MINO4.6

I'm I right in saying that no one makes caster/camber plates for 05 and up, like the ones that have been made for previous years. I have a tire wear problem inside is wearing faster than outside. According to my alignment sheet the camber is within spec, caster is not. Does anyone make anything that will allow the caster to be corrected? All I can find are items to fix camber. If anyone knows of anything can you please clue me in.
Also does anyone have the alignment spec for an 05 so i can compare them with what I have?

Thanks to all,
Tony

NewEdgePerf

Ford has been known to have very wide tolerances....despite being within the range, it is possible that too much negative camber and/or too much toe out could be the root of the tire wear. Always have the alignment tech tighten the tolerences...some alignment computers even have this as an option.

Did you have your alignment checked after the springs were installed?

I have not yet seen any caster correction products offered for the S197 Mustang. If caster is off, perhaps something is bent.

I hope this helps.

Tony D

MINO4.6

I did have it checked after I installed the springs. I think prehaps I will take it to another Ford dealer and have it rechecked. I just dont know if I should do that first or install camber bolts that I may not need and then have it aligned.

Tony

NewEdgePerf

Did you get a printout of the finished alignment readings? If so, you should look at how far from the target camber you are. That should help you decide whether or not to buy a camber kit.

Tony D

MINO4.6

the camber spec I have are -1.1--0.3 mine is -1.1 both sides within the specs. the caster however is way of specs 2.5--4.0 mine is 7.4. I dont know if buying camber bolts will help adjust the caster also? I was told at the time of the alignment that they would have to slot the frame (which I assume means to elongate the hole to allow for more adjustment)

And as for buying camber adjuster Steeda allows for a 3 degree adjustment which still is not enough.

Tony

NewEdgePerf

Do you have any other specs on your printout? Like Included angle or Steering Axis Inclination (SAI)?

Something could be bent or a part, like a control arm, spindle, bushings, etc could be out of spec....these cars are mass produced, so stuff happens. Could have a control arm been bent by the chain that ties the car to the car carrier?

Tony D

NewEdgePerf

BTW, those camber kits are not going to help caster...so that is not the answer.

Tony D

89Trooper

Camber and Toe are definitely affected when a car is lowered. Caster might be ever so slightly affected (but probably not), but really doesn't wear a tire like camber and/or toe does. Also, there is no way to adjust caster unless you notch the holes where the strut assembly bolts to the strut tower so you can lean the whole strut assembly forward or back.

Caster affects how much a car will wander. The struts lean back toward the windshield from the factory (on most cars). This helps the car return to a straight position after a turn. The straighter up and down the strut is, the more the car will wander. The farther back the strut leans, the quicker it returns from a turn. Caster doesn't really affect tire wear, except when turning.

Factory Camber Specs = -.75° +/- .75° (Range = 0.0 to -1.5°). This means the tire can be perfectly verticle, to the top of the tire leaning in 1.5°).

Factory Toe Specs = +.10° +/- .20° (Range = -.10° to + .30°).

For toe, the tires should be pointing slightly toward each other in the front (+.10°). When you are moving, they tend to go straight.

I installed the camber bolts and was able to dial camber in on both sides to -1.0 degrees using a digital angle finder.

I adjusted my toe by using some string and a little trigonometry. I turned the inner tie rod ends 1 turn each to bring the toe back into specs.

redbullet

Really........

Ford Camber & CASTOR kit

4R3Z3B236AB $109.27 From your local Ford dealer

NJ3

I think your specs are wrong. After I lowered my 06 I had it aligned and I asked for a before and after print out. The specs I have show Camber 0.0 to -1.5; caster 7.6 to 6.6 and toe -0.05 to 0.15. So according to these specs your caster and camber are within the range. I would bet your toe is off, probably adjusted to the wrong spec.

My end measurements are; camber = -1.3; caster = 7.3 and toe = 0.05.

89Trooper

You show me a picture of that and how it works.

On pre-05 Mustangs, you could slide the top of the strut left, right, forward, back, or any combination of the four.

On 05+ Mustangs, the top of the strut assembly is attached with 4 studs to the strut tower allowing no movement in any of those four directions (other than bolt slop).

89Trooper

I think your toe specs are for each side. The ones I gave above are for total toe. Double your specs and you get what I gave (-.10 to +.30).

Was your caster any different on the BEFORE print out?

Did you purposely get your camber close to the -1.5 degree limit? Dead center of the range is -.75 degrees.

NJ3

Your right about the toe specs, my total toe was set to 0.09. My caster did not change from before to after. And I did not use camber bolts so the camber is just the result of lowering.

I would like to know what MINO4.6's toe was set to, unless I missed it in one of the above post.

89Trooper

I actually knew your caster would be the same... I just wanted to show to others that it doesn't change when you lower a car, so there is absolutely no need to adjust it.

I agree with you... I think his toe is out (I didn't see what his toe was either). Both of your camber angles are very close and within tolerance. Also, both of your caster angles are the same (the .1 could be bolt slop on the upper mount).

MINO4.6: Put your steering wheel straight and stand right over your front fender. You can actually see if the tire is pointing in or out. If they both appear to point out, then your toe is definitely off. This is just a quick way to check.

redbullet

That's because you are looking in the wrong area.

The camber bolt is in the spindle and the castor cam bolt, replaces the factory bolt in the rear lower control arm mount. The factory already has the shoulders in place, similiar to the camber adjustment.

The rear bushing is pressed onto the lower control arm and then the bushing mounts to the frame. It is this bolt that is replaced.

I've given you the factory pt #, if you doubt it, call your dealer.

89Trooper

Interesting... I'll have to take a look at that when I have the front tires off next time. (Not that I would see why one would need that... unless you are setting the car up for something other than a daily driver).

Not that I doubted you... it was just your presentation:

scramblr

+1. I ended up with the same measurements. Funny though, the camber was jumping form -.59 to -1.5. Added a camber bolt kit and was able to get both sides to -1.0 which is what I wanted. Toe also came out at .05.

MINO4.6

turns out my specs are wrong, the DUMB A@@ at the dealer used 04 specs. I plan on taking it into another shop this week to have things rechecked and perhaps put in the camber bolts just to be safe. I went back and took a closer look at the tire wear and it is not bad like I first thought, had a couple other people look at the tire wear also and they seem to think the tire wear if just fine. It was probably just me over reacting to bad lighting and shadows.

Thanks for everyone help with this. Mustang Source is a great place to find info, and pleanty of people willing to help out a fellow member.

Tony