Caster? (1 Viewer)

[chilibit]

My 200 does not pull under braking and the steering seems quite neutral. Around town or on the farm it is just fine. Get onto the highway and the steering demands constant attention. It is not pulling to one side of the other. If you don't touch the steering wheel it is pretty good. But this is pretty dumb. Point it at a spot on the horizon and you will have to dial in inputs constantly. Steering is over boosted maybe. But that is helpful in the boulders sometime. I am thinking of moving the caster to the max in-spec setting that does not upset alignment. This would increase self-centering and add a bit of understeer. I wondered if this is just me or whether others notice this. I have tried a couple of sets of wheels. The same result. Tire wear is fine. I have a number of non-power steering cars, some PS Coopers and others. They are a joy by comparison. If I am headed a thousand miles down the road I am in for tension. I don't like it.

Tires are at 33. Dead on spec.

Does this sound familiar? Anyone tried tweaking caster? Can we increase the diameter of the PS pump pulley or is that too old school? Any other ideas?

 

[bjowett]

It could be partially a caster issue... so it won't hurt to try a little more. Like most problems of this nature, several things are adding up to create it. Time for a good write up on it.

 

[chilibit]

It could be partially a caster issue... so it won't hurt to try a little more. Like most problems of this nature, several things are adding up to create it. Time for a good write up on it.

I now have the 17" forged wheels and as soon as I get off the fence about tires I am going to mount them sans rings and see what happens. I fully expect absolutely nothing different. Then I plan to bump up caster while maintaining camber and see what happens. It baffles me that no one else if talking about this. That implies that the fault is in my settings and it is not baked into the 200 DNA. I am hopeful. I wonder if toe could be part of the problem?

 

[Overlake]

I think you're over complicating things. Your 200 as well as others are just fine and built to land cruiser standards by some of the best automotive engineers in the world.

If you're stock height just get a good alignment shop to get the suspension within spec. If lifted, you'll need aftermarket uca to get caster right.