Dusky

Hi guys,
as per title, one of my front wheels is not centered in the arch. What could cause this?
Frame is straight, top and bottom arms looked okay and all rubbers are new.
It was like this before the rebuild, and still is after the rebuild. Any ideas are welcome! Or is it just a friday car?

Dusky

Fredtoo

Is the wheelbase on each side of the car the same?

69ttop502

derekderek

Alignment shims will move the wheel front to back. But it changes the caster (castor?) angle. Mebbe get it on an alignment rack. But that is a long way back. As Fred said, measure wheelbase both sides.

mrit

Could you get pics of the front suspension from underneath/with tires removed? Was the lower A-arm pivot welded to the frame? I've read that happens when the car has been in a wreak. My '75 car was welded on the passenger side and pulled really bad before it was parted out.

Any other wheels not centered?

Bikespace

Same on both sides? Control arms reversed?

bazza77

I'd look for a rewelded lower A arm mount or worse , the factory welds weren't the best , but usually a bad repair job has welding that REALLY stands out as bad !

sambrand

I see extensive body work that doesn't appear to be necessary... those holes will haunt you unless u remove the front clip and repair from the backside to frontside because without a proper fiber matt behind it the bodywork will likely crack. also from the pic it appears the top edge of the clip is not level with the door which suggests the front clip is not in the proper spot my guess is the retaining bolts on the front were torqued all the way then the back of the clip was simply shimmed to eyeball specs instead of actually using a string or laser. could also be sealant has expanded pushing the entire panel, without more contrast pics of the rest of the car cannot really say if the issue is mechanical or body alignment. has the car ever been dropped or subjected to any extreme impact from the bottom or front? also why would any repair of the fiberglass necessitate making a hole all the way through? crash?

crf311

Dusky

Sadly not the same on both sides, the other side is almost perfectly centered.

checked the body alignment and iits straight on the frame

Where do you shim it for caster? Top arm? The only thing I can think of is that someone someday reversed the sshimming?

there is no welding to the arms or mounts as far as I can tell, will measure it to be sure, but all looks good there?

sambrand

check the control arms, if you cannot see anything id take everything apart and reassemble it, odds are you will find the problem if you inspect the pivot bolts, conversely consult the aim manual for that year and you will find the distance specs of the center of wheel in relation to the body, it will also give the location pay attention to the sway bar to ensure its not bent, if you don't know the history of the car is possible the control arms have been replaced to fix damage but the sway bar is almost never considered, if its bent then you know car has struck a barrier or collision at some point enough to cause damage, if the control arms have ever been damaged the sway bar will almost always show some deformation, if take a piece of cardboard and trace the outline of the sway bar on one side and compare it to the other, paying attention to the sway bar links to clamps that hold the bar to the frame, you can also get an idea without disassembly, but excluding body mounting issues my bet is that the pivots are worn or damaged. toe and camber issues would be present if the pivots are bad, basically you could not ever get alignment set, is there any abnormal tire wear?

derekderek

Measure front wheel to back wheel both sides. Use the rim. Either front or back of the rim.

Rodnok1

Mine was about that bad after an accident, control arm shaft and mounts were bent.

Roadster71

Was the front clip ever off the car? Could have been reassembled incorrectly.

Dusky

Ill try to get some measurements in a minute.
the front clip has been removed by me, but the problem was there before I've removed it, it had the factory glue on it when I removed it

Quite a lot has been done to it, didnt come across anything unusual while assembling

https://youtu.be/ZuHsP0CanPI

Bikespace

Caster shims go on the top control arm. To get more positive caster (as everyone with a Borgeson Box wants, for example), shims go behind the rear bolt, and move the upper ball joint towards the rear. It is likely that this is already maxed out.

It seems that your lower control arm is bent rearward, too. Maybe some pictures can help?

Dusky

Could i have reversed my top arms?
pic 1 is the bad side (passenger) dont mind the loose nut,tried playing with the shimming without result
pic 2 driverside

derekderek

If you reversed them, they would both be offset the same amount. If you bought new ones, it's possible you have two lefts and the one on the right is throwing things off.

CanadaGrant

It looks to be right as the "dip" in the control arm right in front of the ball joint is supposed to be at the front, or forward facing on the car and both of yours are.