[Fot] TR frame square, straightness?

[davehogye]

Kas, 


Thanks for chiming in. My car does have 2 shims, each the thickness of a leaf, on top of the right spring. 


The frame rails have a level read until right about the diagonal spring tower support on the right side. It goes up slightly and measures about 1/4" - 3/8" up at the front end of the rail on the right. 


The measurement that concerns me more is the distance between the front and rear axles is shorter by 3/8" on the right. 


FYI, my car was originally sold through Cal Sales in 1960. Perhaps you had something to do about the shims being there. 


Dave H. 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kas Kastner" <kaskas at cox.net> 
To: "Greg ''Lunker'' Hilyer" <lunkercars at earthlink.net>, "Robert M. Lang" <lang at isis.mit.edu> 
Cc: Fot at autox.team.net 
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 11:07:22 AM 
Subject: Re: [Fot] TR frame square, straightness? 

The TR-3 cars were assembled with a shim under the right rear spring so that the right rear was lower and that raised the left front to compensate for the drivers weight. We had dozens of people complain about their cars sitting with the left front high and all we had to do was take out he little shim. I used this in racing my car to adjsut for the various right and left turn tracks. 
---- "Robert M. Lang" <lang at isis.mit.edu> wrote: 

============= 
On Tue, 21 Sep 2010, Greg ''Lunker'' Hilyer wrote: 

> Here's a urban myth to run by the group. I actually believe it to be true as 
> I've run into it more than once. 
> They were set-up that way to compensate for LHD on crowned roads. RHD would 
> have the corresponding difference on the other side. 
> Thoughts? 

I have no idea if this is UM, but I do know that a good alignment person 
can fine-tune your aligment for your driving style. If thrust angle is 
within spec, you can tweak the toe to get the car to react to the crown of 
the road aka, to track straighter with less steering input depening on 
the type of driving that you describe to the tech. 

Now, I honesty doubt that Triumph or any manufacturer would dial in _3/8"_ 
of twist to a frame. I'd be willing to bet that the frame specs are +/- 
1/8" or less. 

My personal take on the question would be - get the frame square and 
plumb. You cannot go wrong with a solid baseline. Put another way, look at 
how much difference 1/16" of toe change can produce. You can turn a car 
from a PIG to a GEM with a small ajustment like that. 3/8 is a LOT of 
alignment to make up for with shims and so forth, especially if you start 
stacking tolerances (like bent suspension bits and so-forth) - a common 
problem for 50 year old cars. And twist will totally screw up your corner 
weights or your attempts to accomodate them. 

Just my humble opiion, of course. 

regards, 
rml 
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