Need body fitment help! The front wheel well is too close to the front of the tire such that the tires rub against the body of the wheel well with even a small turn. The rear wheels sit correctly, and the body is secured with quickjack bolts. Front alignment was done with fasttrax and set to the manual specs. I understand this will improve after the body trim, but seems at this stage of my build, I should at least be able to drive it around the parking lot. Any suggestions? It is most pronounced on the driver's side and those pictures are attached.
Specs
Caster +7 (pwr steering), Camber -0.5, Toe 1/16"
Ride height 5.75" front, 6.5" rear; not final but enough to maneuver a lift around the car
1) make sure body is situated correctly on the frame. the body should be just forward of the door strikers on the frame (1/4"). you may need to trim in curled portion of the dash lip to get it forward enough
2) are you using manual or power steering? you mentioned manual which should be 3-4* caster then also mentioned 7* caster later on
3) set ride height before alignment. changes in height will affect your final alignment specs. most of us use 4" in front and 4.5" in rear. seems low but works fine. height will settle a bit after driving around, but if you reset the shocks, alignment will go back to your original specs. s
4) trim a bit of the wheel well lip. this will affect wheel rub.
HTH
Your ride height is way high. I’ve never seen a wheel that far forward with 7degrees positive unless the body is not far enough forward. Far enough forward means that the rear edge of the door opening is about 1/4” ahead of the door striker plate on the chassis. I commented on this and included a photo when you posted a similar question a month ago. Are you sure you have 7 degrees of positive caster? Looking at your photos it appears that your adjuster sleeves are nearly even. That much positive caster will usually have almost no threads showing on an uncut sleeve (yours doesn’t look to be cut) in the rear and 1/2”-3/4” of threads showing on both sides of the front sleeve
Jeff
Last edited by Jeff Kleiner; 10-15-2022 at 02:18 PM.
You adjusted Caster backwards. And as Jeff said, ride height is way to high. Start with 4.25" ride height front and 4.75" in back. The springs will settle a little over time and end up where they need to be.
I saw the picture you posted last month but it didn't click. Now I understand and my rear end of the door opening is even with the striker plate. But trying to wiggle the body forward the extra 1/4" is challenging. I've loosened the rear quickjacks, taken the front ones off, and pulled the sides away from the frame. I think the body might be wedged onto the vinyl dash. Not sure what else to try, other than removing the body completely--which I can't do because I'm solo. Seems like it is a likely issue for the wheel rubbing..any tricks you might suggest?
You won’t like hearing this but the lip where the cowl rolls under needs to be trimmed back approx 3/8” of an inch so that it isn’t in contact with the dash and will allow the body to move forward. Although this is easier with the body fully removed you could probably do it by raising the rear above the trunk side walls and leaving the nose down. The need to trim this lip been pretty well documented here over the years…sorry In addition I’m not convinced that your caster is properly set and like Frank said have to wonder if you are looking at negative rather than positive…
You adjusted Caster backwards. And as Jeff said, ride height is way to high. Start with 4.25" ride height front and 4.75" in back. The springs will settle a little over time and end up where they need to be.
bcski175,
I snapped a photo when I had the body off of one this morning so that you can get a verification of your alignment settings. This will get you pretty close to 7 degrees positive caster and 1/2 degree negative camber. Measurements are to the center of grease fittings.
Thanks for the idea, we trimmed the body in the front so it doesn't contact the dash and now there's a gap between the gap and the dash but the body has little room to slide so, it must be held up elsewhere. The body still needs to move forward about 3/4". Is there anything else that might need to be trimmed?
It is pretty snug in the rear by the trunk but to fix this we'd probably need to trim multiple aluminum pieces but that doesn't seem logical.
Thers no way you’re off 3/4 of an inch. Just not possible. Your door hinges wouldn’t open. with the rear quick jack spacers in place, its usually pretty close. I have found that you will never get the front centered.
Mike
Last edited by michael everson; 11-23-2022 at 06:33 AM.
show us where the body sits at the rear of the door opening. it should be just in front of the striker plate on the frame by about 1/4".
Yeah, refer to the photo I’ve posted on the other threads you’ve started on this same topic…
Show us a photo of the trunk aluminum with the body on, particularly the lower horizontal lip just below the trunk opening. I’ve had to trim a couple of those but I think they started putting a little more bend in it so that hasn’t been necessary for a few years.
My gut tells me that you've got a negative 7 degrees of caster instead of a positive 7.
.............Question:,, Is the upper ball joint in front or behind the lower ball joint?
..........=...............It almost looks like it is leaning forward in your pics.
Looks like caster is adjusted negative instead of positive to me as well. The rear adjuster typically needs to be trimmed to get to +7, but yours dont look like theyre trimmed and instead are out what looks like 1/4" on each end.
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In addition I’m not convinced that your caster is properly set and like Frank said have to wonder if you are looking at negative rather than positive…
Originally Posted by i.e.427
