1956 Coupe DeVille Alignment Question

[limikep]

Hello again all and hope all is well

When I drive at speeds of around 30 miles an hour, the steering wheel is at 12 O'clock and the car tracks straight when I remove my hands from the steering wheel.  When I drive on the parkway at speeds of around 50 - 60 miles an hour, I find the steering wheel is at 1 O'clock and the car drifts ever so slightly to the left but not that quickly.  I do have bias ply tires on the car.  Is this something to be concerned about.  I don't like to touch anything unnecessary only to make things worst than what they are.

Thank you all.
Mike

[Dan LeBlanc]

Likely just fine - the crowning of the highway can cause this.  If your tires are wearing evenly, no cause for alarm.

If you have a front-end guy who knows his stuff, he can correct for this in the alignment.

[Lexi]

Dan is correct, especially if tires wear evenly and you are using bias plies. But if your case is different, read on...

I had a "drifting" problem, then major front end work done on my '56, (which is also equipped with bias ply tires). It came back from the alignment shop drifting worse! Long and very painful story short: After some research I discovered there was a set of revised alignment specs for that year, "General Service Letter May 15, 1956", regarding "1956 Steering Correction". This was published in response to assist owners who complained of "steering wander" at medium and high speeds. What look like new (or first time stated) steering gear springs and valve lever lash specs were provided. Also stated were "New caster, camber and toe-in specifications". A full page providing "Wander Correction Procedure" was attached. Item #11 on this page gave "new" alignment specifications for all 1956 Cadillac cars:

*Caster 0 degrees to negative 1/4 degree.
*Camber negative 1/4 degree right, 0 degree left.
*Toe-in 1/4"

My alignment place does trucks, and was about the only place I could find that claimed to have the expertise to do this job, (shop manual lists specific tools that many shops now may not have). When I brought my car back for them to correct their apparent misalignment job, I asked them to use the new wheel alignment specs, rather than what was in their data base (and to correct when necessary that stated in the shop manual which I had brought with me). When I got my car back it then drove much better. It is probably about as good as it is going to get, with what drifting remains I think is attributable to road crown and bias ply tire poor tracking.

So, if you decide to take the plunge and have your alignment checked, the above noted should be taken into consideration. In my case I also had some other serious issues (since corrected). Also, I found that replacing some front end parts can awaken "gremlins" and help exploit other issues that may have been more or less "silent" prior to tinkering-as everything that was original wore at about the same rate. So the old parts wind up fitting like an old shoe. Comfortable. But probing around can sometimes be like poking a stick into a hornet's nest so to speak, which is what also happened in my case. Fortunately I did find that the revised alignment specs did work in my case. All things to keep in mind. Good luck, and lets try to keep another old girl healthy and on the road. Clay/Lexi

[cadman56]

Strange,
All my cars would drift to the right, down the crown.  To correct I would very slightly turn the steering wheel to the left.

This sounds to me like alignment is off and there is too much play in the steering linkage.
None of my 56s ever responded as described here.

You could also have adragging brakes issue here.  Check the left side first.

[Lexi]

Hey Larry! How is it going? Yes, drifting to the left I found to be an odd reported comment. Like you, all of my 1956 Cadillacs drifted slightly to the right-probably following the road pitch and crown. Clay/Lexi

[limikep]

Thank you all for all your feedback.  You all really helped.  Since my issue is slight, I will leave alone and enjoy the car rather than "opening up a can of worms".  Be well.