Quote:
Originally Posted by funola
Stretch, did you buy a spreader bar? I found a youtube clip on one and looks like it is just a spring loaded telescoping bar. Do you know why a spreader bar is necessary to adjust toe-in? I never use one when adjusting toe-in in all my cars and never have uneven tire wear. If I were to improvise a spreader bar I'd be looking at a piece of wood for an English or Japanese long bow and adjust its weight with a bathroom scale.
Can you post a link of the FSM chapter with all the alignment info? I can't find it in my W123 FSM CD.
|
I used the data in the W126 FSM (probably now available on startekinfo I guess).
For the spreader bar I used a large one handed wood working clamp - you know the type that can be used to expand as well as clamp...
...I found that the applied load specified in the FSM is about the same load the sidewall of a tyre fitted to a 14 inch wheel flexes - I pushed the wheels apart (on the front) until I could see the side walls starting to deform as well as kind of guesstimating the applied load.
(Please note - I did this with the wheels on slip plates - this won't work with weight on ground because the wheels won't move so easily)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxbumpo
124 vs. 123: As I understand it, one should set the toe-in to zero, then set the camber (and caster) to the correct values, and then adjust the toe-in?
On a 123 car, there is only one inner bushing on the lower control arm. Adjusting the toe-in causes a change to the camber, so you kind of go back and forth on both those adjustments to get both values into spec. On a 124, there are two inner bushings. Would that eliminate the back & forth between camber and toe-in?
|
On the W123 the weird triangle effect (view suspension with bird's eye view) means adjustment of the camber (mostly done at LCA eccentric bolt) messes up the castor (which is mostly adjusted on the brake stay) and vice versa. The FSM says you can only set either castor or camber with the toe set to zero.
I was planning to adjust my W201 suspension but I ran out of time and needed a much flatter driveway to perform a four wheel alignment (back wheel adjustments spoiled the day); so I don't have much to say about that procedure.