The final alignment specs with Bill's tubular A arms and solid strut is as follows:
Caster; +9* (you read that right), camber; -.7*, toe in; .14". This car now handles like no other Dart I've ever driven. I also upgraded the torsion bars to the Big block dart bars (I believe .940"). It cuts quickly and precisely on sharp turns, and tracks straight as an arrow at 90 MPH. An added bonus is the brakes work much better with the solid front strt ends. I highly recomend this package. Some slight increase in harshness over rough pavement: pebbles, patches in the road, and seams in the road.
And the neat thing,it has just the stock small sway bar, and I haven;t even put big, agressive tires on it, they are just 205/65/15. As it turns out, the smaller back space on the wheels had nothing to do with the funny handling I complained about before doing this upgrade. The wierdness was all the fault of the idler arm, and a loose steering box. The bolts were not tight. I cannot remember who tipped me off to that, but it was someone on this board, and they were right on. Thanks for all the help! I could not have done this without the tips and web site info generated here. Again, this car is now a blast to drive.
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My Applogies to Dart270 when I said I had driven no other Dart that handled like this one now does. I forgot I had driven his '64 Dart, and it is so different from you average Dart, that I forgot to consider it in the mix. His Dart is pretty amazing with it's big tires, stiff suspension, manual steering, and big sway bar. I'm sure there are many others out there that have been tricked to the point of being quit a ball to drive too. I was simply exercizing a bit of hyperbole there to express my pleasure with the results. No offense intended for those of you out there who take pride in your great machines, and certainly no challenge was laid down either.
