Negative Camber Front Suspension
Discussion
Hi
Just been through the annual MOT ritual and whilst HYP was up on the hoist, I noticed just how much negative camber there is on the front wheels. I'd been making a mental note to get the front tyres changed round on their wheels before they wore too much on the inner edge anyway.
Wondering where so much came from I asked a friend who has a small collection of Mk.1 Escorts to measure the distance between the strut centres on one of them. He came back with 35.5" (902mm) whereas I measured 33" (838mm). Without an alignment rig, I don't know what that amounts to in degrees but the Haynes manual says:
Steering Angles :
Camber Std
0 deg 10' to 1 deg 10'
Hvy
Toe in Std
0 to 0.25 inch (0 to 6.4mm)
If you consider that the length of the strut is about the same as the height of the tyre, then moving the tops of each inwards by 1.25" is quite noticeable. I wonder if any engineering went into the decision??? I would think that stability on cornering is improved but I'm sure I read somewhere that straight line running is not. I know that there was a vogue at one stage for re-drilling Anglia crossmembers with new holes outboard of the standard ones and welding on washers for strength. A lot cheaper than getting Classic struts & Track Control Arms but you didn't get the disc brakes either... It was also easy to overdo it and get something that just wore out tyres faster.
Always looked good though. My 1971 TVR Tuscan V6 had a lot of negative on the rear wheels. You could park up against a brick wall and the tyres would rub before the bodywork!!! It had a touch of positive camber on the front though.
As far as I know, HYP has standard track control arms. I'm not worried about this, just interested- any thoughts anyone???
Cheers
Ian
Just been through the annual MOT ritual and whilst HYP was up on the hoist, I noticed just how much negative camber there is on the front wheels. I'd been making a mental note to get the front tyres changed round on their wheels before they wore too much on the inner edge anyway.
Wondering where so much came from I asked a friend who has a small collection of Mk.1 Escorts to measure the distance between the strut centres on one of them. He came back with 35.5" (902mm) whereas I measured 33" (838mm). Without an alignment rig, I don't know what that amounts to in degrees but the Haynes manual says:
Steering Angles :
Camber Std
0 deg 10' to 1 deg 10'
Hvy
Toe in Std
0 to 0.25 inch (0 to 6.4mm)
If you consider that the length of the strut is about the same as the height of the tyre, then moving the tops of each inwards by 1.25" is quite noticeable. I wonder if any engineering went into the decision??? I would think that stability on cornering is improved but I'm sure I read somewhere that straight line running is not. I know that there was a vogue at one stage for re-drilling Anglia crossmembers with new holes outboard of the standard ones and welding on washers for strength. A lot cheaper than getting Classic struts & Track Control Arms but you didn't get the disc brakes either... It was also easy to overdo it and get something that just wore out tyres faster.
Always looked good though. My 1971 TVR Tuscan V6 had a lot of negative on the rear wheels. You could park up against a brick wall and the tyres would rub before the bodywork!!! It had a touch of positive camber on the front though.
As far as I know, HYP has standard track control arms. I'm not worried about this, just interested- any thoughts anyone???
Cheers
Ian
Hi
Yes there is a deliberate difference in the top suspension mount position.
As you say the Jago has the mounts closer together (further in) than the standard Escort.
This is as you say to improve the stability when cornering and to some degree in a straight line due to the shorter wheel base.
On Jago's the tracking is best either 0 degrees (straight ahead) or 1/8 toe out.
If you find the front tyres are wearing excessively on the inside then it may be that your front coil springs are getting weak and may need replacing.
Jago Techsec
It is worth checking out the technical web site on
http://joctecweb.future.easyspace.com
for extra info on Jago's.
Jago Techsec
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