Too much caster??

[737jetdr]

Well after several failed attempts at getting my alignment done at the local alignment shop I decided to do it myself. I purchased some turn plates off of ebay and an alignment tool from Eastwood. I think it is made by SPC performance. Since I have adjustable ucas and adjustable strut rods adjustments are pretty easy. My question is: How much caster is too much caster and what are the downsides to it? I like my cars to handle well. I don't do autocross (yet) , just mostly street driving and I like the twisty roads. I have been able to achieve up to +5 degrees caster and -1 degree camber. Any thoughts?? I was adjusting it tonight so I haven't driven it yet .

 

[oldkimmer]

.........Wow.......5 degrees +....i think 3 is great.................drive it and see how it handles............see how good the wheel turns to center.........u wont know till u drive it.........i like 0 to + or - .05 ...........kim..........

 

[green1]

yeah what kim said; 2 caster, - .025 camber.

 

[fourspeed]

My Duster was aligned by a shop and it's got 6 degrees caster. I told them I wanted it to be stable at high speeds and it is definitely that. A little less might be nice though, because the effort is pretty high.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I wouldn't go anymore than 5* and that would be for a manual steering car. It might get to where it feels kinda "rocky" when you make lane changes with that much, so you may need to back off a little. It sorta will feel like the car is trying to "fall over" in the front. You'll know if you get too much. Of course with aftermarket control arms, a lot of those rules are thrown out the window because the angles are different and some of that is engineered out so that they can get a high amount of caster. remember though, it all depends on what you wanna do with the car. Want it to handle good? then a real high amount of caster isn't good. I would set it at 3.5* and see how it drives.