I installed my jim fab bars on my 1992 hatch. My question is I read about adjusting it to zero preload but how is this done. When I asked Jim he sent me this reply back.

the easy way to adjust to " zero " is to set it on the ground and
remove the front link. then adjust it untill the bolt falls in to place. that will
be zero. we recomend you leave it at zero, to keep the bump steer in good
geomotry.

So my question is when he says the front link does the front mean the part near the rad or where the lca is? Also do you keep the screw where the lca is turned all the way in and the one where the Rad is out until it fits in the hole? Any help would be great and pics would be better. Thanks

 

easiest way is to undo both nuts on the front and back of the adjusting bar.

turn the bar in which ever direction you need to, to not put any tension on the LCA's

this will keep the caster at the stock setting of 0 degrees


most have found it most beneficial to have about 3 or 4 degrees of positive caster.

you'll need an alignment shop to pull this off, b/c once you pull the LCA's forward your toe will be out of spec.

goto an alignment shop and ask if you can watch and see if the guy will let you get the bars to where you want THEN let him adjust the toe

 

No he means the front by the rad.. the u bracket that the radius end goes in. you should try to keep the two links as evenly spaced as possible. What you do is set them even.. then hold the end with one hand and spin the bar with the other.. That way they both turn the same amount, untill the bolt drops in. Then your done.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Foozball26 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">easiest way is to undo both nuts on the front and back of the adjusting bar.

turn the bar in which ever direction you need to, to not put any tension on the LCA's

this will keep the caster at the stock setting of 0 degrees


most have found it most beneficial to have about 3 or 4 degrees of positive caster.

you'll need an alignment shop to pull this off, b/c once you pull the LCA's forward your toe will be out of spec.

goto an alignment shop and ask if you can watch and see if the guy will let you get the bars to where you want THEN let him adjust the toe</TD></TR></TABLE>

How do I know if I am putting tension on the LCA?
Last night I set the car on the ground and turned the bars until they were super tight. I am thinking this was not the correct thing to do.

 

you will be able to feel it, the middle bar will turn in both directions easily and have a bit of slack it in, kinda hard to explain in words.

did you turn tighten them so the LCA was being pulled forward towards the front of the car?

 

i did not see the lca moving. Although i was not really looking at it. So should the bars have some slack in them. Right now they are pretty stiff. I have not driven the car soI am not worried that I messed anything up.

 

yea, just a little play in them when twisting

the real test is to look at your tires from above the fender to see if the front of the tire is point out away from the car, if so you need an alignment to fix that.

 

So by tightening the bars it will actually throw off your toe in toe out? When I get it allgined should I have the guy adjust the bars at all? As you can tell I am confused right now.

 

yes it will throw the toe off by adjusting the bars.

and I would ask him to adjust them to get your desired caster THEN adjust the toe.