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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 62
Just Getting Started
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OP
Just Getting Started
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 62 |
I have the empire kit fitted to my car and took the car to a classic british car shop to have the camber/castor/toe set. They said that because of their equipment and the car only having three wheels they won't be able to do this and neither will anyone else in town. I'm not going to run around time and try to convince a shop to do it I'd rather just spend the time to do it myself and make sure it is done right.
The nearest dealer is quite far away and I don't have any great faith in them either. Last time I was there they kept insisting the car needed service every 3000km (it's 3000 miles) and when they did the last alignment (toe only) it wasn't very good at all!
I'm sure I can find on the forum about how to do the toe at home but what about camber and castor? What tools would I need to set/measure these at home and a general outline of the procedure specific to the M3W?
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 2,141 Likes: 43
Talk Morgan Expert
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Talk Morgan Expert
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 2,141 Likes: 43 |
I have the Empire kit on my car and set it up reasonably accurately with one of these and a spirit level to get the car level. http://www.gunson.co.uk/item.aspx?cat=1352&item=4034As you have to adjust on the rod end bearings you can only adjust by half turns. PM me if you want some more details.
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,513 Likes: 8
Talk Morgan Addict
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Talk Morgan Addict
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,513 Likes: 8 |
As well as that neat Gunson Trakrite camber gauge, Gunson also do a Trakrite wheel alignment gauge here: http://www.gunson.co.uk/item.aspx?item=1812, which I have used quite a lot, and is pretty close to perfect, easy to use and relatively well priced too. I can't understand any decent workshop admitting failure, just because the car is missing a wheel and a few cylinders.
Paul [At last, I have a car I can polish]
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 368 Likes: 1
Learner Plates Off!
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Learner Plates Off!
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 368 Likes: 1 |
The "Trakrite" that Paul mentioned works really well for toe settings. My camber wound up at about 1.5 degrees with everything assembled by the instructions. More caster would require removing equal amounts of metal from the ends of the a arm which some users have done with good results. It would look like the only caster adjustment would come from shifting the washers from front to back (having both washers on the same side of the hiem joint). My caster measurement was spot on with no further work needed. I found a cell phone app that let me measure camber and caster as good as my Trakrite tool.
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 215
L - Learner Plates On
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L - Learner Plates On
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 215 |
application on iPhone is Level. I am sure you would find equivalent on Android. tape measure is also helpful for toe. Anyway, whatever you use will be more efficient than the system used by the factory. My car came with major toe out and since nothing is square on this car camber and castor which are not adjustable without the Empire kit were not equivalent on each side of the car.
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,789 Likes: 3
Talk Morgan Enthusiast
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Talk Morgan Enthusiast
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,789 Likes: 3 |
There is a free app for the iPhone called angle pro, I used this to set my camber with the phone held against the brake disc.
For the toe setting I borrowed a laser tracking gauge from a local friendly tyre shop, the whole lot was done on the garage floor as everything is accessible so there is no need to put it on a ramp.
The only disassembly is to remove the mud guards.
A good alternative is to use 2 lengths of copper tube, fishing line and a ruler. Believe it or not this method is very accurate as I got within 0.5 of a degree before using the laser aligner.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 14,723 Likes: 149
Member of the Inner Circle
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Member of the Inner Circle
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 14,723 Likes: 149 |
There is a free app for the iPhone called angle pro, I used this to set my camber with the phone held against the brake disc. Thanks for that suggestion. I found a similar app on Android, Clinometer.
Peter
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