Technical Too Much Positive Camber 50 Ford Car?

I'm driving my 50 Coupe I pulled out of the forest and have been working on a couple years. Car was dormant for decades. Now I'm starting to educate myself a little about alignment. Car drives nice and I thought I had got lucky on the alignment, then I noticed I'd scrubbed off the outside corners of both front tires. No big deal, they're the cheapest new tires I ever bought.

I set the toe when I first got her running, I'm sure I need to recheck that. But here's where I'm puzzled: car seems to be way too much positive camber. So far with my tentative investigation the tires/wheels seem to be really leaning out at the top.

Here's my question: all my reading, and maybe logic, suggests that old worn out parts sagging down would cause negative camber. Wouldn't it? All these parts seem to be original, but not completely worn out. I'd appreciate any thoughts. Thanks!!

 

Can you remove enough shims to get it to 0-1 negative?

 

I think your wear issue is toe.

 

From Motors manual 1950 - 51 ford castor -1/4 camber +1/2 toe 3/16

 

These Fords don't use shims. They have an off center bushing in the top of the spindle support that does all the adjusting that is there to be had.

 

I did not know that.

 

Camber wear normally will be smooth and on one or the other edge of the tire where the majority of the weight is riding.
Toe wear in or out often shows up as a feathered look across the tread of the tire meaning that the tire is being drug a bit sideways down the road and the rubber is being pushed to one side. if you slide your finger tips across the tread from side to side and back you can feel the direction that the tread is being pushed (feathered) you won't see that with camber wear.
Just thinking, bad shocks will often cause the outside part of the tread to wear excessively but if you slide your hand around the circumference of the tire you can feel (and often see) the cupped out flat spots from the tire bouncing on the pavement.

 

Thanks everybody, I hope to address it again tomorrow.

 

If you have a pretty level spot to work on, you can get the camber close with a carpenter's level. The toe is generally the last thing you do after the camber & caster are dialed in.

 

Pist-n-broke is correct. The upper pin rotates and moves the spindle in and out in the upper bushing.

Its been a couple years but i think it it has a locking bolt in the middle.

If you jack it up and pull a tire, get a pic of the spindle where it mounts to the upper arm and post it and i should be able to tell you. Need a pic to refresh my memory.

Getting old sucks !! Lol

 

The links aren't "flipped" are they?

 

Man, I don't know. I pulled that top eccentric bolt deal out of both sides today, not worn out at all. With the car still in the air I got one side to look like negative camber. The right side one still looks positive no matter how I twist it. I realize that the car needs to be sitting on the floor to really check it.....that's tomorrow's task. Thanks again, guys.

Edit to add: I was just holding a 4' level against the brake drum, and I just now realized car might not be level up on the lift. Down on the floor tomorrow on the tires.

 

Maybe a bent frame and the reason it was sitting in the field.

Would really like to see it in person.

 

I have thought of that. Car has one non-original front fender, but everything looks good to my untrained eye. I'll keep after it till I figure it out.

 

Have you thought about trying to find an alignment shop that's willing to check it out?

 

Yeah, I'll be looking for a shop, but I hate taking dirty old petrified stuff like this to someone. Wanted to go thru it cleaning and looking for wore out parts. And some understanding of how it works. My time is free these days.

 

I did a lot of checking on my car using a smart phone level app. I'd say it was pretty accurate, flipped the phone around to verify angles. If you can find a flat spot on the drum it may help. I glued a piece of scrap angle iron to my wheels and used that to bank off of.

 

I'm gonna get this sucker close enough to drive, thanks again everybody. I know more about alignment than I ever did before.

 

you can also use a rafter square and tape measure for a rough check.

 

That's probably how it was done the last time it was aligned and why it's eating up the Tires. Close is only close and there's only one Right Way.

 

he said he needed to get it on the road nothing about a 50,000 mile warranty

 

I'm still here. After hours and hours I've got her pretty close. I will be looking for an alignment shop, but I want one with some old geezers around.

Edit to add: except for castor, haven't messed with that yet.