348 frontend alignment

Part of the "alignment" of a 348 is the setting of ride height and corner weighting the car.
Ride height is adjusted with shims on the spring perches (F355 uses threaded spring perches)

After ride height is set, the shims are adjusted until the corners of the car have equal cross weights. This makes each tire carry 'about' the same weight as its brother on the same axle and also makes the car accelerate and decelerate without yawing.

Once the ride height and corner weights are set, the wheels can be made to point straight (toe in) and at the correct inclination (camber).

What the Firestone station down the block does in an alignment is only the previous paragraph and not the first two.

 

Also note, ride height (and the rest of alignments) should be done with the tires at operating pressure (36-40 PSI) not garage pressures (32-ish PSI).

 

Just to set the record straight, a proper alignment would include a ride height check under static load (as specified in the workshop manual) to ensure it is within spec before any settings are adjusted, but there is absolutely no reason to corner balance the car for an alignment unless it's something you just want done. If you only drive your car in the street you will notice no difference if the car is corner balanced.

Also, the ride height on the 348 is adjusted with threaded collars.

To answer the original question, the alignment procedure for the 348 is well detailed in the workshop manual. If you trust the independent to follow those steps and to treat your car as well as you expect/demand, I see no reason why you should not take the car to him. Just make sure to get before and after numbers so you know what was done. Car alignment is not an exact science, with each setup and use case sometimes benefiting from departures from the factory numbers. Knowing the settings at any given time make it easier to know what you might want to tweak to address any handling issues you might notice in the future.

HTH, and best of luck.

 

Hi bob,

Severe wear (like in your case) of the outer edges of the front tires is usually caused by too much toe-in. It is very simple and easy to check and adjust the toe-in at any wheel alignment shop.

Too much toe-in will also cause oversteering - when you start turning, the steering wheel may feel like it wants to continue turning into the bend by itself.

 

I have a 91tb. You probably have a later WSM I guess.
Ive tried both these settings recently. The F20 settings were listed on the software as GTB/GTS and the F3 were TB/TS. As I'm doing my own wheel alignment work is easy to change back if it didn't pan out. Im waiting for some shims and will be reverting back to the F3 settings where I've been before. I don't like the feel of the front with so much toe in. Felt a bit dull. Also less rear toe. I will dial everything in spot on when the shims arrive. It been close enough for a trial period though and an interesting adventure to prove something.
As has been mentioned your front toes are probably the culprit for the outer tyre wear. Its normally the case. I would be surprised if both your front cambers were that positive.
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Interesting feedback, Nick. What are your thoughts on running the earlier toe settings in conjunction with the later camber specs?

 

Ive tried that too. There is not a huge amount of difference between early and late camber settings so for me its not such a big deal. Its the toe settings which have the biggest effect.
I totally rebuilt the front suspension late last year so I thought I would try a few different things. Its not costing me to do that so worth a go and satisfies my curiosity. As I said I will be
reverting back to the recommended early toe settings with around 2 degrees camber on the back and 0.5 degree on the front. It is what it is then. Lets see.
As the pics show everything is new or rebuilt so there is nothing mechanical I can do at this stage apart from fine adjustments. Same goes for the rear end. All new. I will give you my thoughts when sorted.
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Nick, if it handles as good as that suspension looks you are golden. Nice work!

 

Nick, that's some beautiful work. Really like all the fresh zinc plating. Did you paint or powder coat the black bits? How about the springs? Looks like you duplicated the originial "F119" text on the A arms using a stencil, right? That's fantastic. Did you apply anything to the bare metal pieces to help ward of rust?

BTW, what bushes did you choose?

Once again, great work. Just the kind of stuff I strive for myself.

 

Very impressive Nick! Like ///Mike, I am wondering about the details and if you have any further pictures when everything was refinished. Before/after?

 

We shall see. Im not there yet. But thanks.

 

Thanks Mike. The black bits are blasted then powder coated. Springs the same. The text on the
arms are done with custom made stencils. Took a bit of fiddling around with the program to get
them to look right and then machine cut them out of thin stencil paper. Bit of an odd text. Took some time but worth the effort.
Bare metal is treated with wax oil. Just a thin smear. Oily rag type thing, every so often.
Here are the bushes. Apparently genuine.
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Here you go Randy. A bit of a mash up of shots . All things I've done over the last 18 months or so. Ive have lots more photos and should really sort them out.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/93727718@N06/LS1CQ8

 

Very impressive attention to detail, Nick. Thanks for the additional information.

Would you be willing to share the artwork for your stencil? This was something I'd already been planning to do, but I expected it'd be a simple job. Guess it's not surprising that the Italians used a different typeface... because they're Italians. ;-) Anyway, sounds like it'd be a real timesaver if you don't mind sharing.

BTW, had a look at the rest of your pics. You do phenomenal work. In fact, as OCD as I am I think you've inspired me to step up my game. Going to save those images as inspiration for when I do my engine-out.

Thanks again for the info. Beautiful car, exceptionally well turned out!

 

Not enough difference in those 2 specs to mean much. It was probably due to a switch in tire maker perhaps. At street speeds just about everything works with in reason.

 

I agree. Just an experiment. Ive seen people write about small changes on set up making a
difference so needed to get it out of my system. I wasn't convinced as I've said. I will be reverting back to the recommended settings next week but don't expect a whole lot of
surprises. Its defo not as sharp on the front as it was with the older settings though.

 

Thanks again Mike. Glad you like it. I will speak to my friend next week about the stencils. Hopefully she has it all still on file. They are away at a car fest at the moment.