Inertia
Well-Known Member
Caster, a bicycle has caster .
That's how I remember .
That's how I remember .
Please critique my home front-end alignment method
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67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Or "caster wheels" like on the front of a shopping cart. Interestingly, "caster wheels" do not normally have caster!!! (The "spindles" are vertical!!!)
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
Wow, that's cheap! I wonder if it's any good?
MOPAROFFICIAL
Oogliboogli
Instructions are really vague.
the car has to be level for the readings to be any good. Wheels off and at ride height imo
I have a Longacre of that type. You don't put it on the rotor surface. (Crazy "pals" in China!) You take the dust cap off (temporarily snug the bearings to remove any wiggle), and attach it to the center of the drum/rotor. Leave the tires on it (inflate all 4 correctly). If you have aluminum rotors (Wilwood, etc.), Longacre sells an adapter that screws onto the spindle.
For toe, I used to use a 2 x 4 with some bent up shelf brackets. But now I use the cheap toe plates sold on ebay or Amazon. Much better.
Also, I use (2) 12" square vinyl floor tiles under each tire with sand between them as turn plates. Don't use the self-adhesive kind- the backing makes a mess.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=using+longacre+caster+camber+gauge
Don't be afraid to check and set as much as you want. You'll develop a "feel" for what it wants.
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"max caster"isn't the end all be all .
You have to consider the difference between reading in each side vs the other. ("cross" camber and ""cross caster") you want the camber reading to be close on one side to what it is on the other, and you want the caster the same way. If a car pulls one way or the other because of alignment, it's because there's too much difference in the readings between one wheel and the other.
A car will pull if the camber on the driver side is too much more positive than the right, caster is the opposite.
You want a little offset in readings between left and right if you have heavily crowned roads or the car will pull "downward " of the road crown (usually right) usually 1/4 to 1/2 degree higher camber on the driver side or 1/2 degree or (slightly more) positive caster on the right than the left. But set the other reading as even with the other side as you can get it. I like to do the road crown comp with caster more so than with camber since camber can wear tires and caster won't
There are pretty wide tolerances on most alignment specs, but you still need to keep the left to right "cross" readings within a reasonable amount of each other.
Before we had specs preprogrammed in the alignment machine for every car and truck made in the last 50-60 years to pick from we used to set almost all rwd cars and trucks pretty much the same as any other and out customers didn't wear their tires "funny" and we didn't have any handling complaints.
Remember back when you could get either manual steering or power steering, caster was always spec'd lower on a manual steering car.
We'd set left camber around+1/2, right camber around +1/4 to +1/2, and caster fell where it would, but the biggest thing we would pay attention to was the "cross"reading, setting the driver side caster 1/2 degree or slightly greater, lower than the passenger side.
Ever have a shopping cart with a stuck wheel? Now you see what caster does. Or a "regular" motorcycle vs a "chopper" ? The chippers had more caster, which made them more stable cruisin down the highway and the other one that wasn't a chopper would be better in twisty roads and easier to steer on that situation?
You have to consider the difference between reading in each side vs the other. ("cross" camber and ""cross caster") you want the camber reading to be close on one side to what it is on the other, and you want the caster the same way. If a car pulls one way or the other because of alignment, it's because there's too much difference in the readings between one wheel and the other.
A car will pull if the camber on the driver side is too much more positive than the right, caster is the opposite.
You want a little offset in readings between left and right if you have heavily crowned roads or the car will pull "downward " of the road crown (usually right) usually 1/4 to 1/2 degree higher camber on the driver side or 1/2 degree or (slightly more) positive caster on the right than the left. But set the other reading as even with the other side as you can get it. I like to do the road crown comp with caster more so than with camber since camber can wear tires and caster won't
There are pretty wide tolerances on most alignment specs, but you still need to keep the left to right "cross" readings within a reasonable amount of each other.
Before we had specs preprogrammed in the alignment machine for every car and truck made in the last 50-60 years to pick from we used to set almost all rwd cars and trucks pretty much the same as any other and out customers didn't wear their tires "funny" and we didn't have any handling complaints.
Remember back when you could get either manual steering or power steering, caster was always spec'd lower on a manual steering car.
We'd set left camber around+1/2, right camber around +1/4 to +1/2, and caster fell where it would, but the biggest thing we would pay attention to was the "cross"reading, setting the driver side caster 1/2 degree or slightly greater, lower than the passenger side.
Ever have a shopping cart with a stuck wheel? Now you see what caster does. Or a "regular" motorcycle vs a "chopper" ? The chippers had more caster, which made them more stable cruisin down the highway and the other one that wasn't a chopper would be better in twisty roads and easier to steer on that situation?
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