Fwd: Re: [Chrysler300] 1957 300C shocks & front alignment specs

["Thomas Miller" <tfm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here's a repost of my repost from 2005 of my orignal post from 2000 on the shocks.
 
ALSO, there's a repost of a plethora of alignment info from 1998!
 
Best Regards to all,
 
TFM
 
Thomas F. Miller
300C, 440+6 'Cuda


>>> Thomas Miller 4/8/2005 10:20 PM >>>
Howdy Folks,

Here's the info I originally posted in March of 2000 on KYB partnums:


Front - KG4507 (trim lower mounting sleeve to 1.25"
long)
Rear - KG5511 (no modification req.)

Plus, a good posting on alignment from this listserver in 1998:

Hi Gary, and Mike

Gary: from '57 service manual, page 207: for power steering cars, specs for
caster are +3/4 degree, +or- 3/4 degree. I would also like to refer you to
Mike Laiserin's well-circulated article on alignement, which basically says
to dial in as much caster as possible while keeping camber within specs. Let
me know if you want a copy of this article, I can e-mail it to you.


Hi to all,

This following articles from Mike Laiserin, as well as the next one from
David Grove, have been the most requested piece of information that ever
came through the listserver. These were also printed in a past Club news or
newsflite issue, by the way. I re-post to the list, as there are many new
members since last posted, and urge you to save it for further reference !

300'ly

John

FIRST ARTICLE,  BY MIKE LAISERIN
----- Original Message -----
From: <Mwl1967@xxxxxxx>
To: <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 1998 10:12 PM
Subject: wheel alignments & sway bars





Hi All...
				  Just thought i'd put my 2 cents worth in regarding the
caster etc...  years ago, when i used to autocross my dodge charger i
learned
a lot about alignments..   for straight line stability you want as much
positive caster as the car can take while still giving you camber readings
that are acceptable.  The only disadvantage to all the positive caster ( i
had
almost 5 degress on the charger ) is that the steering effort increases...
and, based on how much assist they built into our power steering units we
can
easily see why they wouldnt want to do anything to increase  steering
effort.
trust me... its not that bad and the car will handle so much better that
you'll think you are driving a different car.   Just look at old alignment
specs on cars...  cars which came with manual steering had less caster
specified than cars with power steering.. they wanted to make steering
effort
light.

someone esle suggested that the front wheels will look tilted heavily when
the wheels are turned lock to lock.. this is due to the high positive caster
but  you wont see this on our  300's as we can never get that much caster...
an example of cars which had very high factory positive caster was old
mercedes benz, or damilers, or .. oh anyway,,  those cars had extremely high
caster settings and the wheels tilted on turns but take another look at the
mercedes.. the older ones anyway.. look at the steering wheels, they are
huge.. again to offset the added steering effort due to the caster but then
again,,, noone ever complained that these cars couldnt handle the high
speeds
of the european autobahn

caster is the angle created when you draw an imaginary line runnng from the
upper ball joint to the lower, positive caster is when the upper ball joint
is
set rearward from the lower.
caster does not affect tire wear
camber is viewed if you are looking at the front of your car, its the angle
of the top of the tires in relation to the center of the car... of the top
of
the tires appear to tip in towards the center of the car camber is negative
(
great for cornering, bad for tire wear ) , if the camber is positive the top
of the tires appear o tip outward, or away from the center of the car.
you want zero, or slightly negative camber for spitited driving.

now..  here's a trick...   have your alignment shop rotate the upper control
arm cams at the rear all the way in to give you the most positive caster..
now
he will tell you that he cant get camber within specs however.... camber is
changed when vehicle height changes ( as the car bounces down the road ) if
camber is too positive with the high caster ( cams turned in all the way )
you can adjust the torsion bars either high or lower to bring the camber
into
specs.. usually lowering the front increased negative camber while raising
the
front height increases positive camber.

i could probablt write a book here but i'll quit while there are a few of
you
still with me. One more thing... a change that made more a diference in how
my
300K handles    ( even more than when i changed from 14" bias plys to 15"
radials !  )
is having a custom front anti-sway bar made for the car..  basically, i
replaced the original 7/8" bar mounted in rubber bushings with a made to
order
1-1/4" bar with urethane bushings ... BINGO !  a totally different car..
corners almost completely flat, it was astounding.  i had a company called
addco build it for me.. i dealt with john in their research and development
dept who made the bar and seemed quite interested in making a big old
chrysler
handle !	 He even made a custom rear bar for the car which i havent had
time to install as of yet.  All i can tell you is that the fatter front bar
is
inexpensive, and almost indistinguishable compared to an original bar but it
will make your car much more pleasurable to drive...
just think.. if you can take freeway exits at 50 when it used to have to be
25 mph, think how much better the car will handle under "normal" exit speeds
,
or just cruisng along at 75 or 80mph
Hope this helps you out
Michael

AND THE NEXT ONE, FROM DAVID GROVE:

In response to Amtonello's problem - outside of the obvious things
(steering box loose at the frame, steering box worn out or out of
adjustment), and assuming the suspension is "ship shape":  Something no one
has mentioned is the "caster".  I find nowadays that front end alignment
shops do not believe in a lot of positive caster - this is what makes the
car track straight down the road, as well as let the steering wheel return
to center after a turn.  I don't know why more + caster is not put in, and
I'm not a "front end man" per se, but the last time I had a rear-drive car
aligned, I was surprised at the specs that the alignment shop had to set
the car.  Something like +1/2 positive caster.  I aligned front ends in a
Chrysler dealership for a while back around 75 or so, and we always used at
least +1 1/2 caster - and more if we could get it (not always possible).
Now I know some cars will tilt the wheels at a weird angle during sharp
turns with a lot of + caster dialed in - but I don't believe the Chryslers
were affected this way.  Back to the last alignment - I told the alignment
dude that I wanted more positive caster than his specs called for,
whereupon he told me that there would be absolutely no "warranty" on this
alignment.  Whatever the hell a "warranty" is on an alignment - I don't
know - either you do it right or you don't.  Anyway - he went ahead and put
2 degrees + caster in the car, and it drove & handled like a dream.  I
can't understand why the specs are listed in this manner.  I would take
that 300G to a shop where they will do what the customer wants and align it
thus:  0  camber (or as close as you can get), and 2 1/2 positive caster on
the right wheel, and 2 1/4 positive caster on the left, toe - 1/8 inch IN.
If it doesn't do better, I'll be real surprised.   One more thing - and
this is IMPORTANT::::  when you have radials on you "non-radial" car, be
VERY careful with your steering box adjustment (for free play) - you know,
the 5/8 nut with the allen head in the middle - if this is the least bit
too tight - it will wear you out!  In fact, it is better to be a little too
loose than too tight.  If you are having severe "wandering" problems, make
sure someone didn't "do you a favor", and tighten this adjustment up for
you.  Radial tires produced today do not have nearly the adverse effect on
"non-radial" cars as they did 20 years ago.  You can use them on just about
anything - and if you still have problems with "handling" - install a front
sway bar.  We used to do this back when the radials first came out, and it
would "straighten them right up"!.  I guess that's all I have to say on the
subject, so I won't take up any more of your time.  DaveG.



Best Regards,

Thomas F. Miller
tfm@xxxxxxxxxxxx 

'57 300C, '57 NewYorker T&C Wagon(s)






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