iamdub
Full Access Member
Random shots of the process:
Gutted front:
Traced the slot in the Belltech alignment cam with silver Sharpie to mark where the frame slot will be elongated:
Used cheap set of rotary rasps from Harbor Freight. Surprisingly, I did all eight slots with this one bit. It was pretty worn and cut much slower on the last few, but still did it. I also had to switch to a right angle drill because the angle grinder fell apart.
Elongated slot:
New control arm with factory cams:
I wanted to use the factory alignment as a baseline which would be lost with the Belltech cams. So I marked the positions of the original ones before I removed the old control arms. I also kept the original cams in their original order after removing them. After elongating the slots, I reassembled everything with the old cams and turned the bolts to position the new arms per the original alignment marks. Then, I carefully removed one bolt at a time to reinstall them with the Belltech cams. The frame mounts were tight enough to keep the arm in position while I removed and replaced the bolts. With the BT cams in place, I marked them so the baseline would be maintained as a reference.
I cut a piece of angle iron to span the lips of the wheels, vertically across the middle, and stuck a magnetic angle finder on it to measure the camber before and after the spindles and control arms were replaced. The spindles caused a lot of toe out and about 1/2" total narrower track width. I've got the toe pretty close and it tracks mostly straight. The steering was overly responsive, so I dialed in some positive caster. The steering wheel at first was at about 9 o'clock and is now around 12:15, so I went a hair too far. But, it's completely driveable and will be fine-tuned during and after Phase 2.
Gutted front:
Traced the slot in the Belltech alignment cam with silver Sharpie to mark where the frame slot will be elongated:
Used cheap set of rotary rasps from Harbor Freight. Surprisingly, I did all eight slots with this one bit. It was pretty worn and cut much slower on the last few, but still did it. I also had to switch to a right angle drill because the angle grinder fell apart.
Elongated slot:
New control arm with factory cams:
I wanted to use the factory alignment as a baseline which would be lost with the Belltech cams. So I marked the positions of the original ones before I removed the old control arms. I also kept the original cams in their original order after removing them. After elongating the slots, I reassembled everything with the old cams and turned the bolts to position the new arms per the original alignment marks. Then, I carefully removed one bolt at a time to reinstall them with the Belltech cams. The frame mounts were tight enough to keep the arm in position while I removed and replaced the bolts. With the BT cams in place, I marked them so the baseline would be maintained as a reference.
I cut a piece of angle iron to span the lips of the wheels, vertically across the middle, and stuck a magnetic angle finder on it to measure the camber before and after the spindles and control arms were replaced. The spindles caused a lot of toe out and about 1/2" total narrower track width. I've got the toe pretty close and it tracks mostly straight. The steering was overly responsive, so I dialed in some positive caster. The steering wheel at first was at about 9 o'clock and is now around 12:15, so I went a hair too far. But, it's completely driveable and will be fine-tuned during and after Phase 2.
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