HELP!!! Cuda swerves dangerously

[the_engineers]

Need ideas...car literally swerves back and forth when driving at highway speeds. It will find center, but it's typically short-lived.

I've tightened the sector adjustment on my 4 YO FF box. Had an alignment a flcouple years ago...haven't touched suspension since.

Any idea is a good one...

[ChallengerHK]

Caliper sticking?
Fubared center link?

[Chryco Psycho]

Lots of caster in the alignment

[tommyg29]

not staying on center or tending to swerve is a sure sign of caster issues

[LAA66]

 Another item to check is the steering box mounting and brackets. Mine needed a gusset due to flex in the support bracing. Turn the wheel back and forth under stress to see if the box remains stationary.

[the_engineers]

Box is tight...first thing I checked. Swerves to either side, so not a caliper.  Got a show tomorrow, then the holiday, then we leave for another show...how can I quickly take a ton of caster out?  I don't care about the tires right now...

[BS CUDA]

Control arm bushings??

[the_engineers]

Poly-graphite everywhere. It's just plain out is my best guess...

[tommyg29]

cant remember exactly how I adjusted mine a couple years ago, but of course it involves the eccentrics.
I think there is a how-to in this site somewhere.
Do some searching. It can be tricky making the adjustments. IIRC, there isnt much adjustment range. Max-out barely did the job for me.
Also helps to have someone assisting.

PS...Try this:
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=11244.msg107273;topicseen#msg107273

All bets might be off though if your front end has been damaged. More drastic improvisational skills may be necessary then. 

[Chryco Psycho]

rotate the front eccentric all the way out & the rear all the way inward , you want to add caster not remove it , reset the toe in with a tape measure at about 1/16 "

[the_engineers]

Moved the eccentrics, set the toe. WOW! What a difference!  Tracks straight, predictable, etc...

I'll have to take it in at some point, but a million times better!  Thanks all!

[Chryco Psycho]

Why take it in , you can check the camber with a level , unless it is way out why adjust it , the tire should be close to vertical now anyway & if the caster & toe is set you have the 2 most important settings

[72bluNblu]

A lot of tire places will check your alignment for free, if you're close already you might not have to do anything else. And even if you're a little out, if you know where you're at you can tweak it a little without paying for an adjustment.

The other thing that I've found is that most places will only set the alignment to stock specs, which are horrific. What you really want is up to about +4 degrees caster (you won't be able to get that much without offset bushings or aftermarket UCA's), 0 to -.5 degrees camber, and about 1/16" toe in. But you may have a hard time finding a place that will actually set it that way, I lucked out when I found a place where the alignment guy is actually a circle track racer, so he was willing to do something other than "what the computer says".