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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Setting Caster

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Discussion Topic: Setting Caster

billcarry

01-29-2017 @ 2:26 PM

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What was the standard way to adjust caster on beam axle fords?

supereal

01-30-2017 @ 2:07 PM

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The caster setting on old Fords is preset, and the only way to change it is to bend the axle or reposition the "wishbone" ball, which is not recommended.

woodiewagon46

01-30-2017 @ 3:36 PM

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Hello Bill, can you give us any more information about why you need to adjust your caster. As "super" states, the camber and caster is built into early Ford front ends. If you are talking about a modified car that's a different story.

Drbrown

01-30-2017 @ 7:04 PM

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I ran across mention in a Ford manual/bulletin about a special tool they had for bending the front axle to make minor corrections the caster angle.

Old Henry

02-01-2017 @ 9:34 PM

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As you can see in the attached alignment specs, the ones for caster and camber are pretty broad so are rarely out of spec. The only angle really adjustable is the toe in adjusted by twisting the tie rod adjusting sleeve.

This message was edited by Old Henry on 2-1-17 @ 9:34 PM

woodiewagon46

02-02-2017 @ 6:32 AM

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Several years ago one of the hot rod magazines did an article about adjusting an early Ford beam axle. They brought the car to a truck repair shop and placed it on something that looked like a frame machine from a body shop. They had a large "hook" that they placed over the center of the axle and used hydraulic jacks to bend the axle up or down. The article only covered camber so I don't know how you can adjust caster but I'm sure it's something similar. Not a job for your average restorer.

len47merc

02-02-2017 @ 10:07 AM

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Those guys are still around woodiewagon46. After rebuilding the front end (king pins, tie rod ends, etc.) and spending astronomical sums of money on Firestone 3 1/4" Firestone whitewals I wanted to know I'd get the full value out of the tires. Located an old shop locally that still had the alignment 'pit' and axle bending equipment and fixtures I drove it only the 4 miles to the shop on the new tires and let them have at it. Caster was perfect but toe-in needed optimizing from my rough-set and camber was slightly off on one side. Bent the axle to bring it well within spec (mostly done with his 57 years of experience with the old-school equipment) and haven't looked back since. Tires are wearing evenly across the tread at 26 psi ('47 Merc spec) after now 7,000+ miles. Cost was below that of an alignment on a modern car btw.

Steve

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