[Chrysler300] Re: kyb shocks

["richard_e_osborne" <richard@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Tom,

Great to see you jump back into things here! For those of you who don't know, Tom has a C. He dug it out of storage for a little get together we had last weekend. See pictures here: http://www.dicksrub.com/DickandRichards/BAD_RIDES_ON_BROADWAY.html

By the way, I'm currently @ 30,000 feet flying home from San Diego. American has WiFi on their planes now!

Thanks again for bringing the toys out Tom!!!

Richard Osborne

--- In Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Thomas Miller" <tfm@...> wrote:
>
> From my vast archive of 300 Club postings....  
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> TFM
> 
> 300C in Columbus, OH
> 
> <snip>
> 
> Howdy Folks,
> 
> Here's the info I originally posted in March of 2000 on KYB partnums:
> 
> 
> Front - KG4507 (trim lower mounting sleeve to 1.25"
> long)
> Rear - KG5511 (no modification req.)
> 
> Plus, a good posting on alignment from this listserver in 1998:
> 
>  Hi Gary, and Mike
> 
> Gary: from '57 service manual, page 207: for power steering cars, specs for
> caster are +3/4 degree, +or- 3/4 degree. I would also like to refer you to
> Mike Laiserin's well-circulated article on alignement, which basically says
> to dial in as much caster as possible while keeping camber within specs. Let
> me know if you want a copy of this article, I can e-mail it to you.
> 
> 
> Hi to all,
> 
> This following articles from Mike Laiserin, as well as the next one from
> David Grove, have been the most requested piece of information that ever
> came through the listserver. These were also printed in a past Club news or
> newsflite issue, by the way. I re-post to the list, as there are many new
> members since last posted, and urge you to save it for further reference !
> 
> 300'ly
> 
> John
> 
> FIRST ARTICLE,  BY MIKE LAISERIN
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Mwl1967@...>
> To: <Chrysler300@...>
> Sent: Thursday, November 12, 1998 10:12 PM
> Subject: wheel alignments & sway bars
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Hi All...
>                   Just thought i'd put my 2 cents worth in regarding the
> caster etc...  years ago, when i used to autocross my dodge charger i
> learned
> a lot about alignments..   for straight line stability you want as much
> positive caster as the car can take while still giving you camber readings
> that are acceptable.  The only disadvantage to all the positive caster ( i
> had
> almost 5 degress on the charger ) is that the steering effort increases...
> and, based on how much assist they built into our power steering units we
> can
> easily see why they wouldnt want to do anything to increase  steering
> effort.
> trust me... its not that bad and the car will handle so much better that
> you'll think you are driving a different car.   Just look at old alignment
> specs on cars...  cars which came with manual steering had less caster
> specified than cars with power steering.. they wanted to make steering
> effort
> light.
> 
> someone esle suggested that the front wheels will look tilted heavily when
> the wheels are turned lock to lock.. this is due to the high positive caster
> but  you wont see this on our  300's as we can never get that much caster...
> an example of cars which had very high factory positive caster was old
> mercedes benz, or damilers, or .. oh anyway,,  those cars had extremely high
> caster settings and the wheels tilted on turns but take another look at the
> mercedes.. the older ones anyway.. look at the steering wheels, they are
> huge.. again to offset the added steering effort due to the caster but then
> again,,, noone ever complained that these cars couldnt handle the high
> speeds
> of the european autobahn
> 
> caster is the angle created when you draw an imaginary line runnng from the
> upper ball joint to the lower, positive caster is when the upper ball joint
> is
> set rearward from the lower.
> caster does not affect tire wear
> camber is viewed if you are looking at the front of your car, its the angle
> of the top of the tires in relation to the center of the car... of the top
> of
> the tires appear to tip in towards the center of the car camber is negative
> (
> great for cornering, bad for tire wear ) , if the camber is positive the top
> of the tires appear o tip outward, or away from the center of the car.
> you want zero, or slightly negative camber for spitited driving.
> 
> now..  here's a trick...   have your alignment shop rotate the upper control
> arm cams at the rear all the way in to give you the most positive caster..
> now
> he will tell you that he cant get camber within specs however.... camber is
> changed when vehicle height changes ( as the car bounces down the road ) if
> camber is too positive with the high caster ( cams turned in all the way )
> you can adjust the torsion bars either high or lower to bring the camber
> into
> specs.. usually lowering the front increased negative camber while raising
> the
> front height increases positive camber.
> 
> i could probablt write a book here but i'll quit while there are a few of
> you
> still with me. One more thing... a change that made more a diference in how
> my
> 300K handles    ( even more than when i changed from 14" bias plys to 15"
> radials !  )
>  is having a custom front anti-sway bar made for the car..  basically, i
> replaced the original 7/8" bar mounted in rubber bushings with a made to
> order
> 1-1/4" bar with urethane bushings ... BINGO !  a totally different car..
> corners almost completely flat, it was astounding.  i had a company called
> addco build it for me.. i dealt with john in their research and development
> dept who made the bar and seemed quite interested in making a big old
> chrysler
> handle !     He even made a custom rear bar for the car which i havent had
> time to install as of yet.  All i can tell you is that the fatter front bar
> is
> inexpensive, and almost indistinguishable compared to an original bar but it
> will make your car much more pleasurable to drive...
> just think.. if you can take freeway exits at 50 when it used to have to be
> 25 mph, think how much better the car will handle under "normal" exit speeds
> ,
> or just cruisng along at 75 or 80mph
> Hope this helps you out
> Michael
> 
> AND THE NEXT ONE, FROM DAVID GROVE:
> 
> In response to Amtonello's problem - outside of the obvious things
> (steering box loose at the frame, steering box worn out or out of
> adjustment), and assuming the suspension is "ship shape":  Something no one
> has mentioned is the "caster".  I find nowadays that front end alignment
> shops do not believe in a lot of positive caster - this is what makes the
> car track straight down the road, as well as let the steering wheel return
> to center after a turn.  I don't know why more + caster is not put in, and
> I'm not a "front end man" per se, but the last time I had a rear-drive car
> aligned, I was surprised at the specs that the alignment shop had to set
> the car.  Something like +1/2 positive caster.  I aligned front ends in a
> Chrysler dealership for a while back around 75 or so, and we always used at
> least +1 1/2 caster - and more if we could get it (not always possible).
> Now I know some cars will tilt the wheels at a weird angle during sharp
> turns with a lot of + caster dialed in - but I don't believe the Chryslers
> were affected this way.  Back to the last alignment - I told the alignment
> dude that I wanted more positive caster than his specs called for,
> whereupon he told me that there would be absolutely no "warranty" on this
> alignment.  Whatever the hell a "warranty" is on an alignment - I don't
> know - either you do it right or you don't.  Anyway - he went ahead and put
> 2 degrees + caster in the car, and it drove & handled like a dream.  I
> can't understand why the specs are listed in this manner.  I would take
> that 300G to a shop where they will do what the customer wants and align it
> thus:  0  camber (or as close as you can get), and 2 1/2 positive caster on
> the right wheel, and 2 1/4 positive caster on the left, toe - 1/8 inch IN.
> If it doesn't do better, I'll be real surprised.   One more thing - and
> this is IMPORTANT::::  when you have radials on you "non-radial" car, be
> VERY careful with your steering box adjustment (for free play) - you know,
> the 5/8 nut with the allen head in the middle - if this is the least bit
> too tight - it will wear you out!  In fact, it is better to be a little too
> loose than too tight.  If you are having severe "wandering" problems, make
> sure someone didn't "do you a favor", and tighten this adjustment up for
> you.  Radial tires produced today do not have nearly the adverse effect on
> "non-radial" cars as they did 20 years ago.  You can use them on just about
> anything - and if you still have problems with "handling" - install a front
> sway bar.  We used to do this back when the radials first came out, and it
> would "straighten them right up"!.  I guess that's all I have to say on the
> subject, so I won't take up any more of your time.  DaveG.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >>> <michaelvanderveen@...> 8/27/2009 5:36 AM >>>
> Hi guys and Gals, sorry, tried to copy the details for the kyb shocks for
> the 300F, but deleted it instead, could someone please forward the email
> to me again, sorry all,
> thanks in advance,
> Mike in Australia.
> --
>




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