Quote:
Originally Posted by ciderman
I have been told to loosen it by local volvo man but his vehicle feel sloppy BUT, run ok at speed..
|
Backing off the set screw which establishes the free play on the pitman arm shaft will increase the play / dead zone felt at the steering wheel. I would tend to avoid that advice. The service manual sets out the correct procedure for adjusting the set screw.
The amount of positive caster you are running should be giving you heavy steering. Doing camber measurements at home with a jig is not too hard if you have an absolutely level concrete surface or correct the measurements for the amount that the floor surface is out from level. Caster measurements are harder and you really need a set of turn plates for accurate measurement. The 20 deg tape marks on the floor is an OK approximation if you have big changes in camber. Not so good for small changes in camber where small differences become important. When you did the caster measurements at home did you do the + and - 20 deg camber angle measurements (or whatever Volvo recommends for this particular model)? If so, is there a chance that you messed up when it comes to adding or subtracting the two angles? The instructions associated with some of the home alignment jigs are really confusing, particularly the details around when you get one positive and one negative camber measurement at the two 20 deg angles and how you add or subtract the two values.
I would be inclined to pay a visit to a good alignment shop and ask them to do the measurements. You may need to search a bit to find an alignment shop that can do vintage vehicles. Most of the alignment shops are using automated systems and they don't really know how do do the measurements. If your car is not in the data base they are lost.