photos reveal something that has not been able to be communicated clearly up to now. The work they are doing on my rig is peanuts compared to the six-figure stuff they do, so hopefully, I'm not getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop.
 
peteinjp said:
Join the club! Ha ha. If I had to guess I would say that more than half of the vehicles on this forum have similar issues- probably mine included.

And I am not able to understand how it's possible for a solid axle to have to toe in or out on the rear without without it being bent. Additionally how the caster can be so different from one side to the other on the front axle also baffles me. Not saying it's not possible but if you look at the thing you'll see it's a solid chunk of steel from one side to the other and if they just did a knuckle job then you know it's not anything loose there. That said maybe it is bent. Maybe it's been in a wreck. I have no idea.


OK so your alignment is out. I would shim the front and get the caster to reasonable balance- re-adjust the toe afterwards And just try out for a while. You may find that you don't like the springs that you have and which case you have to go through all this again anyway. You may find out that if you have never measured it everything would have been just fine. If this was my BMW yes I would be concerned. If the cars not annoying to drive you might just rotate the tires a little bit more often and not worry about it. If it doesn't drive right or you get bad tire wear issues right off the bat then take it back or go somewhere and get a second opinion.

Pete
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Thanks Pete. Sound advice. I just want to make sure that when I am driving it and testing to see how it goes along, that I am not a danger to myself or others on the road, or that I am not making something worse.
 
65swb45 said:
Thanks for the props guys. I am already behind on four vehicles waiting to come in. I haven't even had time to call back the last few inquiries to say no. The last guy I did call back was a 42,43 or 44 with steering issues, and he gave me crap for saying no, which also put me off on taking time and energy to call back just to say no.

Only taking mail order repairs at the moment.

Good luck to the OP.
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Understood. I might still get some parts from you Mark. You'll be interested to know that this vehicle has your carb, uprated front drum brakes and I believe, headers. Anyplace else you would recommend as a place to get a second opinion?
 
The caster difference side to side isn't a big deal
There is a about a degree built in to help compensate for the crown in the road
 
Who was the PO?
 
65swb45 said:
Who was the PO?
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Jeff Moerer in the Thousand Oaks area. I've scoped out 2-3 old-style alignment shops that should be able to do the alignment or at least tell me what needs to be done - hopefully for a lot less than $1,900! Does the installation of power steering, instead of the stock alter what the ideal alignment figures should be?
 
BTG88 said:
Jeff Moerer in the Thousand Oaks area. I've scoped out 2-3 old-style alignment shops that should be able to do the alignment or at least tell me what needs to be done - hopefully for a lot less than $1,900! Does the installation of power steering, instead of the stock alter what the ideal alignment figures should be?
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No.
 
brian said:
Still no pictures?
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I sent an email on Friday. If they can't or don't want to provide photos, I will ask them to finish the other areas that were on my list and that I will handle the alignment issues myself.
 
First off, lets start with the rear. If it is a sua rig with original spring perches it is unlikely their is much of a issue with them. It is possible that the center pin holes are wallowed out a little. I would loosen the left rear ubolts, then see if you can slide the axle forward a little bit and tighten them back down. Then do the same to the right rear but slide the axle rearward. In addition check the condition of all of your bushings that they are in good shape.
The front readings are weird. I would get it checked at another shop to verify the readings. You give very little info about your truck itself and the mods done. Its not really possible to help you much more unless you supply pics and details of your suspension.
 
White Stripe said:
First off, lets start with the rear. If it is a sua rig with original spring perches it is unlikely their is much of a issue with them. It is possible that the center pin holes are wallowed out a little. I would loosen the left rear ubolts, then see if you can slide the axle forward a little bit and tighten them back down. Then do the same to the right rear but slide the axle rearward. In addition check the condition of all of your bushings that they are in good shape.
The front readings are weird. I would get it checked at another shop to verify the readings. You give very little info about your truck itself and the mods done. Its not really possible to help you much more unless you supply pics and details of your suspension.
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Thanks for the input White Stripe. I test drove this '75 once and then had TLC pick it up from the PO and deliver it to their shop for a full inspection and a list of things to be done - fix drivers seat track, valve job, replace oil pan, etc. Other than knowing that the springs are aftermarket Alcans and the shocks are Bilstein, the tires are 31" BFG - there is not much else I can tell you. While I drove a friend's '84 Troopy across Australia in 1996, this is my first 40 ownership and thus I am a neophyte trying to learn from the Mud brain trust. They responded to me that they will get the truck up on a rack to get me the photos. The problem with TLC is that they are really focused on their 6 figure builds. I'm sure they do good work - otherwise they would not have been around for +20 years, but they are expensive and slow - at least when your vehicle is not a money-maker for them - like mine.
 
BTG88 said:
Thanks for the input White Stripe. I test drove this '75 once and then had TLC pick it up from the PO and deliver it to their shop for a full inspection and a list of things to be done - fix drivers seat track, valve job, replace oil pan, etc. Other than knowing that the springs are aftermarket Alcans and the shocks are Bilstein, the tires are 31" BFG - there is not much else I can tell you. While I drove a friend's '84 Troopy across Australia in 1996, this is my first 40 ownership and thus I am a neophyte trying to learn from the Mud brain trust. They responded to me that they will get the truck up on a rack to get me the photos. The problem with TLC is that they are really focused on their 6 figure builds. I'm sure they do good work - otherwise they would not have been around for +20 years, but they are expensive and slow - at least when your vehicle is not a money-maker for them - like mine.
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Finally picked up the vehicle from TLC. Drove it back from NE Los Angeles to central Orange County - about 50 miles. Driving a 42 year old truck on LA freeways is an experience. It definitely reacts in an interesting way over uneven pavement. Kind of skips around a bit - not sure if that is a spring compliance issue or something else. I still plan on taking to a proper alignment shop to have them give it the once over.

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the rear shocks look like they are entirely too long.
front springs look like they some aluminum caster shims, but can't tell if they are backwards.
 
brian said:
the rear shocks look like they are entirely too long.
front springs look like they some aluminum caster shims, but can't tell if they are backwards.
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I can take some additional photos, if needed. I would have thought that TLC would have said something to me if the shocks were wrong. They've been servicing 40s long enough to know what works and what doesn't (I hope).
 
White Stripe said:
Need more pics of front axle. Need a pic from straight on level with front axle about 20 feet away tires pointing straight. Need pics of front axle leaf spring perches, and pics of front shackles and front spring hangers.
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Additional Photos

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