On June 7, 2005 Tom Jennings wrote:
I've got skinny good-quality Nitto traction A/temperature A tires (195/70-R14) on 6" wide wheels; factory geometry (0 camber, 1 caster, 1/8" toe) all new parts. Front tires squeal rounding corners. Odd. Usual Rambler understeer but nothing serious, and it's smooth and consistent, no funny noises or nonlinearities. Tires should have all the mold release worn off by now I'd think, but maybe not (< 100 miles).
When I rebuilt the front end on my American and put new tires on it, I had a local shop align the front end. This shop works on alot of older cars, in fact that's all they would work on if they could make money at it as that's the owner's "first love"; anyway, he told me that the factory settings weren't correct for modern tires and he tweaked them some. To what, and which direction, I don't remember, but I had had another shop align it before that and was never satisfied. After the second time, it drove straight and handled the best I'd ever had it.
Don Spence Wheel Alignment (Glendale CA) is one of those type shops. Absolutely top-notch work, there's often some beloved and exotic thing in there (like that Carerra Panamericana Volvo a few months back). I'll call 'em up. THanks for the tip.
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