Steering - Pull or Drift

STEERING - PULL OR DRIFT - REVISED Article No.
ALIGNMENT SPECIFICATIONS 87-4-10

FORD 1987 THUNDERBIRD, MUSTANG

LINCOLN-MERCURY 1987 COUGAR

ISSUE: A steering pull or drift on the 1987 Thunderbird (except Turbo Coupe), Mustang, and Cougar may be caused by the camber setting.

ACTION: This steering pull or drift may be corrected by setting the front wheel camber to the following revised specifications.

Revised Specifications For Camber

Side-To-Side
Vehicle Camber (Deg.) Camber*

Mustang - GT -.11 +/- .75 0 +/- .75
Mustang - Other -.02 +/- .75 0 +/- .75
Thunderbird/Cougar -.65 +/- .75 0 +/- .75
(Except Turbo Coupe)

* For vehicles with a pull condition, this value should be as close to zero (0) as possible.

NOTE: If tire outer edge wear is evident, cross rotate the tires and adjust toe to + 1/16 toe as described in TSB 85-23-9, dated November 21, 1985.

Camber Adjustment - General

(Refer to the 1987 Car Shop Manual, Section 14-01)

1. Remove the pop rivet in the camber plate.

2. Loosen the three (3) nuts which hold the strut mount to the body apron.

3. Adjust camber by moving the top of the shock strut to the desired position.

4. Tighten nuts to specification. (It is not necessary to replace the pop rivet.)

Camber Adjustment - Specific Examples

On some vehicles where it may not be possible to achieve the desired camber values, use the following procedure.

A. Decide which side of the vehicle is closest to nominal, and then determine how much adjustment of the other side is required to reduce the side-to-side camber to nearly zero.


B. Adjust camber within the limits of the camber plate; each adjustment hole equals .38 deg. camber change. See the following examples.

Example 1:
Left Camber: -1.1~, Right: -.5~. Although left, right, and side-to-side (S/S) camber are within specifications, it is essential to resolve the drift right condition. Increase the left camber by putting the camber pin in the inboard rivet hole, moving the shock strut outboard.

If the left camber plate is already in the inboard hole, then the right camber plate should be set with the pin in the next outboard hole, reducing the camber to approximately -.9~.

Example 2:
Left Camber: -.5~, Right: +.5~. Decrease the right camber by moving the camber plate. If the left pin is already in the outboard hole, increase the right camber but not above 0.0~ because positive camber is undesirable for tire wear.

5. If this camber plate hole adjustment is not sufficient to resolve the issue, use the following procedure to provide an additional .2 to .6 degree of camber adjustment.

a. Remove tire.
b. Remove caliper and rotor.
c. Loosen the spindle to strut attaching bolts.
d. Drive a screwdriver between strut and top (to increase camber) or bottom (to reduce camber) of spindle and pry it outboard to obtain .2 to .6~ camber change.
e. Reassemble rotor and caliper.
f . Retorque spindle to 180-200 ft.lbs. (244-
271 N-m).
g. Remove screwdriver.
h. Reinstall tires.

6. Recheck alignment to make sure that the vehicle is within specification.
OTHER APPLICABLE ARTICLES: 85-23-9
WARRANTY STATUS: Reimbursable within the provisions of the Warranty and Policy Manual
OPERATION: SP870410A - Steps 1 through 4
TIME: 0.9 Hr.
OPERATION: SP870410B - Step 5
TIME: 0.4 Hr.
OPERATION: SP870410C - Step 6
TIME: 0.9 Hr. DLR. CODING: Basic Part No. FRONT - Code: 36