School me on caster angles

[Jeepbonehead]

i don;t know much about them but mine might be wrong, i've still been having steering issues. Everything is tight, alignment is good, i don't know enough about caster angles to be able to determine mine and what mine should be.

[Magilla]

The best way to do it is pull a side down to bare C's no ball joints run a rod through the upper and lower "cups". Then with an angle finder check the degree of that rod. should be between 7* and 10*

Or you could go less technical with an angle finder on top of the knuckle

[OWEN]

Caster is basically the angle of the axis of rotation from front to rear of the vehicle. The 0 degrees of caster means your steering rotates on an angle of 90 degrees to level ground when viewed from the side of the vehicle. This axis is basically like a line drawn through the centers of your upper and lower ball joints or king pins.

As you tilt the top ball joint (king pin) to the rear of the vehicle (from 0 degrees) you are increasing caster positively. Remember this is 2 dimensional, viewed from the vehicle side.

Now imagine 90 degrees of positive caster (ball joints at 3 and 9 o clock). As soon as you give any steering input, the vehicles weight would force the steering knuckle to rotate about the ball joints. Too much caster, but this extreme kind of explains why you want positive caster, the vehicle's weight has a little steering input if you have a little positive caster, which is good since most vehicles experience a little weight movement when turning/cornering. At least that is how I understant it. A little positive caster will help your steering return to center, handle better, and not wander (when going in a straight line).

As for number, I have read unwhere from 3 to 12 degrees positive is good, depending on the vehicle, most importantly you want it to be the same on both sides or it will drift to one side (unless you or your passenger are very heavy)

[Jeepbonehead]

thanks guys, i'll find the angle tomarrow and see if things need changing

if i need to increase the caster angle what is the best way to go about it. shims? do have to rotate my knuckles or housing?

[customcreationsllc]

I use an caster camber gauge.
You need to make sure all the weight is on the wheels (suspension and drive height)
Nice thing about solid axles if you put 4 jack stands under the axles then the suspension is at ride height. cannot do this with independent suspensions.

Do you have links or leafs?

Easiest way is to rotate your axle, links adjust the length or leafs add shims.
The problem ends up being your pinion angle.
Best thing to do is to rotate your C's on your axle to get the correct pinion angle and caster angle this is a lot of work though and if you have a D60 you are not going to be able to rotate your C your better off cutting the tube and welding it back together.

Next time take the effort to use SEARCH or GOOGLE you can find your answers there just like everyone that answered you did.

Good luck
~Justin

[Ktmracer419]

i try to get mine between 5 and 7 degrees

i just eyeball it and double check with an angle finder on top of the upper ball joint