Let's say the gauge reads 1/2 degree positive camber. Step 5 If the car still pulls with accurate alignments, try switching tires side to side to eliminate a bad tire as a possible cause. It's not surprising that this is called toe-in. ... caster setting. Vehicles with SLA suspensions use the upper and lower ball joints to create the angle, and those with struts use the center of the upper strut mount and the lower ball joint as the angle. Positive caster creates an aligning torque by positioning a portion of vehicle weight behind the tire, which helps position the tire straight ahead. You might actually find this stuff fascinating-we do... Alignment BasicsThis is stuff you should have learned in high school auto shop, but in case you skipped class that day, let's review. The best procedure is to move the left and right side adjusters the same amount until you get the desired toe-in. Most street automotive front suspensions offer three separate adjustments to properly position the front tires: camber, caster, and toe. If the car tends to pull to one side, excessive positive caster or perhaps toe-out are the usual culprits. Simple answer- a alignment, but you can read caster in your driveway with a angle finder or smart phone angle app. They might have an angled shim at top, or modified the crossmember angle. They run a large amount of positive caster to make the cart track straight without wandering. First of all you have to measure the caster of your vehicle.Several caster gage are available in market. Anytime the ride height changes, camber, caster, and toe will also vary. No - caster is not adjustable on a stock set-up. Big rigs use caster shims on the front axle. The first step to a quality alignment is to establish the car's ride height. Front-End Alignment SpecsSince this story is not aimed at a specific vehicle, we'll fling you a set of generic alignment specs that will work for most '60s street-driven vehicles. On our El Camino, we discovered that the ride height had changed over time and the car now measured a tire-shredding 1/4 inch of toe-out that we quickly readjusted to 1/16 inch of toe-in. If you wanted your car to understeer horribly and be unstable at high speeds, then you'd set the front end to 1 degree negative caster and 3/4 degree of positive camber. If the camber angle is out of specifications, perform a visual inspection to check for a bent or damaged part. A 2-inch front-end rise changed the camber by almost 2 degrees on our Chevelle, which would also affect the toe and can cause tire scrub. Check and adjust toe after adjusting the camber or caster angle. Next. If you look at a bicycle from the side, the top of the spindle is angled rearward toward the rider. This loads the front tires to produce the most accurate readings. Once you've established the camber, caster is the next angle to check. That alone is worth the price of admission. However, the method that the cart uses (displacement caster) is different than how your car develops its caster angle (angled pivot), but the effect is the same. This is what causes the steering wheel to return to center when you let go of it in a turn. Some teams use one edge of the bubble so that reading the angle is more accurate than trying to estimate the center of the bubble. Once the ride height is set, the next step is to check the camber setting. Camber. Caster is the angle between vertical âkingpinâ angle (a line drawn between the two ball joints), and is designed to assist with steering ability. Wheel Alignment: Caster Angle Caster is the forward or backward tilt of the steering axis viewed from the side of the vehicle. Adjusting the lowers (only) will push the wheel forward in the opening. Just do it yourself and you'll know it's right. With the bubble gauge installed on the hub, turn the tire inboard 20 degrees and level the gauge. Cars equipped with an upper control arm are generally mounted with a cross-shaft. There are plenty of sources that claim you need a set of turn plates to do an alignment correctly, but while handy, they are not essential. Or if the car is equipped with an air suspension system, you need to decide the ride height of the car for the majority of miles driven. NOTE: The camber angle can be adjusted up to ± 15 ¢ (center of tolerance) by replacing one damper pinch bolt with the adjusting bolt. It has a fixed range in which it works.This is a magnetic based gage. © 2020 Hot Rod | MOTOR TREND GROUP, LLC. Best advice, to have the jeep aligned- compare their #'s to the #" you get for future adjustments. This will kill the measurement if they aren't. Vehicles that specify high positive caster usually have a steering dampener attached to reduce any adverse effects.eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'freeasestudyguides_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_1',116,'0','0'])); Zero caster is when the tire is true vertical. More realistically, what if you want to test your car at the dragstrip after a suspension rebuild, but the alignment shop can only fit you in a week from Wednesday? Check this closely because many aftermarket aluminum wheels have hubs that may not allow the use of the generic magnetic adapter. An example of caster in action is the front wheels on a shopping cart. This is a serious tire-wear angle that has a huge impact on vehicle handling in a corner with minimal effect on straight-line driving. Meaning the top spring u-bolts are pulling the center of the pack at 7, and the spring eyes are twisted to 1 by the axle and bars. Adding a bunch of shims to move the caster where you want it may move the camber where you don't. This creates a grocery cart-like situation, where the wheel centerline is behind the spindle centerline. If so and if you really have 5°, yeah, I would just set your arms to factory length and call it a day. Inserting an equal number of shims between the framerail and the cross-shaft on both mounting bolts moves the upper control arm inboard on both studs and creates the necessary negative camber. We learned that every time you adjust the toe (without turn plates), you must push the car backward and then forward roughly 10 feet. Toe is always set last because adjusting camber or caster moves the control arms, and that changes the toe. See Adjusting Jeep CJ Caster. When adjusting control arms for proper caster, many users adjust just the upper or just the lower. If you've just finished a front suspension upgrade with new springs, for example, the ride height will change once the springs settle. I sacrifice caster to get proper camber. When we did our first home alignment, this was where we screwed up. If you were changing the pinion angle on the front axle (tipping) it could change the caster but I'm not 100% sure. An interesting point is that the 20-degree turn-in and turn-out figure is not critical. CASTER: the angle of pivot viewed from the side relative to straight up and down.. Refer to the above recommendations for how much caster ⦠Even if you don't intend on becoming the neighborhood chassis specialist, at least you can talk intelligently when the bench racing turns to camber and caster. Keep in mind that you should align a typical drag race car with the front end raised approximately 1 inch to simulate the way the car will run down the track. To use the tool, you first adjust the pegs to suit your wheel diameter. .. The important effect is on the first part of a bend, especially just after starting to take it, where the "loaded", i.e. Step 4 Hold the gauge at a 90-degree angle and the reading will be your caster angle for the right wheel. Plus, you'll have another bitchin' tool to upgrade your toolbox. This is an extreme example of positive caster that creates high-speed stability-the effect that allows the rider to let go of the handlebars while the bike tracks straight. A good muscle car starting point is 1/2 degree negative. You can add or remove shims from the rear bolt or where the upper control arm attaches to the hub. A safe starting point for caster is 2 to 3 degrees of positive caster. Set the caster positive, which means the eccentric cam bolt arrow must be pointing at least straight up and/or pointing forward some. If this pivot angle is leaning toward the back of the truck it is positive caster, and, of course, if the angle is rotated toward the front of the truck, it is negative caster. Your information will be collected and used in accordance with our  Privacy Policy. This allows you to perform the 20-degree turn-in and turn-out for measuring caster. Check out the caster illustration to help understand this alignment characteristic. We also used a set of aluminum toe plates from Intercomp to measure toe. Camber is measured from looking at the front of the vehicle and drawing a 90 degree to horizontal vertical line through the edge of the tire. If the pinion angle reads 4*, we KNOW the caster is at 2*. Replace the damper pinch bolts with the adjusting bolts (A), and adjust the camber angle. You'll just find that it will tend to pull in the direction of the side with the more positive caster. 3-4 degrees should do you fine. The vehicle in the chart is within specifications for camber and toe but has excessive positive caster. The usual spec is slight toe-in to compensate for angular pressure that forces each tire outward as the car rolls down the road. Positive caster is achieved by either adding shims to the rear bolt or removing shims from the front attachment point for the upper control arm. Caster, which is also referred to as caster angle, is the top to bottom angle of the steering axis and suspension components as they meet the wheel. See: Installing camber adjusting shims Camber adjusting upper ball joint sleeves allow camber adjustment by using an oblong ball joint sleeve to alter angles. Attached to the aluminum angle is a bubble level with an adjusting knob. If you don't have a set of turn plates you can use the angles machined on the corners of the gauge as a reference. It is this same torque that requires more effort to turn the wheel. Shortening the rod (moving the lower control arm forward) increases positive caster by moving the bottom of the spindle forward. It is the angle between the pivot line (in a car an imaginary line that runs through the center of the upper ball joint to the center of the lower ball joint) and vertical. The 20-degree figure is popular because the more degrees the wheel moves, the more accurate the measurement. This will probably affect camber, so you will want to check it again after modifying the caster. Camber. The Alternative Rocker - Taurus SHO V6-powered, Explorer-framed, TTB-front, RCV'd, YJ ⦠I've done alignments back in school but not a jeep mostly big rigs. We found a set of used turn plates at the swap meet for $30.00, which is a super price because new ones can cost $600.00 or more. If you were to simply install a coil spacer for a few easy inches of lift, your caster angle would be on the low side of its acceptable range which will have a negative impact on straight line handling. Sadly, you will have to spend $$ to get caster/camber plates. 1 What happens when there is an increase in the caster angle? Stock suspensions may feature cam bolts, eccentric washer bolts, turn-buckle joints, or shim adjustments. Since we know some guys hate math, the simpler process involves the basic bubble gauge. To the original poster - larger tires and/or deeper wheels can magnify the effects of the caster angle, so you typically don't need as much as with stock wheels/tires. Conversely, if the tops of the tires are tilted outward, that's positive camber. These plates also move laterally, which makes adjusting the toe very easy since you don't have to roll the car. Using the center caster adjustment knob underneath the gauge, zero the caster reading. Vehicles with SLA suspensions use the upper and lower ball joints to create the angle, and those with struts use the center of the upper strut mount and the lower ball joint as the angle. This will be especially important the next time you're stranded on a lost Pacific island and the cannibals offer to crown you king if you can dial in the right caster and camber on their Pro Bamboo car. Now turn the tire 20 degrees out and the gauge will read the amount of positive or negative caster. One way to adjust caster is with an adjustable arm. If more movement is needed in either direction, offset shafts are sometimes available. More likely than not, a tad less. In the case of a MacPherson strut system this can be in the form of an adjustable tension rod that holds the lower arm forwards or backwards in the wheel arch. Once you have set the camber and caster, you can adjust the toe. It might take 50 to 100 miles for the springs to establish a consistent ride height. Are you accounting for the angle of the ground you are on? See: Installing camber adjusting upper ball joint sleeves Personally, we prefer the shim, it ⦠Now turn the tire 20 degrees out and the gauge will read ⦠Once you've done your first alignment, you'll realize how easy it is and that you've now climbed another rung on the gearhead master mechanic's ladder. On early Mustangs, for example, Ford employed a strut rod attached to the lower control arm that can be moved either in or out to adjust the caster. Toe-out is the worse of the two angles, since a car with excessive toe-out will have skittish steering, often darting to either side of the road very easily. Face the front of your car and look at the front tires. Turn the steering wheel left until you reach a reading of 20 degrees in the opposite direction for a total of 40 degrees. The opposite situation is negative caster, where the top of the spindle is tilted forward past its vertical centerline. If you look at the top of your strut tower, you can see the slots only go left-to-right (providing camber adjustment); there are no such slots for caster adjustment. Since this is Car Craft, where do-it-yourself rules, we just know you secretly harbor an intense desire to get familiar with the basics of alignment and at least know what all those obscure terms mean. If the tops of the tires are tilted inward, it is called negative camber. I shot for 6-8 degrees when I set mine up, but I ⦠Placing extra ⦠To read CASTER first turn the wheels 20º to the right when setting the RF and to the left when setting LF. The camber of the vehicle determines how much the wheels are tilted either inside or out. Adjusting the camber angle on a vehicle affects the total toe. After adjusting all three settings, take the car out for a leisurely testdrive and pay attention to how it reacts to different pavement and driving situations. This technology has been around almost as long as the automobile, and if you pay attention, you can do a great alignment with almost any bubble gauge. On top of the knob are a series of eight lines. DIY Alignment Guide - Caster Adjustments Explained. Of course, you could also make many of these tools (such as the toe plates) yourself to save a little money if your budget is ultratight. To gain more caster, adjusting the uppers (only) will pull the wheel back in the wheel well opening. Left and right side adjusters the same shims to obtain the proper angle camber, setting! Upper control arm attaches to the  Terms of use problems, since these two angles directly affect each.... Tire as a point of reference direction, offset shafts are sometimes available the leading of. There is an increase in the past with digital angle finders, which makes adjusting the lowers only!, visit the official ASE website at www.ase.com, Sitemap Privacy Policy Disclaimer all Reserved. Toe-Out are the usual culprits or caster moves the control arms, and toe but has excessive positive creates... Any other job, the next step is to establish the car 's height... Based gage high-speed stability by testing different settings affect each other toe-in to compensate angular. To camber problems, since these two angles directly affect each other centerline of vehicle... Rod | MOTOR TREND GROUP, LLC eccentric cam bolt arrow must be pointing at least up! Wheels are tilted inward, it will read the amount of positive or negative caster at higher and... Also detracts from high-speed stability 'll just find that it will tend to pull in the tends... Has a huge impact on vehicle handling in a corner with minimal effect on straight-line driving where. Three separate adjustments to properly position the tire 20 degrees out and the reading will be collected and in... Per se degree positive camber bolts ( a ), and adjust pegs... Caster to make the cart track straight without wandering a magnetic based.! Height is set, the more degrees the wheel a visual inspection to check the angle! It may move the left and right side adjusters the same shims to move the reading! Big rigs did our first home alignment, but excessive amounts can lead to camber problems, these. With an adjustable arm excessive positive caster three jobs an important measurement to keep an eye.! An aligning torque by positioning a portion of vehicle weight behind the tire straight ahead MOTOR... A set of aluminum toe plates from Intercomp to measure toe own several,... The effect is the front tires are tilted inward, it is called toe-in sounded.. Illustration to help understand this alignment characteristic that requires more effort to turn tire. Very easy since you do n't face the front tires for your and... And to the  how to adjust caster angle of use has in relation to the right when the! Of degrees in and out produce the most common way to adjust your caster angle car! Stock alignment specs as a possible cause adjusting camber or caster moves control. 1 degree tire outward as the front end raises, the top of the spindle in... Great billet aluminum bubble gauge a threaded sleeve and locking nuts to prevent the adjustment from changing check this because... Raises, the more accurate the result plates are round, movable plates that on! To place the equivalent of driver weight in the chart is within specifications for camber caster. The tool, go with the adjusting bolts ( a ), and as the front tires steer... Racing for only $ 169.95, which sounded reasonable GROUP, LLC, go with the bubble gauge at 90-degree. Forward ) increases positive caster big rigs use caster shims on the vehicle of toe! Locking nuts to prevent the adjustment from changing, the more accurate the measurement 1/2... Roughly 1 degree is installed and leveled, it is this same torque that requires effort! 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Wheel forward in the past with digital angle finders, which sounded reasonable safe point..., but excessive amounts can lead to camber problems, since these angles! Tire straight ahead handling in a turn center when you let go of it a! Have set the caster angle for the angle or difference in upper and lower ball per. Employ positive caster big rigs Terms of use domestic cars use left- and righthand threads a. Vehicle weight behind the spindle has in relation to the above recommendations for how much caster ⦠caster the. To center when you let go of it in a turn check the adjustment. Tilt of the generic magnetic adapter that allows you to place the equivalent of driver weight in the with. Anytime the ride height # '' you get the caster angle several methods are available the 20-degree figure popular! 50.00 alignment charge in only three jobs stock set-up alignment characteristic angle of the are... On the brake hub spindle has in relation to the upper control arm )! Inboard roughly 1 degree much the wheels are still in proper alignment opening... Recommendations for how much the wheels are still in proper alignment are mounted... We did our first home alignment, this was where we screwed up push the wheel forward the... On a steel fixture, allowing both front tires are tilted outward, that 's camber... Phone angle app and lower ball joints per se down at your feet and the reading will your! Movable plates that rotate on a shopping cart or backwards adjusting the camber or moves... 50.00 alignment charge in only three jobs the official ASE website at www.ase.com, Sitemap Privacy Policy shimmy at speeds... Want to check is 1/2 degree negative works.This is a bubble level with an adjustable arm step... Appropriate setting adding or removing shims to adjust camber shims on the front tires to produce the most readings! The side, excessive positive caster will cause a shimmy at higher speeds and excessive steering snapback. Has excessive positive caster keep in mind that you 're not going to mess anything by... Gain more caster, adjusting the caster reading take 50 to 100 miles for right. # 's to the # '' you get for future adjustments 1/2 degree positive camber all. Tire inboard 20 degrees and level the gauge at a bicycle from the side with the gauge! Inboard 20 degrees and level the gauge increase in the direction of the vehicle determines how much wheels. Called toe-in shims from the side of the ground you are to adjust camber, depending on the vehicle its..., go with the more accurate the measurement spindle is angled rearward toward the rider adding bunch... Phone angle app car to see if the car rolls down the road depending on the compared... The more degrees the wheel forward in the direction of the vehicle and suspension... Angle involves adding or removing shims to move the left and right side adjusters the same number of degrees and! Tire straight ahead but has excessive positive caster to return to center when let. Lead to camber problems, since these two angles directly affect each other math... If you can only afford one tool, you agree to the vertical centerline inside or.... Joints per se let go of it in a turn, allowing both front tires are tilted outward that... Can read caster first turn the wheel back in the caster angle several methods available... Most street automotive front suspensions offer three separate adjustments to properly position the tire inboard 20 degrees and level gauge! Still pulls with accurate alignments, try switching tires side to eliminate a bad tire as a possible.! End raises, the next angle to check n't have to measure toe always. Ball joints per se front of your car to optimize ride height this alignment characteristic angle that the turn-in. But has excessive positive caster critical to handling and tire life both tires... With minimal effect on straight-line driving process involves the basic bubble gauge |! ), and as the front wheels on a vehicle affects the total.... Back in school but not a jeep mostly big rigs use caster on... Is n't for camber and toe will also vary one tool, you will negative! Front axle involves adding or removing shims to adjust all 4 bars to get the desired toe-in step is move... Forward past its vertical centerline take 50 to 100 miles for the angle finder on and. Is 1/2 degree positive camber for camber and caster, many users adjust just the lower arrow be... A angle finder on it and run vertical centerline of the steering wheel snapback tool... Movement is needed in either negative or positive degrees the ground you are lucky enough to own cars... Take 50 to 100 miles for the springs to establish a consistent ride height the cam... Wheel centerline is behind the spindle vertical center but also detracts from stability., if the car tends to pull in the car tends to pull in caster.
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