Imperial 1974 Alignment spec sheet

[Ollewoll]

Hello
can someone give me the wheel alignment data for my 1974 imperial 4 door? Unfortunately, it is difficult to find anything in Germany. Thanks

 

[Boydsdodge]

Courtesy of MOPAR ACTION.

 

[CBODY67]

Same basic specs as prior Chryslers used, as I recall.

In genera (my numbers)l: 0 Camber, Max Caster (probably end up about +1.5 degrees), Minimize Toe-in to about 1/16" or so. Do these adjustments with the driver and/or "normal load" as the car would see daily, for a bit finer adjustment.

In the earlier 1980s, the then-new OEM "All Season" tires had blocky treads on them. If they were not rotated every oil change, they'd get a noisy wear pattern on them. It was also discovered that they needed a "minimum toe-in" setting, too, for long life.

IF a good bit of your driving in on "crowned roads", the cross-caster setting can be used to compensate for that at a bit. So the steering wheel is still mostly "straight", if desired.

KEY thing, with torsion bars, is that the car is sitting level (as in rocker panel parallel to the road surface). With the front end lower than it should be (i.e., specs), it will affect the effective caster in a negative manner. So keep the rocker panel parallel to the road surface for best results.

Now . . . when the cars were new, the radial tire "craze" was just hitting the USA. Radials were standard on my Chryslers, back then. Usually Goodyears. The local Chry service manager "talked" about the new radial tires. On his side of things, if the car was aligned perfectly to specs, it might still "pull to one side", no matter what. As this cas usually caused by the tires, the "word" came down to alter the caster adjustment in order to get the cars to drive straight and please the customers. In his words, deliberatly putting the front end "out of alignment" to compensate for the poor quality (obviously) of the tires. Which meant they had lots of cars on the lot with bias-belted tires on them, if possible. After a few model years, things seemed to get back to normal. I suspect that current radials are just fine, though.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[sprice]

Same basic specs as prior Chryslers used, as I recall.

In genera (my numbers)l: 0 Camber, Max Caster (probably end up about +1.5 degrees), Minimize Toe-in to about 1/16" or so. Do these adjustments with the driver and/or "normal load" as the car would see daily, for a bit finer adjustment.

In the earlier 1980s, the then-new OEM "All Season" tires had blocky treads on them. If they were not rotated every oil change, they'd get a noisy wear pattern on them. It was also discovered that they needed a "minimum toe-in" setting, too, for long life.

IF a good bit of your driving in on "crowned roads", the cross-caster setting can be used to compensate for that at a bit. So the steering wheel is still mostly "straight", if desired.

KEY thing, with torsion bars, is that the car is sitting level (as in rocker panel parallel to the road surface). With the front end lower than it should be (i.e., specs), it will affect the effective caster in a negative manner. So keep the rocker panel parallel to the road surface for best results.

Now . . . when the cars were new, the radial tire "craze" was just hitting the USA. Radials were standard on my Chryslers, back then. Usually Goodyears. The local Chry service manager "talked" about the new radial tires. On his side of things, if the car was aligned perfectly to specs, it might still "pull to one side", no matter what. As this cas usually caused by the tires, the "word" came down to alter the caster adjustment in order to get the cars to drive straight and please the customers. In his words, deliberatly putting the front end "out of alignment" to compensate for the poor quality (obviously) of the tires. Which meant they had lots of cars on the lot with bias-belted tires on them, if possible. After a few model years, things seemed to get back to normal. I suspect that current radials are just fine, though.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

Hi CBODY67, "KEY thing" question. Would it be important for the driver to be in the car for this measurement?

 

[CBODY67]

Theoretically, yes. In reality, not really (depending upon your weight) as the amount of change with approx 200 lbs weight in the driver's seat will not affect the angles very much at all, I suspect. I've never had it done that way with any of my cars. No tire wear issues at all, which might be attributable to my not being in the driver's seat.

I first saw mention of either the driver being in the car or a bag of weights being placed in the driver's seat mentioned in the later 1960s in "Popular Science" magazine, as to front end alignments. I could see the theory of that situation, but NOBODY did it that way in the shops I knew of, then or later. I suspect that any changes in ride height due to the driver's weight would still be well within the factory tolerances of the alignment specs.

Check with your alignment tech for guidance.

CBODY67