1973 Newport Alignment Help

badvs3vil

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Hello everyone,

I am currently working on a 1973 Chrysler Newport Custom. I am having an issue with the steering not coming back to center after a turn.

As of today, I would have changed everything, new PS pump, gear box, rag joint, steering coupler, tie rods, balls joints, pitman and idler arms, shocks, control arm bushings and prob some I am forgetting. However the issue is still there.

I did take it to get an alignment and I added a picture below of it. They told me its the best they can do for the Caster. What I am missing here, how do I get more Caster?

Thanks!

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I forgot to add a picture of the whole car, because I love this thing.

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I see you live in Chicago. The best front end shop in the city is Southwest Spring on Columbus drive, (South of Midway Airport). They have been in business for many years, and the have the old timers on staff who know how to work on our cars.
 
I see you live in Chicago. The best front end shop in the city is Southwest Spring on Columbus drive, (South of Midway Airport). They have been in business for many years, and the have the old timers on staff who know how to work on our cars.

Thanks for the help. I just might have to do that at some point. However, I put Chicago but I am far North. Pretty much in WI at this point. LOL.
 
I see you live in Chicago. The best front end shop in the city is Southwest Spring on Columbus drive, (South of Midway Airport). They have been in business for many years, and the have the old timers on staff who know how to work on our cars.
Finding a shop that knows these cars is so key!!
 
@badvs3vil -- nice car! If you get the alignment done by this weekend, it'd be great to see you join the Illinois River Run on Sunday, May 2. If not, then think about the 5th Midwest C-body show in Uniontown on Saturday, June 26. And the Waupun show on Sunday, June 27.

Regardless, if you could post more about your car in the 1973 Chrysler Thread, that'd be great.

For an alignment shop in northern Illinois or Southern WI, @Xenon @71Polara383 and @70 Sport Suburban may be able to help.
 
Indeed -- it looks so much better now!
 
Indeed -- it looks so much better now!
Soooo much work has went into it... it also didn't come with a 440. The guy had no idea what was in it. That plastic dip was the worst!!!! Took me over a month to get it all off...
 
@badvs3vil -- nice car! If you get the alignment done by this weekend, it'd be great to see you join the Illinois River Run on Sunday, May 2. If not, then think about the 5th Midwest C-body show in Uniontown on Saturday, June 26. And the Waupun show on Sunday, June 27.

Regardless, if you could post more about your car in the 1973 Chrysler Thread, that'd be great.

For an alignment shop in northern Illinois or Southern WI, @Xenon @71Polara383 and @70 Sport Suburban may be able to help.

I'm down!!! I was hoping to hit the cars and coffee on Sunday in waukegan as well. I've been looking for a group to join.
 
The caster is far from ideal, but I think the wheel should return to straight with those specs.

Before spending a lot of time and money attempting to figure this out, I would want to try a set of stock rims and tires on the front, without the spacers, to see if it improves things.

Jeff
 
The caster is far from ideal, but I think the wheel should return to straight with those specs.

Before spending a lot of time and money attempting to figure this out, I would want to try a set of stock rims and tires on the front, without the spacers, to see if it improves things.

Jeff

I wish I had some to test. I only have these or some 22" rims. However, I will not be putting any stock rims on it. The car rides ok on normal streets and the not going back to center isnt a big deal until you get up to 50+ mph then it gets interesting. Are there any aftermarket upper control arms that would give better ajustments? I sure cant find any. Hell I couldn't even find anyone selling the factory ones. LOL
 
Hello everyone,

I am currently working on a 1973 Chrysler Newport Custom. I am having an issue with the steering not coming back to center after a turn.

As of today, I would have changed everything, new PS pump, gear box, rag joint, steering coupler, tie rods, balls joints, pitman and idler arms, shocks, control arm bushings and prob some I am forgetting. However the issue is still there.

I did take it to get an alignment and I added a picture below of it. They told me its the best they can do for the Caster. What I am missing here, how do I get more Caster?

Thanks!

View attachment 456056
View attachment 456057
View attachment 456058

The way to get maximum assist in returning the wheel to center after a turn is to set the control arms for maximum caster. Think of bicycle forks for a minute, as they are curved forward as they go from the handle bars down the forks to the bike wheel center. That tilts the forks backward at the top and forward at the bottom. This is called maximum caster. It also allows some cyclists to take their hands off the handle bars briefly and allow the bike to track straight under conditions when the road is smooth and even.

Thus achieving maximum return to center after a turn also helps improve the directional stability of our C bodies, which is sorely needed due to the recirculating ball type of steering gears that were used in the 70s as opposed to the best modern systems that use rack and pinion systems. Thus, your goal of achieving maximum returnability of the steering is a worthy goal for both steering wheel returnability and the best tracking down the road.

One of the main gripes I have with the Chrysler products of the 70s is the limited ability to achieve maximum caster in their designs (which probably was because the use of bias ply tires made it easier to achieve these goals with less caster than the use of radials).

The first step in aligning our cars is to set the suspension height exactly where you want it with the torsion bar adjusters.

Since we want to get maximum caster with our steering systems. This means you need to think about the upper control arm ball joint being laid back as far as possible relative to the lower control arm ball joint (like on a bicycle). To achieve this, the front of the upper control arm needs to be moved outward as much as possible and the rear of the control arm needs to be moved inward as much as possible in order to rotate the upper control arm ball joint to the rear as much as possible.

The second step in setting alignment is to achieve proper camber which means generally you have to compromise some of the adjustments for caster to get the camber set to specifications, so in doing this, you generally lose a little bit of the caster. Camber affects tire wear if the tire is not close to straight up and down, so the goal is to compromise the caster as little as possible to get acceptable camber.

The last step is to set the toe-in.

To get maximum caster then the front cam needs to have the thick part of the cam as far out as possible from the centerline of the vehicle and the rear cam needs to have the thick part inward as much as possible (think of it as rotating the upper ball joint counterclockwise to get it to move to the rear as much as possible).

Unfortunately, the guy that did your alignment did just the opposite so you have almost the least amount of caster available, which is just what you don't want to achieve your goal.

Get a guy that knows more about what he is doing with a Chrysler vehicle if you want maximum returnability and maximum tracking ability so you are not correcting the steering all the time to keep the car going in a straight line.

You have a very nice looking Newport.

Good luck.
 
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The way to get maximum assist in returning the wheel to center after a turn is to set the control arms for maximum caster. Think of bicycle forks for a minute, as they are curved forward as they go from the handle bars down the forks to the bike wheel center. That tilts the forks backward at the top and forward at the bottom. This is called maximum caster. It also allows some cyclists to take their hands off the handle bars briefly and allow the bike to track straight under conditions when the road is smooth and even.

Thus achieving maximum return to center after a turn also helps improve the directional stability of our C bodies, which is sorely needed due to the recirculating ball type of steering gears that were used in the 70s as opposed to the best modern systems that use rack and pinion systems. Thus, your goal of achieving maximum returnability of the steering is a worthy goal for both steering wheel returnability and the best tracking down the road.

One of the main gripes I have with the Chrysler products of the 70s is the limited ability to achieve maximum caster in their designs (which probably was because the use of bias ply tires made it easier to achieve these goals with less caster than the use of radials).

The first step in aligning our cars is to set the suspension height exactly where you want it with the torsion bar adjusters.

Since we want to get maximum caster with our steering systems. This means you need to think about the upper control arm ball joint being laid back as far as possible relative to the lower control arm ball joint (like on a bicycle). To achieve this, the front of the upper control arm needs to be moved outward as much as possible and the rear of the control arm needs to be moved inward as much as possible in order to rotate the upper control arm ball joint to the rear as much as possible.

The second step in setting alignment is to achieve proper camber which means generally you have to compromise some of the adjustments for caster to get the camber set to specifications, so in doing this, you generally lose a little bit of the caster. Camber affects tire wear if the tire is not close to straight up and down, so the goal is to compromise the caster as little as possible to get acceptable camber.

The last step is to set the toe-in.

To get maximum caster then the front cam needs to have the thick part of the cam as far out as possible from the centerline of the vehicle and the rear cam needs to have the thick part inward as much as possible (think of it as rotating the upper ball joint counterclockwise to get it to move to the rear as much as possible).

Unfortunately, the guy that did your alignment did just the opposite so you have almost the least amount of caster available, which is just what you don't want to achieve your goal.

Get a guy that knows more about what he is doing with a Chrysler vehicle if you want maximum returability and maximum tracking ability so you are not correcting the steering all the time to keep the car going in a straight line.

You have a very nice looking Newport.

Good luck.


Thanks so much for this info. I did talk to a shop today that said they can do the alignment. I will be heading there, I hope by Friday.
 
When you start the car up, does the wheel try to turn itself? If so, the PA valve is improperly adjusted, that will cause the wheel to fail to return to center. Quick check for this condition is a wheel that jumps to one side or the other when the vehicle is started. A faulty PA adjustment will only effect the wheel turning one direction, not both. If the wheel is not trying to move on its own, you might want to check the free play adjustment on the steering gear. If it is set too tight, that can cause problems getting the wheel to center after a turn.

Dave
 
Here is a thread I did for my ‘68. Your 73 should very similar. I think I tagged the section on adjusting castor. The eccentric adjusters can be confusing to some, but if you think about it and learn how it moves you can effectively adjust castor without messing up the camber and vice versa.
‘68 Polara Alignment by the book
 
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