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Originally Posted by leva56
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I am not certain which is before and after as one is unlabeled and one just says current.
I think current would have been what you had after the alignment based on the readings.
The front caster has good side to side cross caster and with right amount more on the right, which is good. If did not change before to after and it would nice to see it up to 5* but very possible it could not be adjusted that far. Caster is big factor in going straight.
The camber also didn't get changed and IMO too high in side to side difference cross camber. Having both sides at +.2 to+.4 positive help to reduce pulling to one side. I would expect the cross caster offset to the sides it is would make the van track down a right crown of the road rather noticeably and a left crown not as much which is kind of backwards to what is liked because you are rarely on a left crown.
It is common for them not to change the camber and caster if it is "in the green" on the computerized machine. At every change in settings they have to do a completely new mutiminute rescan so can eat a lot of time is they aren't good at guessing how much to change things like old pros were these vans. This can allow some very poor settings and yours are notgreat, IMO, but not horrible. Camber and caster can be very hard to set on twin A arm front suspension so many techs don't have clue how to do it efficiently. If the old Ford is one the twin I beam suspensions it is even worse because they could only be adjusted by bending the beams which takes a frame shop to do it and back when they were used they commonly would break. I was in a frame and alignment shop in about 1987 when one cracked and it sounded like a gunshot. They welded it back together. If it is a 4wd with a solid front axle only the toe is settable.
In regards to the toe I think it is way too low at .02* total which is under 1/32" in the settings units they were called out in not too far distant past. IMO a van with brand new, super nice and tight, front steering parts should have at least 1/16" positive and when it has some miles built up and is getting a bit loose I would like 1/8" to 1/4" positive depending on how loose it is. Your toe in is nearly non existent so it will feel vague and wandery on center. The before had a lot of toe out, which would have made it feel like it was impossible to stay in straight line and kind of like herding cats.
The rear is very typical of the rear drive solid axlel setup. It is good that the toe is positive as that helps straight tracking, but not as much as the front.
To address the wandering, I would get more toe in in the front as it can make a big difference. It probably won't be enough, though, unless you are pretty tolerant of constant steering inputs. Old steering gears a famous for being loose in center and often have loose bottom bearings that move around. I would check it carefully and possible adjust the sector adjuster to snug it a bit if you find play to see it helps without getting too tight. All the steering components and suspension rubber bushing should be checked for looseness. Old rubber bushings a commonly found to cracked and broken. Wheel bearings should also be adjusted to be as tight as you can while still having a tiny amount being able to rock the wheel when it has no weight on it. Adjustable wheel bearings are supposed to have a small mount of looseness and if you have the snugged down they will fail quickly.
The alignment didn't measure the wheelbase side to side, but even if off bit side to side it usually isn't a huge contributor to wandering. Our Chevy if off quite a bit and handles very well.
They probably didn't measure front and rear track width which is a common problem with some models, especially the old Dodges, but I have heard of some Fords also. Easy to measure with a tape measure from tire center to tire center on the front and rears. If you get more than an inch or so difference with back not as wide you can get the the van tracking different places front to rear when you are on road with grooves from tires and weight. That can cause a bunch of wander. Some vehicles can take as much as 2" spacers per side to get them even front to rear.
Stiffer rear springs and a big rear swaybar can make big improvements in wander and going straight easily. Stiffer shocks can also help especially in wind. Putting a bigger front sway bar in can and often does make the wander and straight stability worse.
From what we have heard on the forum, some but not all of the pre Transit Fords can have some major wandering issues. Most have been able to be improved quite a bit, the Fords are limited by the short wheel base, especially in the extended ones.
Good luck on your quest to get yours improved and let us know how it a shakes out.
Change out single rear axle to duel wheels
Linear Mode
