Radial tired and a front end alignment

[Hot Rod Reverend]

1955 Ford Club Sedan
OEM running gear, etc, but I did put radial tires on the car. A mechanic told me today that I may want to consider using different specs than OEM for front end alignment since I have radials. Is this true or just a bunch of hooey?

 

[dmsfrr]

I asked the front-end shop that did my 55 Bird,
they said a bit of extra caster is what they usually do.

 

[paul2748]

This is what I got from a guy that restores little birds. Since the front end is the same as on the 55, these should work.


Caster 3/4 to 1 degree positive
Camber 3/4 to 1 degree positive
Toe In 0

 

[L5wolvesf]

Typically you add a bit of negative camber since a radial will corner differently especially on a heavy car.

 

[Hot Rod Reverend]

thanks fellas, just what I was looking for!

 

[miker98038]

If the car has power steering, get all the caster you can without ruining the camber. It probably won’t be too much. My bird wouldn’t make more than 3/4 degrees without moving the camber too far out. The caster helps with straight line tracking and return to center on a turn, but increases steering effort. Just the way the shims work on the upper A frames.

Old grumpy guys seem to be the only ones who know this in my neck of the woods.