Caster

00fxd

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
549
Location
Western Canada
If anyone is interested, I finally had my Caster adjusted back to 2deg from the 4 1/2deg that had been suggested to me. I love it. I am fairly in tune with my car and I can really feel the nimbleness again. When some dick turned left in front of me the other day and I had to make a quick evasive move it was really apparant that it just didn't respond as quickly. For those that don't quite get it, like I didn't till recently - as I mentioned before, I worked with Harley Davidson Motorcycles for some time. The 2 common rakes are 29deg and 31deg. The 29deg bikes [Deckers and Superglides] Are far superior thru the cones than the 31deg rake bikes [Wide Glides and FX Softails]. The same applies to automobiles. It's kinda the same as long front end chopper that makes a wide sweeping corner but now I just crank the wheel and the car feels like its on rails around corners again. And runnin' down the highway feels exactly the same even without all the caster.
 
"did an alignment shop recommend the 4*?"

Alignment shops have told me to "crank as much caster into it as I can".....
My alignment guy gives a shit so we talked about this and he figured it was the way to go. He's young and has some kind of import cars with Bilstiens etc.
I could sort of see it for highway travel so thats why I tried it, but when one puts a little more thought into it one can see the benefits of less caster as I described above. Probably most newer cars have a lot more caster so they are assuming it's the way to go especially now that most all cars have power steering. I have manual steering so the more pos. caster makes my car harder to steer but that is not the issue. I also have my outer tie rod ends in the quick steer holes which also adds to the steering wieght but I don't care. I'm sold on the slot car cornering which you get from less caster. Guldstrands site suggests caster as little as 1deg for slalom racing. I like this so much I may try even less.
 
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more castor will give high speed stability. i have 4.5 but i have power steering , with manual i don't think you want to go more than 3
 
more castor will give high speed stability.
>>>This is true but at the but my point is at the expense of slot car handling and as I mentioned I don't notice any difference at high speed<<<

i have 4.5 but i have power steering , with manual i don't think you want to go more than 3
>>>again true but as I mentioned I don't care about the heavier steering weight with more caster. Power steering is for girls ............. [just kidding, I'm going for the jeep box conversion.]
 
Don't drive no stinking shopping cart!

Too little caster gives you that "shopping cart wheel" effect on a power steering car. Most guys tell you to put in as much caster as you can get, there are after market control arms that will give more than the stock ones will allow. I don't put any more than 1" of shims on the back bolt. (That's about all you can get without running out of thread).

I have started doing my own alignments since I tried two different shops on two different Corvettes and both failed miserably
 
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