a different caster plate (1 Viewer)

[landtank]

I got my final design down and have made cardboard ones to check fitment. The mockups are cut using the CAD file so they are very accurate.

The idea is to make a plate that has locating pins that fit into the existing holes of the bracket. Then using a provided template drill new holes into the plates and threw the bracket to reposition the axle.

By rotating the axle on it's center it accomplishes a few things:

1. the axle remains in the place in relationship to the rear mount of the arm.

2. the bushings remain in the same location in relationship to the axles center, providing better flex and less strain on the brackets during flexing.

3. the amount of caster correction provided is tuned to the needs of the truck that they are going on.

From the what I can tell 7 degrees looks to be about as far as I can go before there is some contact with the drag link. Since I'm only looking for correction on a 4" lift there shouldn't be any issues.



My basic install would be this"

Install springs.

Have the truck put on a rack to see what the caster reads.

Pilot drill the plates for the amount of caster needed.

Clamp the plates in place and pilot drill the brackets to match.

Then drill the plates and brackets together to 5/8"



There is a couple of small hitches with this design. Both the 4 and 5 degree postions find themselves right at the crack betwwen the existing hole and the dowel pin. One is at the front while the other is at the rear, this is due to the fact thet the spacing of the bushings from the axle's center is different for and aft. Also drilling the PS bracket will require removing knuckle to get a straight on position to the pilot hole and posssibly the diff to get a good pilot hole into the bracket from the inside. The DS bracket is cake.


I'm still not 100% behind doing it but am continueing on and contacting people for fabbing up the blanks. Attached are some photos to help everyone understand what I'm looking at doing.

 

[e9999]

nice work!

 

[Rich]

Thanks for sharing your work.

 

[landtank]

That black dot on the facing plate is where one would drill to get 5* of correction. Because I'm drilling holes for both bushings the amount of movement at either end is small for what is needed. Even at 7* the bushing will still be captured within the original bracket area.

 

[Tools R Us]

By lowering the arm mount point at the front the leverage/load is increased on the stock brackets. If you make each side one piece and bend them it will form a box section making the brackets much stronger?

Something like this?

 

[alia176]

Nice design man. I'm curious as to why you need so much metal? Why not just add the metal up front, similar to what Brian is showing above? I know Slee's is similar and that option is for all types of abilities (no welding is required).

Again, just curious.

 

[landtank]

I'm not just lowering the front, I'm relocating both the front and the rear so the axle is rotating in place not just hinging on the rear. Because of this I need to accurately identify the 2 drill points on each bracket. The templates fit the out side of the plate to position the new holes to it, and the plates lock into the bracket by locating the pins in the existing holes.

While the front hole drops down, the rear hole elevates giving a combined amount of correction.

And since each hole is drilled along it's radial point to the center of the axle it does not increase the leverage applied to the bracket during flexing.


The attached photo is the back side of one of the plates. You will notice the 5/8" alignment dowels and the 2 yellow push pins are the center point of the new holes at a 5* correction position. You'll notice that the new holes are along a radial point in relation to the axle's center.

 

[cruiserdan]

So then, you are drilling partially through the original hole in the housing and a portion of the dowel that is positioning the plate on the housing. I imagine that new bolts will be required to pass through the additional thickness of the plates.

 

[landtank]

Might not need new hardware. There are some threads out past the end of the nut. Depending on how thick the material used for the plates I might still have enough bolt. I checked the original bolts and the dia. at the threads is 5/8" and a little narrower at the shank. If I need to I can easily source some grade 8 sae hardware locally.

The dowel acts as an alignment component as well as a filler to the original hole to help add more strength to the setup.

 

[cruiserdan]

16 mm bolts actually.

 

[landtank]

16 mm bolts actually.

I did take a vernier to them and they measured .626 in. But 16mm is less than .005" larger so it could be me or the caliper. There is an excellent metric screw place close by and I'll probably take a drive down there on Tuesday. $30.00 in gas for $10.00 in bolts

 

[MoJ]

$30.00 in gas for $10.00 in bolts

]

I spent $9 in fuel today driving to a Napa store. Once there I discovered they had gone out of business.

 

[ats4x4dotcom]

And they are an improvement over the original castor plate design how?

 

[landtank]

And they are an improvement over the original castor plate design how?

predictable caster results

no issues with rubbing on the drag link

axle placement on the arms remains the same

less load on the brackets during flex

more ground clearance at the arms

better axle/frame alignment on the panhard

 

[cruiser ken]

A few suggestions:

1. Make the plates as thick or thicker than the OEM bracket.
2. Mark and drill the plates as you described.
3. Use a die grinder to make a hole in the existing bracket that clears the hole for the new bracket (without destroying the placement hole). Don't worry about exact placement or size of the clearance holes, the new plates handle that. This way you don't have to pull the knucle to drill.
4. Weld on the new plates not just hold them on with the bolts.

I'd buy a set.

 

[landtank]

3. Use a die grinder to make a hole in the existing bracket that clears the hole for the new bracket (without destroying the placement hole)

I'm not sure what you mean here. The main reason I want to accurately drill the plates and the brackets as a set is to have an much contact area around the bushing's center so I can confidently tighten everything up as a sandwich to better deal with the torsional loads when flexing. Pulling the knuckle might not be needed but it is in the realm of possibility, if I have to it's not that big of a deal.

 

[cruiser ken]

That's why I said make your plates as thick or thicker than the stock ones so they take the load. Just seems like a pita install otherwise.

 

[sleeoffroad]

Nice design Rick. I thought you were going for the adjustable ones using IFS parts. Some comments below.

>predictable caster results

Yes and now. The regular caster plates is the same adjustment on all trucks. So that is predictable. You just dont have a choice in how much. Making the client drill the holes does offer you the options, but adds a major pita for the install.


> no issues with rubbing on the drag link

With relocating both holes you have a larger range before the same thing happens. 7 degrees is a lot and I doubt that anyone would need that. That is a nice plus point.

> axle placement on the arms remains the same

Yes,

> less load on the brackets during flex

This could ge argued differently. Yes on the front the regular caster plates puts the hole position lower, but the rear is in stock location. With yours you move both positions. Also, are you planning to use the top hole to add strength? Either way, you have two plates instead of a single one and both setups are actually stronger than stock. The weak point becomes the weld of the oe bracket to the housing.

> more ground clearance at the arms

I don't see this. In both designs the arms are the lowest point and everything else is above it. I do not see how this changes.

> better axle/frame alignment on the panhard

Again. The net effect is that the axle is rotated. Yes yours around a point that is between the two bolt holes, and the other on the rear bolt. But for any given caster isn't the angles the same with both setups?

 

[landtank]

I don't see this. In both designs the arms are the lowest point and everything else is above it. I do not see how this changes.

This was in responce to Darren about a comparison between the two designs. What I was referring to is when you only adjust the front position you do drop the front of the arm some while you are also rotating the axle. The axle's height doesn't change but the arm does.


For me the 2 main reasons for investigating a different solution was to be able to dial-in my axle since I'm at the end of where I want to be as far as height and mods go, and to maintain the axle's position in relation the the arm. The other stuff was all secondary.


Crawled under there again today and it looks like a right angle drill rented from Home Depot will allow me to drill the plates with out tearing intpo the axle's knuckles, but we'll see.


Thanks for the kind words

 

[ats4x4dotcom]

Drilling the holes is a PITA, nissans here require drilling to fit the castor plates, and it needs a short drill bit and right angle drill to do so.

The best way I have found on a lift requiring 7 deg of castor is to remove the diff brackets from the housing, and run the arms over the top of the diff, to keep them parallel, making for better ofroad ability when climbing obstacles.

Re alighnment of the panhard rod is easily achieved with an adjustable unit, if you think that also requires fixing.