Alignment info ? ? ?

I would like to have an idea of the specs for a ball joint front end..... The car has an adjustable beam, but it is in the highest setting...(car up off pavement)

I'm running the same size tires all around and will eventualy add sway bars... (as finances permit)

The car is not going to be that quick, so set up would be for maderate twisties and relaxed highway cruising..... (I understand it probably won't be that relaxed.)

Thanks in advance......

Leon--I found a great alignment tool (thats at Russ') -- you can google it; It's the "Fastrax Adjustable camber / Caster gauge. Easy to use and important to me---simple! I did my front end adjustment 12,000 miles ago and it's still perfect.

Their website is www.specprod.com I don't believe it was very expensive.

As far as specs, what I have are these for a Type I 1960-1968

Camber, 1/2 degree negative camber

Front toe, 1/16" each side

I don't remember if I adjusted the caster and think I saw somewhere that caster is not adjustable but the specs show 3-5 degrees of caster.

I don't know if it matters but I had a front sway bar installed at the time i did the alignment and it might be different if you do the front now then add the bar later.

My pan and front end is from a 1968 Bug. I used the EMPI sway bar
and there are 4 part numbers that are all the same; 9594, 9595, 9596, and 9600. No cutting or welding ---just bolt it on per the directions. There are two versions; one uses clips and the other uses bolts and nuts, which I ptrefer. Use the largest channel locks you can find to squeeze the clamps together to start the bolts on the nuts.

I'm probably telling Noah about the flood---right?

Good luck.

If your front torsion bar beams are bolted to the chassis you can adjust caster by adding shims under the lower beam. The shims are sold at CIP1 amongst other sources.
Jack, you probably saw a post about an IM car having the beams welded to the chassis, not bolted. On IM cars caster adjustment is not so easy as on bolted-on beam cars.

For the front end I've liked 1.5 degrees negative camber and straight ahead toe-in. I'm thinking to try a little toe out when the roads dry more.

You can play with the camber pretty easily on these VW ball joint front ends. There's an offset movable hole for the top ball joints - just loosen the ball bolt and use a big crescent to turn the movable (eliptical) hole to move the top of your wheels in or out a small amount. I think it's a 2 ddgree +/- range for the stock part and there's an aftermarket version that goes an extra degree or so either way.

I don't think that alignment should be thought of as a front end only concern. The front effects what the rear does and vise-versa. Whether and what size antiroll bars front and rear also are factors.

Well, when the manuals say caster is not adjustable, they are assuming with all stock parts.

If you are going to add anti-sway bars later be sure to modify the front bumper brackets before you fiberglass them into the front fender wells (if you still have the fiberglass panels and PO didn't already do.) I have pictures of modified bar on my profile and can give you detailed measurements (even have some of the 1x1" tubing left).

I am running with just about Jack's settings. half a degree negative camber in front. I believe VW spec calls for a slight positive camber but I don't understand why.

Rear camber, of course, is what it is, depending mainly on the ride height. Toe in back should be a 16th to an 8th OUT.

I don't know anyone who recommends toe out on the front. Should tend to make things squirrelly.

Anyway, the official specs, for your edification and modification.

...will not post. I can see them in my photo file though...

Wonderful posts, little of which address his original question. Love it.

Leon:

Look here> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=206764

I'm running about 3 degrees more caster than stock on a 1970 ball joint front end. Other than that, all stock settings and it feels great.

gn

Leon---Jeez, I hope I didn't waste your time---good luck getting your alignment done.

Thanks guys.... Its great to have all this knowledge at hand.....

VW made the caster shims as far back as the early '60's or late '50's as they recognized that some people didn't like the beetle's lack of surefootedness (can we coin that?) at faster highway speeds. The cars were originally designed with minimum caster to keep steering effort nice and light for smaller people around town. Gene Berg was the first to duplicate it (they have 2 different thicknesses) and now they're available from a number of sources.

As the chart says the spec is 3.3'+or- 1'. In my youth I owned a Callook beetle dropped about 4 1/2" in the front and can tell you at 100 to 105 mph the thing was positively scary; I was coming down a big hill and cross winds were almost shifting the car from lane to lane. I shut the speed run down pretty quick. Gordon's recommendation of 3' more than stock is spot on.

Offtopic, but the center of pressure on a beetle/porsche is in front of the center of gravity. This is unstable, and gets worse at higher speeds. Kind of like balancing a broom on your hand. So when a cross wind forces a change in angle to the forward airstream, it amplifies the side force and tries to rotate the car to an even greater angle. This can actually improve high speed turn in if that's a consideration. But twitchy at speed and oversteering on turn in is not exactly confidence inspiring given the outdated suspension.