Just finished test fitting all the new parts for my car and noticed how much the front strut angle changes from lock to lock. I didn't verify this with the stock parts. I have BMR k member a arms and stock struts and strut mount. Stock spindles with modifications for fouth gen brakes.

How much should the caster angle on the strut change through the steering range. Looking at the offset on the ball joint and strut line I believe what I'm seeing is normal I just want to confirm.

 

Looks about same as my 88

 

Thanks I wanted to confirm, I should of looked at that before I disassembled the entire car to have a reference. Time to put grease in the fittings and torque everything thing down... The LS1 goes in next week.

 

What Is That Snapping Sound.

 

Ignore snaps fenders are just sitting on and steering parts were finger tight, but I think what you hear is the strut dust shields they are rough ( original with 213k miles) I will replace those before I get it aligned. I'm only planning on using those struts short term, I'm debating on adjustable ones, without doing coil overs.

 

The struts don't point straight at the ball joints, so of course, the angle will change as the steering articulates them. That property is cast/forged into the spindle, and most likely, (I wasn't in the room at the time) "perfection" wasn't the goal, only low cost, and low effort. Yes there's a GREAT DEAL of tolerance in everything in these cars; gotta LOVE that terrific 70s "quality control", where somebody ALWAYS stepped up (be it management, union leaders, rank-&-file workers, whoever) to make sure the "quality" never exceeded the bare minimum acceptable for the warranty offered back then. Our cars aren't that far removed from that.

Surely you remember the "generous" 5,000 mile / 6 month powertrain warranty back then? Absolutely no "bumper-to-bumper" warranty whatsoever, and dealers had the discretion to decline almost any warranty claim? And yes, even that limited acknowledgement of responsibility FREQUENTLY had to be honored, because a significant fraction of new cars couldn't even go that far back then without some critical thing pooping the bed. A far cry from what the auto industry has been forced to upgrade to in the last 15 years or so. These cars were the very first in which the General (and the other American mfrs) tried to crawl out from under DECADES of complacency and unaccountability, as they woke up to the change in customer expectations. It was tough going for a LONG time, and mfg tolerances were just one little part of the total FAIL package that had to be addressed.

Be that as it may, as long as you have stock spindles, the angles will stay pretty much ... stock. As they are now. Changing to a different brand of struts won't alter the suspension design materially. I doubt adjustable ones, or coil-overs, will have much effect on it, for that matter.

 

Right, sorry didn't mean to imply the strut would change anything, I'm running aftermarket kmember and a arms which could change the angles. If for example the a arm was shorter it would increase the caster change through the turn based on the offset in the spindle. I just never noticed that much shift before not that I was looking for it. I first noticed it at the top strut mount, also since I haven't finished the spindle modification I don't currently have turn stops beyond the internal ones.

I'll verify wheel lip to wheel lip which should tell me if the parts changed the tire track any.

And no too young I missed the 70s completely but I know the history well.

 

Normal movement. Welcome to the wonderful budget oriented F-body mcpherson suspension system lol. They work decently well for what they are...somehow. But the geometry design was nowhere near perfect back then in these cars.

 

On the contrary the Strut front suspension works remarkably well when given the proper roll center- easy fix in these cars.

Where GM lacked understanding is the steering geometry. I have a solution to this I have yet to reveal to anyone, however, its a quite easy fix but I will hold this close to my cuff.

 

Subscribed.

JamesC

 

My solution was not an easy fix....and I'm actually hoping it WILL be a solution all said and done!

I do remember you bringing up an idea for steering in my old thread, "power rack conversion the right way." It consisted of a bell crank type setup. Sounded very interesting.

 

Nope, That was a bell crank idea for those looking to use a rack. No rack is the correct width so fulcrum levers could manipulate that by using a reverse rack and some creative geometry...but that is complex. This idea I have had for years and uses the factory steering box. I will not divulge it though so no bother asking. I have a few unique idea for a 3rd gen I've held close to my cuff. I will never share them until I prototype and sell them.

 

The cantilever idea is a lot like a swing set on a long travel ranger. I made a Center link and tie rods that should correct the ackramen if I did the geometry right