Bought a 30 av8 and it wanders all over the place. Biggest issue I think is that it needs a little more caster and the camber is actually a little negative. What methods have y'all used to add positive camber to these axles. Not sure what axle I have (cast/forged). I know this makes a difference with heat. All suggestions are appreciated.
1st check all moving parts.Steering links,kingpin play and closer pics of axel,steering and what is sticking out front.....pistons?
Yep. Somebody thought that'd be a neat addition. Needless to say they're gone now. I'll get more pics.
I'd say that is the first step. You have to be sure that the wheel bearings are adjusted correctly, the king pins are reasonably tight, all of the tie rod and drag link ends are tight and the ends on the split bones are in good shape before deciding what to do about caster and camber. I did front end work for a number of years and the first step is always checking for worn parts and making sure the wheel bearings are adjusted correctly Adjusting camber on an I beam axle isn't something many guys can do at home as they aren't equipped to do that work. It's going to be figuring out which way you need to move things and then placing your bottle jack in the right spot and tieing the axle down to the front end rack so you change the camber the way you want to by bending the axle a bit. On that car the bones may have to be modified if you don't have enough caster but I'd bet the caster is pretty close.
Like others have said, maybe the problems lie else where. I would start with the tyres, all around, then other things as mentioned, including rear end set up. I also doubt that the camber and / or castor is the problem, from the information given.
I had the same issue. I adjusted the toe in to 1/8" , added new shocks, spring, and spring perch bushings. My car steers great now. Aaron
Lotsa factors here...Stock Model A axle? How about some pics? Nobody (hopefully) casts a 'stock' Model A axle! But they do a '32 'heavy'...(grin) Purpose defeated!
That is a Ford Model A axle (forged) that has been dropped. And yes the camber is way too negative. Will need to be bent between the perches and King pins to correct that.
It kind looks toed out too... which will make it wonder. Sent from my SM-N900P using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Dude! Its not difficult at all at home. I took my truck to a front end shop and watched. He had a frame machine but a piece of railroad track or something similar, possibly even a railroad tie, a hydraulic jack and chain to chain the axle to the railroad track, then operate the jack til it looks good, lower the jack, check camber with an angle finder, maybe do it again. If you go too far, move the chain and go the other way.
Heat the naked axle boss, beat it with a nice big hammer until the hole gets smaller then resize with a reamer. I did it to my avatar and I did it on the car. Just take the spindles off. I reshaped a cold chisel to fit against the boss.
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