--- Bar00n <baroon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I wonder if an alignment shop would know the difference or if they have
> to
> do something different to compensate for it.
>
> Carl
> http://www.robdiesel.com
As Jeff said below, the 67/8's may interchange, but on my 1973, there is a
pretty big problem. How to compensate for it you ask?
Here's the deal: The 1973 NY'er arm was about an inch shorter, but I
bought it anyway as a temp fix for my roasted one. $25.00
A. When I installed it, the cylinder in the arm that the frame mounting
bolt goes through was shorter, so I had to shim it to fit using a large
1/8" thick washer. That is: the " C " on the frame that the idler arm
fits into was larger than the NY'er idler arm. Strike one.
B. When that was done, the idler arm was now not parallel to the firewall
as it had been due to the shorter Idler arm, requiring re-alignment ($50
around here). Strike 2.
c. With a shorter arm describing a shorter arc, it started off
mis-aligned and then became progressively more out of alignment with the
firewall as the arm moves to either extreme off center. Equal length arms
on the steering box (pittman arm) and idler arm would cause the drag link
to slide back and forth in a relatively similar plane in relation to the
firewall. As the drag link moves farther back on one side due to the
shorter arc, one end of the drag link actuates one wheel more than the
other. The drag link was just not intended to operate in this fashion,
although it will mecahnically work. Strike 3.
Doing this conversion should send liability alarm bells off in any
mechanic that cares about you or dislikes lawsuits. Anybody that would do
it is probably lacking common business sense. Doing it yourself is
another story.
The good news: When the wheel is centered and you're on the freeway, it
does not make much difference (assuming that the steering got re-aligned
after installation of your "special" part). The difference comes as you
steer, taking the wheels progressively more out of line from each other
the farther that you crank the steering wheel. You could rationalize this
and decide that the added tire wear at low speeds was no big deal, but
tires are $100 apiece or per pair, and pretty soon you're up to what it
would have cost to just pay the 200 clams to have the arm redone by Rare
Parts in the first place, plus you wouldn't be compromising the
engineering that went into your car or inserting washers or doing any
other monkey business.
I get "OEM correct" religion when talking about components in the brakes
or steering, as it's easy to take a bad path if you deviate. You do like
your brakes and steering to be dead-on, right? I tried every trick I
could think of to get out from under that arm rebuild expense. If you own
a fuselage Imperial (garanteed for 73) you're probably going to have to
have yours rebuilt. "C-body" designation does not equal an Imperial part
in this instance, despite the apparent logic.
If you own a 67/8 and can get away with a swap, count yourself lucky. I
can't decide which of those years is better, so have deferred that
desision until after I get a few more cars from other years.
-Kenyon
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jeff Ingraham" <jeff_ingraham@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> Just to chime in here... My brother has had a 68
> Chrysler 300 Idler arm on his 67 Imp for about 4 years
> with no adverse effects. The differences in angle
> and or length of maybe 1/4 of an inch was about the
> only difference between the 2 when you laid them next
> to each other.
>
>
>
>
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network