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I have not found the one source for technical info so here goes......
1. Can anyone provide me with the alignment specifcations for my 1973 L for the front and rear.
2. Also some input on the slight changes in the alignment specs, due to the fact that I will be using the modern radials compared to the old style tires in which the specs apply to.

Thanks any help would be most appreciated.
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Factory recommended alignment settings:

Front Settings

Camber, 1/8 degrees neg to 1/8 degrees pos.
Caster, 2-3/4 degrees pos.
Toe-in, 1/8"

Back Settings

Camber, 3/8 degrees neg to 5/8 degrees neg
Toe-in 1/8" to 3/16"


http://www.panteraplace.com/page95.htm

Again, this really depends on your application. Even on the "street" cars there are issues of stability, grip, tire wear, etc. Go to a good alignment shop (not your local home for wayward boys). They should be able to help you with the particular settings for your applicaiton and driving needs/style.
Mr Cobra, or may I call you AC? Wink

I haven't messed with the alignment of #6018 yet, so I have refrained from answering.

The traffic on the PIBB this weekend is slow, I imagine everybody's busy. I'm home doing laundry myself.

Mark's advice is good. The settings he gave you are straight out of the owners manual, page 69.

There are owners among our ranks who race their cars & have alot of experience with various suspension settings, and of course, the vendors will have dealt with these questions many many times, and will have lots of invaluable advice for you. Don't think your local alignment guy will know what the heck to do with a Pantera. I shudder to invision a Pantera up on the average tire store rack, eeek! Eeker

Your alignment needs will depend alot upon your use of your car & the state of your chassis & wheel combo (stock or modified).

Dallara originally designed 6° positive caster into the front suspension, but Ford reduced it to a dismal 3° (Pre-L) in order to slow down the response to driver input at the steering wheel and to replace the possibility for oversteer with the earlier on-set of understeer. The move to Goodyear Arriva tires in late 1972 was accompanied by a further decrease in caster, to 2-3/4°.

There is minimal provision for adjustment of the front suspension caster. It is for the biggest part built into the chassis. If the chassis is adjusted to sit level the caster should be 2-3/4° to 3°, unless your Pantera is a push-button version or a European version.

2-3/4° to 3° of caster is not enough for stability in a sports car with such a low amount of weight over the front tires. It also diminishes the amount the front tires “lean” into a corner when they are turned. If you wish to set up the suspension for better stability, for quicker and more precise response to driver input, for improved front tire “grip” in corners (less understeer), and to restore the balance originally built into the chassis, you may want to consider increasing the front caster (reversing Ford’s changes to the front suspension). The most common method to increase front caster is to modify the upper front control arms to allow more caster adjustment. The car responds better to 4° - 6° of positive caster. The caster setting is sensitive to the width and diameter of the tires, air pressures, chassis ride height settings, etc.

To slow the response to driver input and encourage the earlier on-set of understeer Ford reduced front camber from -1/4° to 0° while they increased front toe-in from 0” to 1/8”. I'd recommend at least a minimum amount of toe-in up front (1/16") even if you set the camber at -1/4°. Ford did not alter the rear camber setting (-1/2°) or rear toe setting (about 1/8" to 3/16") because they did not want to do anything to reduce the grip of the rear tires in corners.

Toe is dependent upon camber, the purpose of toe is to zero out the forces of whatever camber setting is dialed in, plus to give the car straight line stability. Toe is set properly when the car does not veer on smooth-level pavement and when tread wear & tread temperature are both even across the width of the tire.

On a high performance sports car, tire pressure is also a factor in the suspension settings, and has similar effects on the chassis as toe adjustment.

George
Last edited by George P
MSM Portata ...... Thank You very much ...... this brings to a close a very long drawn out process of when the car was transported and damaged in shipping....... but the good news is I rode the insurnace co. until they finally gave in and repaired the car and I was compensated for loss of use for 7 months. I guess it cost me money for a lot of phone calls and a little aggreation, but soon it will be well worth it. Dying to drive the Pantera.
The transport of te vehicle was part of the purchase. It was A-1 out of Vegas, they were OK until the car landed in NJ Elizabeth. Then a local guy hired a Body shop to deliver the car to me. It was some kids borrowing the bosses truck and samshed the front. A-1 took responsibilty after 3 months. So not sure I could have done anything about it. I have friends who have used some of the more well known and they had damage in transport also. Who do you trust these days.
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