Alignment specifications 1932 Ford

[DosCoupe]

I just got back from the Heartland Nationals in Des Moines and discovered some serious tread wear on my left front tire. The odd thing is the wear is on the inside tread and the center of the tread is really worn. The tire pressure was 24 psi so I don't think that they were overinflated. Although the air temp was about 95 degrees on the way back.
One more thing, I have about 8 ounces of those dynamic balance lead bb's in the tire to help with the balance.
If anyone has some clues as to what is happening, I would be interested in your experience.
I need to set the toe in at about 1/8 inch according some of the old time rodders from around here, other than that I don't know what to do.
Thanks in advance for your comments.

DosCoupe

[David J]

Maybe the 8 oz of lead pellets collect in the center and increase the ground pressure there . If you have varying ground pressure across the face of a tire it will wear more where the pressure is greatest . Probably causing some x-tra heat also in the center. Hotter tires wear faster ..

[Lawson Cox]

I have my toe in set at 1/6 on my 35 PU. You may need to bend the axel a little. Sounds like your tire pressure is a little low to me. What size tires are you running?

[vintagehotrods]

My guess is low tire pressure too. I run the max recommended and have noticed better tire life.

[David J]

I always thought high air pressure wore the center & low wore the edges . Leastaways thats definately the case on the racecars when you are trying to get temps even across the face of the tire .

[DosCoupe]

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Thanks for the thoughts, I am running 5.90 - 15 inch BF Goodrich molds from Coker tire. The wheels are 15 inch 1950 Mercury rims.
The lead beads could be adding heat and pressure right at the center of the wheel especially at those temps. I will pour through my Sorensen Ford book and my 1940 Ford Shop manual to see what is recommended.

[DosCoupe]

I found some specifications in my 1946 Motors Auto Repair manual for 1935-1948 - preferred caster + 6 3/4 degrees, camber +5/8 degrees, toe in 3/32 for early cars, and 1/16 in. for 1937 to 1948, King pin inclination is 8 degrees. I just wanted to end this chain with some actual useful data.
Keep on driving them.

[Kurt in NJ]

In 36 service bulletin there is a section on alignment, talks about a changing toe spec with a relationship to camber ---toe is set to 1/10 total camber( if each wheel has 1 degree camber the total toe should be set at 1/10 of 2 degrees

ford "B" align spec--in degrees
castermax-9, min 4-1/2, max variation-1/2
camber max2, min1/4 --max var 1/4
camber +side inclnation--max9, min8-1/4

toe is given as 3/32 with a note that it has to be in proportion to camber

toe on turns
15 degree turn--16-3/4
20 degree turn--23-1/2 ----tolerance 1/2 degree


If you are using non stock wheels that have a different offset you may have to adjust tolerances,

the article also mentions that if the caster is less than 2-1/2 degrees more toe is usually needed

[David J]

Here's the tech stuff onnit

Originally Posted by DosCoupe

I found some specifications in my 1946 Motors Auto Repair manual for 1935-1948 - preferred caster + 6 3/4 degrees, camber +5/8 degrees, toe in 3/32 for early cars, and 1/16 in. for 1937 to 1948, King pin inclination is 8 degrees. I just wanted to end this chain with some actual useful data.
Keep on driving them.