Club Cobra - front end setup

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hi guys,
thanks for the steering rack help. today i was working on the front end and pulled the control arms out. i've replaced all ball joints and updated to urethane bushings. i have questions regarding the alignment. there were NO shims in the upper control arms in either side. there is a 3 bolt bracket and a 2 bolt bracket holding the a-arms to the frame and i have shims to install but i was wondering if there was a general consensus as where to start. i have the shims for both sides. when the car was on the ground it looked to me like it had too much negative camber and was toed out. i was given specs of about 1/2 degree pos. camber, 3 degrees pos. caster, and toe-in about 1/8". does that sound about right? i worked in an automotive garage for 10 years, doing alignments for about 9 of those years so i have quite a bit of experience with alignments. of course it was with a hunter laser machine. these are 1/16" shims. if anyone has tried to do their own alignment i would like to hear what you did and how you made out. my initial thoughts were to put 2 in the rear and 3 in the front to get the camber out and the caster back.

thanks for any help and suggestions.

greg

I set the alignment specs at
front
3 deg pos caster, that was the max I was able to attain ( recommended 3-5)
-1 deg camber, no shims on one side ( 0-1 pos recommended)
1/8 toe in

rear

-1.5 deg, ( 0 recommended)

goodyear billboards, 26psi front 24 psi rear.

rock solid and straight as an arrow at 100mph on the highway

tracks on the street at low speeds and on poor road surfaces, great in the corners.

when you say no shims on one side do you mean you just put them in the front of the control arm and nothing in the rear?

Hello Greg

I can only speak for my car, because the tolerence for each frame may vary.
From my recollection, my car had positive camber on one side and negative on the other. I then removed the shims on one side to obtain my -1.0 +/-
.25 of a degree.
the caster is adjusted on the upper control arm, loosen the clamps and turn the shaft in the correct direction.

you should set your tire pressures and take a base reading then adjust, don't forget to check the rear. I was unable to adjust the rear toe in unless I made a new dog bone (or an ajsutable one) at the differential. The rear toe was in a little more than I would of liked.

good luck

You have to remember that this is a short wheelbase car. 1.5 toe in on all wheels and 1-1.5 negative camber on all wheels.
Normal roadgoing factory cars are normally given positive front camber to induce understeer for the average novice driver. The Cobra understeers anyway so definately no positive camber. Because the wheelbase is short and the tyres fat you need the toe in to give the car directional straight line stability.
John

good advice. thank you.

greg

WHen you say 1/8 toe in, is that per side or total?

Total...............

THanks Nick.. Your check finally got mailed on Thursday.. I apologize for the delay.. again..

Hey Dan, thankyou. Sorry for the shipping delay but I was out of stock when you ordered. We're all good.
Cheers