Front camber issue

[specialty]

Just did rebuilt my steering knuckles. Not to bad a job except it's a dirty miserable greasy task. My question is looking at the left front wheel it is tilted out at the top about 1 inch from being parallel with the bottom of the tire. Like the camber is way out. The passenger sides sits straight with the back tire eye balling it. Is the tube bent on the front differential? Or is it notmal or something else? looks like the camber would be about the same on both wheels. Thanks

[athawk11]

 

The camber is sort of built into the front axle.  You can kind of see the tilt in the knuckle on the right of this photo.






I'm not sure that there is an adjustment.  The only thing I can think of that would change the angle is a broken King Pin bearing. 

Did you replace the King Pin bearings?  A somewhat neglected component.  They often look like this...

[specialty]

Yes. I replaced all 4 of them with new races. Filled with that tick stuff from Chevron, I forget the name. It's actually a runny grease according to the rep. Thick but it does run, sorta like stp but maybe a little heavier. The spring shackle is bent in the front and points toward the passenger side up front but I don;t see how that could effect the camber. I do have the springs loose waiting for parts to repair the bushings and replace the c shackles. But again I don;t see how that could make the camber so bad on the left side. Possibly it can. I plan on doing the springs this weekend so we will see.

[JimVillers]

Just a comment.  It is possible to crush the cage when installing the caster bearing; actually fairly easy (ask me how I know). 

Take a close look at the top and bottom bearings and compare them to the other side.  If one looks a little different from the other investigate.

[specialty]

I guess I will have to pull the bearings and see whats going on. The bottom one is a little tough to hold and get in. Here are some pics of my problem.

[squidtone]

Well, if it makes you feel better, my CJ with stock dana 25 also has a positive camber. It's quite noticeable to me.
It's even on both sides, and I see no damage to the housing or knuckles...so I think it was built that way.

I wonder if there's a spec in the CJ factory manual (I know it's not adjustable, but it should be there in order to diagnose damage) and I believe on some vehicles they made wedge shims for the spindle to correct bad camber.

[athawk11]

This kind of has me stumped.

Is the wheel bent?  Spin it and see if it wobbles.

[specialty]

No, it's not bent. I checked that because that's what I thought. I have it jacked up and it spins freely and the wheel turns on the knuckle nice and smooth. I see no axle damage either. Maybe it will be okay.

[1955CJ-5]

The book shows 1 1/2� of positive camber.....doesn't sound like much..

Have you checked the wheel angle vs the floor using a carpenter's square?

I remember there being obvious visual positive camber....can't find a good picture though...

Perhaps it's a lack of camber in the right front?

[1955CJ-5]

I went over and took a couple pictures...

It isn't as apparent as I thought..but it's there..

I can't imagine how it would be different side to side. It is controlled by either the bearings which are new, or the king-pin caps..and those are all the same.....

It doesn't seem possible that a knuckle could be installed upside-down......or I surely would have done it!!

[athawk11]

Here is another long shot guess...

Are the knuckles identical?  I vaguely remember there being a couple different types.

[squidtone]

I just measured my front camber on my '50.
I could not get my camber tool directly on the wheel as this old fashioned vehicle actually has hubs that stick out beyond the wheel rim!
So I used a straightedge on a section of tire sidewall, avoiding  the lower tire bulge by the ground, and I measured +1.49 deg on the passenger side, and +0.6 deg on the driver side.
these measurements are not very accurate because my tires are bulging, crusty and cracked, and I did not level the jeep at all. But, it's a data point for your consideration.

[squidtone]

Oh and I just did some math with my SOH CAH TOA (anybody remember their trigonometry with that 'glyph?),
and I calculate that a 1.5 degree camber of a 30 inch diameter wheel/tire would tilt it out at the top by 0.78"

someone check my math.....

[specialty]

I will put the square on my wheel today and post a picture. I would say just by eye it is about a inch out at the top. A buddy thought maybe after it's run maybe it would settle in but I doubt it since it's supported by the king pins and fairly rigid. My main concern is how it will drive and what it will do to the tire wear. Any ideas on the effect this will have on steering and wear?

[specialty]

Here is another long shot guess...

Are the knuckles identical?� I vaguely remember there being a couple different types.

I think they are. I never noticed any difference but they do have tags on them on the seal bolts. Not sure if that will tell me anything but I will see if the numbers are legible and post them.
Assembly to me seems pretty much straight forward and would hard to mess the thing up. If something was wrong it seems like it wouldn't work as smooth as it does. I really hate to pull this thing back apart to check because I have already filled it with that nasty Chevron diluted  flowing grease. It seems to be the ticket on this as far as lubrication but sure is a mess and hard to get it in the fill plug. I used a grease gun but it seems to want to bypass the gun seals and pump as much out the back of the gun as it does the front. Tried to different guns, one being almost new, with the same results, a greasy mess. Guess that's part of the fun huh?