Alignment question

[kkemerait]

Ken,

The numbers are degrees* minutes' and seconds"
In order to convert to decimal use this formula

degrees + (minutes/60) + (seconds/3600)

so, for example 2* 40' would be 2.667 or (2 + (40/60))

[kensmith]

Ok, well then it looks like what they set my alignment at is pretty close to unladen specs.

[chrisfiat]

* = degree

' = minute

" = second

[DieselSpider]

Found UNLADEN alignment specs for 1978 vehicles in a FIAT service bulletin... Hope this helps

UNLADEN 1978 124 Spider:

FRONT:

TOE: +.157 to +.314 (+4 to +8mm)
CAMBER: -0*20' to +0*40'
CASTER: +2*40' to +3*40'

Also have unladen figures for 1978 128 Sedan, X1/9, 131 2-4 door if anyone is interested.

I know that this is a very old post however on the last alignment the new manager at the shop where I have a Lifetime Alignment refused to do it laden but it would appear they still used the laden specs and set the toe to 0.44 degrees.

Since the measurements listed are at the rim when I calculated it using the rim diameter the laden toe is supposed to be between 0.35 and 0.52 degrees while the unladen toe should be 0.69 to 1.38 degrees so .044 appears to be laden and way off.

I am getting a bit of wandering and buffeting at speeds over 35 mph like the car is toed out too much.

[DieselSpider]

I spoke with the alignment shop and they agreed to align the car to the unladen specs tomorrow at noon so we will see how that goes.

They also agreed to check the road balance of the tires.

On the strap down method to approximate being laden I understand its 6 inches to ground level for the front cross member however I have not seen a spec for the rear. Does anyone have that spec available?

[tima01864]

Nothing in my manuals, only unladen app., Maybe the shop will agree to have two sit in the front with 130lb person in the trunck?

[DieselSpider]

Nothing in my manuals, only unladen app., Maybe the shop will agree to have two sit in the front with 130lb person in the trunck?

kkemerait has it in an 1978 service bulletin for the 124 and I believe he mentions the 128 too.

It would be interesting to see what the numbers look like after they're done aligning it by the unladen specs once its laden if they'd agree to that since it would only take a few moments and would verify how well the specs kkemerait posted from the bulletin work. The previous manager just had two of the cleanup kids sit in the car and tossed a few tires in the trunk to approximate the laden weights but the current manager just won't budge on that.

[DieselSpider]

After all that they could not punch in the unladen specs into their computer so they agreed to do it laden but not quite by the book. I had to sit in the car with one of the mangers and we threw a couple of 65 lb truck tires in the trunk. Great improvement however we did find that the center link to idler arm stud nut was loose and after it was tightened the right center link joint had some play in it. The center link was installed just before I bought the car (I was told it came from IAP) and failed in around 10,000 miles so I can not say that I am impressed with the quality of the part.

So a new center link will be ordered and the car aligned again after its installed.

Scary thing is the tec had no working knowledge of a 6 joint center link double A arm suspension which to me was the norm for most cars when I was growing up. Doesn't say much for their having almost 100 years experience working on car suspensions having been in business since 1926.