Front wheels far forward in opening (and rear tire clearance)

[dmcman73]

Doing this makes your caster go negative which is not what you want. You'll need to add adjustable upper control arms to bring the caster more positive, but that brings other issues trying to correct your caster this way.

Got things pretty much done, just waiting for the coil-overs to be delivered.

I made a little gadget to guide a saw blade to cut the correct amount off the "tube"; just under .6".

Attachment 71251

Cut the tube off and made a bushing to go on the other side of the LCA:

Attachment 71252

I had to make 2 more bushings the same length to reuse the stiffening pieces that were there before. Needed new bolts too (a bit longer):

Attachment 71253

It's been a good project and not too difficult.

Rick

[82DMC12]

Got things pretty much done, just waiting for the coil-overs to be delivered.

I made a little gadget to guide a saw blade to cut the correct amount off the "tube"; just under .6".

Attachment 71251

Cut the tube off and made a bushing to go on the other side of the LCA:

Attachment 71252

I had to make 2 more bushings the same length to reuse the stiffening pieces that were there before. Needed new bolts too (a bit longer):

Attachment 71253

It's been a good project and not too difficult.

Rick

I bet you end up regretting doing this at some point in the not too distant future.

[Carbuilder]

Doing this makes your caster go negative which is not what you want. You'll need to add adjustable upper control arms to bring the caster more positive, but that brings other issues trying to correct your caster this way.

Read post #37.

[Carbuilder]

I bet you end up regretting doing this at some point in the not too distant future.

I'm curious why.

It can easily be reversed if I don't like it for some reason. Swap the LCA bushing I made to the other side, take out the 2 bushings I made for the stiffening pieces. Go back to the bolts that were in there to start. Am I missing something?

[82DMC12]

I'm curious why.

It can easily be reversed if I don't like it for some reason. Swap the LCA bushing I made to the other side, take out the 2 bushings I made for the stiffening pieces. Go back to the bolts that were in there to start. Am I missing something?

1) this will be impossible to get a decent alignment once you manage to, if it's even possible, to attach the anti roll bar again. Steering is going to wander and bounce all over the place at speed.

2) If you manage to get it all back together and rolling, you'll have incredible stress on the ARB bushings, and by the way you might have noticed the stock LCA's are thin gauge steel

3) No matter what you do, you've added an additional moving friction point (your crude bushing) which will wear down and further degrade steering and control

You're going to end up realizing this was stupid and you'll have to cut out the rest of the pipe, drill a new hole straight through the frame and slide a new pipe inside, weld it to the frame, and then make a new cut where the old cut used to be just to get it back to square one.

[Carbuilder]

1) this will be impossible to get a decent alignment once you manage to, if it's even possible, to attach the anti roll bar again. Steering is going to wander and bounce all over the place at speed.

2) If you manage to get it all back together and rolling, you'll have incredible stress on the ARB bushings, and by the way you might have noticed the stock LCA's are thin gauge steel

3) No matter what you do, you've added an additional moving friction point (your crude bushing) which will wear down and further degrade steering and control

You're going to end up realizing this was stupid and you'll have to cut out the rest of the pipe, drill a new hole straight through the frame and slide a new pipe inside, weld it to the frame, and then make a new cut where the old cut used to be just to get it back to square one.

Wow, so much negativity! I won't know for sure until it is back together and on the road. But here are my thoughts/reasons.

1) Impossible to get an alignment? Technically, an alignment on the front of a Delorean is just adjusting the toe. I'm not changing anything to affect that. Steering wandering and bouncing all over the place? Do you know what the caster is on a stock Delorean? I do, and I will end up with more than that when I'm done, so don't see why it should be worse than a stock Delorean. Maybe you haven't read the entire thread to actually understand what I'm doing and why.

2) Incredible stress on the ARB bushings? I'm moving things back about .6", not a foot and a half. Those bushings are designed to work through angles as the suspension moves. Technically, if I can't move the ARB back as much as the LCA moves, then there will be less stress on the bushings, not more; think about it and made a sketch if needed. If I can move the mounting of the ARB back the same amount I am moving the suspension (with the slotted holes in the mounts) then there will be no change to what the ARB experiences. If I can't, I'll see how to solve it then; make new ARB mounts that allow me to move it back?

3) Do you know how the LCA pivots? Do some investigation and then explain to me why my added bushing is a friction point. Oh, and nothing I do is "crude". My bushing is precision made and is from better material than the part of the tube that I cut off.

I don't mind feed back on what I'm doing (and I appreciate most of it). But please know the details of what you are criticizing first.

Rick

[82DMC12]

True that only toe is adjustable, that's because camber and caster are in the designed range by default as long as the frame is straight, chassis is straight, and bushings are in good shape. You can still measure them on an alignment rack.

You've pulled the front LCA's backwards over half an inch, and there isn't that much adjustment available in the ARB. There are no threads left in stock form when attached correctly so can't add machined bushings in front of the LCA to ARB bushings. So now you will have the LCA's pigeon-toed which will put additional stress on all the bushings including the upper and lower shock mounts because it can't move up and down in a vertical direction, now everything is at an angle, and the LCA is moving in an arc as the springs compress. It also reduces contact area during a turn.

And all for what... The tire wasn't centered in the wheel well?

Good luck.


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[dn010]

3) Do you know how the LCA pivots? Do some investigation and then explain to me why my added bushing is a friction point. Oh, and nothing I do is "crude". My bushing is precision made and is from better material than the part of the tube that I cut off.

Because the "bushing" you created, which I'll just call a spacer, will rotate with the actual bushing in the LCA whenever it moves up or down. You can get around this by welding the spacer to the frame and it will also solve the problem of being unable to "pinch" the bushing of the LCA so it doesn't move with the LCA once you bolt it together.

I also don't think it's a great idea to move around everything Colin designed especially when there has to be other ways to achieve what you want, but, to each their own.

[Carbuilder]

Because the "bushing" you created, which I'll just call a spacer, will rotate with the actual bushing in the LCA whenever it moves up or down. You can get around this by welding the spacer to the frame and it will also solve the problem of being unable to "pinch" the bushing of the LCA so it doesn't move with the LCA once you bolt it together.

I also don't think it's a great idea to move around everything Colin designed especially when there has to be other ways to achieve what you want, but, to each their own.

I could tack weld the bushing to the tube on the frame, but don't think that is needed. It will be pretty easy to tell once I torque up the fasteners. As you pointed out, the LCA stock bushing is pinched solid on its inner tube to keep it from rotating, so only the rubber part sees the rotation. Mine will be pinched the same and with the load applied after torquing the bolt, I don't think the spacer I've added will rotate. The clamping load is around 10,000lbs (really, look it up) so I don't think the bushing will slip.

I know people see it as me changing the suspension geometry, but I see it as bringing it back to how Colin designed it. He didn't design it with over 7 degrees of caster. So for whatever reason, mine was out of spec. And no, there is no accident damage that I can see.

[Carbuilder]

Just took a picture of mine. Notice anything, front or back? . Strange that they would do that.

Screenshot 2025-02-18 at 12.34.25 PM.jpg