[DeTomaso] Offset Poly Bushings

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Tom, what I can tell you is, our '72 L got about -3.6 degrees from offset 
top bushings, and another -0.8 degree from milling 0.060" off one side of the 
upper ball joint carrier. That totals -4.5 degrees- where it is today. By 
adding offset bushings to the LOWER a-arms as well, you pick up another -3 
degrees. But unless you have large upper arms and shoulders, you may not like 
driving around town with over -5 degrees of caster. You also have to make a 
new shim-pack to fill in the space created up top. Offset lower bushings 
don't affect the shim-pack thickness. And of course, even after adding the 
offset bushings, you can still adjust the exact caster you desire by changing 
shim position.
With caster in turns, the steering rack and wheel is actually lifting the 
entire front of the car a few tenths of an inch which is why the steering 
gets heavy with increased caster and on front engined cars, needs power 
steering to compensate.
The worst part of the whole exercise is removing the old rubber and 
especially the steel outer shell from 16 places in your a-arms. But as I said- if 
you pick the poly bushings that are sized to fit INSIDE the OEM steel bushing 
shells, the job becomes infinitely easier with the same ultimate results. 
Good luck- J DeRyke