What You Need To Know (And Maybe What Your Shop Needs To Know) About Vintage Mustang And Ford Front-End Alignment
Front-end alignment is one of the most baffling dynamics of a classic Mustang, ranking somewhere behind air conditioning and automatic transmissions. Like cold air and automatics, front-end alignment is a mystery for most of us because we really dont understand whats going on under there. With blind faith and abundant prayer, we hand over our keys to the service technician who pulls our Mustang onto the alignment rack. We leave 30 minutes later wondering what was performed while we were sipping on that bad cup of coffee and watching Jerry Springer in the waiting room.
That is, if your alignment shop can even handle a vintage Mustang alignment job. Its all too common these days to find young alignment technicians who have been trained only for todays newer cars, so they are unfamiliar with older suspensions and their alignment techniques. Also, weve run into shops that claim they dont have specs for 60s carsor maybe that was just an excuse to cover up for the technicians lack of expertise on those cars.
A vintage Mustang front-end alignment isnt really a mystery. It is little more than the proper geometry of the front wheels and tires as they relate to the pavement. When the alignment is off, tire wear increases as can your struggle with the steering wheel. Weve all been there at one time or another. The steering wheel is at 10 oclock with the front wheels straight ahead. How many times has a lazy technician told you, Oh, just remove and recenter the steering wheel
because they neglected to properly set the toe? Or the frustration of that drift to the right on a straight and level roadway. The greatest insult is the extraordinary tread wear on a new set of BFGoodrich Radial T/As.
We visited with Marlon Mitchell of Marlos Frame & Alignment in Chatsworth, California, for an education on front-end alignment for vintage Mustangs. Marlos has been aligning front ends for several decades in Southern California, so theyre very familiar with older Fords.
Were going to set you straight on vintage Mustang front-end alignment so you will be ready for that next visit to the alignment shop. Those of you with other Fords and Mercs can learn from this too.
Caster
The first step in a front-end alignment is caster check and adjustment. Caster, as the name implies, is how the wheels caster in relation to each other. Because most roads have a crown at the middle for water runoff, an alignment specialist will set the caster where the right wheel is slightly ahead of the left, which makes the vehicle wander ever so slightly toward the center of the road, which keeps the vehicle on the road and off the shoulder. Where caster becomes a pain at times is when were on the freeway where there is no crown and the vehicle tends to drift toward the middle.
Caster is adjusted two ways depending on model year. Mustangs from 65-66, and Falcons and Comets from 60-65 have their caster set by the number of shims used on the upper control arms. The number of shims determines the angle of the control arm in relation to the shock tower. The angle of the control arm determines spindle positioning.
For 67-73, caster is set by adjusting the strut-rod adjustment nuts, which move the strut rod, lower control arm, and spindle fore and aft.
Camber
Camber is the angle of the tire and wheel in relation to the pavement, adjusting it by moving either the upper or lower control arms, which controls the angle of the tire/wheel assembly. For 65-66 Mustangs and 60-65 Falcons and Comets, camber is adjusted with shims on the upper control arms. Add shims and you increase camber, which pushes the top of the tire out. Decrease the number of shims and you reduce camber, which brings the top of the tire inboard.
For 67-73 Mustangs, Cougars, Falcons, Comets, and Fairlane/Torinos, camber is adjusted using an eccentric on the lower control arm. The upper control arms are in a fixed position and not adjustable.
For the street, camber should be nearly dead-on (tread at 12 and 6 oclock), which means the tire tread is seated perfectly on the pavement when the vehicle is at rest. Canyon and road racers need a pinch of negative camber, which puts more tread in contact with the road in hard cornering.
Toe
Toe is the relationship between the tire/wheel and the steering linkage. It also affects the way the tire tracks. Adjust toe by screwing the tie-rod end sleeves and running the tie-rod ends in or out. Typical toe for a classic Mustang is a pinch of toe-out, which helps the vehicle track nice and straight. A little bit of toe-out provides stability. And yes, it will affect tire wear to a certain degree. Because toe-out is ever so slight, youll never notice.