Front Clip
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Front Clip
Hello everyone,it has been a while since I had a post,have not had much to report.I think I may have a problem.I put a front clip from a lincoln town car on my 66' short bed,I was very carefull to maintain wheel base and it is dead level side to side and square to frame but here is where I think I have a problem.Looking at the frame from the side with the frame at ride height does anyone know what the max tilt degree is allowed on the upper control arm assy. I have heard that the control arms need to tilt back a little.please help me out cause I think I am gonna have to cut it off and start over.Any input would be greatly appreciated.
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Joined: Jul 2003
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From: East Central Florida
The angle you are seeking is called caster rate or caster inclination.
The caster rate in degrees you need should be same as that of the Town car you got the K frame from. I say that because caster must coincide with the radial workings of your Control Arm (A-Frame) travel, and vertical centerline distance of the spindle from it's horizontal pivot points of the upper & lower control arms. That is how the footprint transplant is achieved & maintained the way I understand it.
So whatever you have to do to get the same caster angle as the Lincoln Towncar you got your K-Frame from is, what you need to achieve with your set up now, at least in my opinion that's what it needs.
FBp
The caster rate in degrees you need should be same as that of the Town car you got the K frame from. I say that because caster must coincide with the radial workings of your Control Arm (A-Frame) travel, and vertical centerline distance of the spindle from it's horizontal pivot points of the upper & lower control arms. That is how the footprint transplant is achieved & maintained the way I understand it.
So whatever you have to do to get the same caster angle as the Lincoln Towncar you got your K-Frame from is, what you need to achieve with your set up now, at least in my opinion that's what it needs.
FBp
Last edited by FordBoypete; Jul 11, 2007 at 02:15 PM.
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From: San Diego CA
OK I measured and the front of my control arm shaft sits 1/2 higher than the rear. I couldn't find my angle gauge but I'd guess its 4degrees. From experience doing alignments for years this is in the neighborhood.
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Thanks alot to you guys,I put my angle finder on the plane of of upper control arm when I think I should have checked angle from upper ball joint to lower ball joint,which I did last night and it checked to be +5 degrees I hope this is an acceptable way to measure instead of control arm angle
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From: San Diego CA
What your looking at is the angle of the upper A arm in realation to the caster angle(imaginary line drawn through the balljoint pivot points). This angle must be a consistant 90degrees through the suspension travel. If its off when the A arm moves up the caster changes and causes bump steer. So if your caster angle is +5 the upper control arm angle should match.
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