Alignment Specs 88 SE3 FC

[Bob Coury]

Revised my original post:


I never aligned a rocker arm car before. I removed the front sway bar before attempting to align it. Lowered the car back on level ground, now their was about 1/4" difference in length between the the front springs. Seems like the front sway bar was preloaded.

Do you align a Swift rocker with the bar in or out?



Thanks
Bob

[EYERACE]

remember >>> like eye know anything

what tires are you running?

springs? .....i dunno.....a set came with my car.

front: 1/2 degree neg camber, 1/16th toe out

rear: 1/2 degree neg camber, 1/16th toe in

weight: 250 front 340 rear

rake: front 1 & 1/16th inch, rear 1 & 3/4 inch

set wings rather neutral...not much of an angle is needed IMHO because it's already a wing

flavor to personal taste.........i guess this was what you were looking for

[Purple Frog]

Bob,

"It all depends", like Eye said.
What springs?, what track? what tires?

I'd say with Hoosiers on a CFC, a good starting point:
Slight toe out in the front.
Slight toe-in at the rear.
-1 degree front camber
-3/4 degree rear camber
front caster around 4 to 6 degrees, mainly important that both sides are the same, whatever it is.
3/8" to 3/4" rake
I run fairly stiff springs for a rocker car (at least 800# at front) so my starting ride height for Road Atlanta, or RRR is around 7/8"
Aim for hot tire pressures around 19 to 20 lb.
Cold starting pressures in the 14-15lb range, sometimes the fronts as low as 13.
Main element of the front wing angle of attack 0 to -1 degree
Lower element of rear wing angle of attack = 0
Upper element of rear wing 7 to 14 degrees. RRR=7 CMP=14

Once you drive it. First thing you will "feel" is ride height. Make sure the tires are hot before you decide it's too low. I scrape a lot te first lap or so at Atlanta, waiting on the tires to grow and raise the car. If you are just tapping a bit a few places each lap, you are about right. If you aren't hitting at all, you are probably too high.
Next you balance rake. e.g. If you have trail-brake oversteer, lower the rear.
A pyrometer will give you some idea how close you are on camber.

Number one rule: Don't chase bad tires. You have been putting this car together for a long time. Don't go out on some three year old ten cycle tires and scare yourself silly, nor make a bad decision about the set up.

[Bob Coury]

Thanks guys.

Mike: I learned my lesson years ago in my Hawke DL2 days-don't try to set up on bad tires.

I just want to get in the ballpark and try to validate some existing data that conflicts with one another. I think I have 250 # front springs and 500 # rear. Pretty soft. I need to get them apart to look for markings or get them checked. Some data I have indicates front ride heights from 1.38 to 1.75, rear from 2 to 2.25" The Goodyears I have on the car now are about 1.5 years old, and I am just out to run to keep my license right now. I could not justify put heat cycles on a new set under the circumstances. Hope to have a new set for the following race.

I am sure I will notice a big difference between the SE-3 and the 97 VD I got to drive in 2005.

Hope to see you guys at Moroso, Sebring or Daytona this year,

[Bob Coury]

Added to my previous post:


I never aligned a rocker arm car before. I removed the front sway bar before attempting to align it. Lowered the car back on level ground, now their was about 1/4" difference in length between the the front springs. Seems like the front sway bar was preloaded.

Do you align a Swift rocker with the bar in or out?

[Purple Frog]

Leave the bar un-attached until you are done. Then attach it with no preload.

The springs could be different lengths for a bunch of reasons:
They were not the same length unloaded.
They are different rates.
One of the rockers was built different than the other.
The car was way out of whack.

[Bob Coury]

Mike:

OR-I unknowningly rolled the car earlier in the evening so left rear tire was sitting on a little block of wood.

Thats what I get for working on the car when tired.

Thanks for all the help.

Bob