Washer Caster Mod (1 Viewer)

[Tools R Us]

Did Brian's (Gus 96 FJ80) rig. His has J front and heavy rear.

Moved the rear holes in the bracket ~1/4" back and up ~3/8". Made a wood spacer to go between the arm and bracket, clamped the arm to the bracket and moved the holes. Installed the rear bolt, at the front, used a bolt as a jack, moved the front bushing so the inner steel bushing was flush with the bottom of the bracket and made new holes.

 

[azTony]

That was a fun experience....

Are those BFG's on an 8" rim?

 

[Tools R Us]

The washers are 1.5" x 1/8" strap, ~3" long, the ones for the rear are the same with the hole more centered. It is being test driven, then will be welded.

Rolled the axle ~5 degrees, has ~.5" of arm to tie rod clearance. Should work and flex better than correction bushings.

 

[Tools R Us]

...
Are those BFG's on an 8" rim?

Bus load of nuns!

 

[murf]

Im interested in this Kevin. When Brian gets it aligned can you post the specs up?

The bushings help but more would be nice with most of these high lifts.

Nice ~

 

[Tools R Us]

I had no intention of having him check it. To me the reading is trivia, the result, how it drives, is the important part.

 

[murf]

I was thinking you may be onto something and were interested in finding out how much more caster achieved vs bushings.

Im thinking maybe similar to what caster plates provide?

If so, there would be substantial savings

just a thought

 

[Tools R Us]

The washer mod has been done for a very longtime, likely "invented" by the Aussies? The issues were: Bushings don't provide enough correction for some setups. The CC bushings don't flex as well as stock, so ride harsh and causes bracket cracking. The washer mod allows for CC and still use the softer, longer lasting stock bushings. It evolved into the plates, a way to make a sale-able product out of it.

With the stock arms, no matter what method is used, there is only so much caster available, before the tie rod contacts the arms. When flexed the arms move in relationship to the axle/tie rod, so must have clearance. This is my interpretation of getting the most caster and still flexing well, without excessive contact issues.

With ~3.5" of lift and no correction, it didn't drive comfortably. Rolling in 5 degrees makes it comfortable. The caster number is trivia because, unless it is getting custom arms that is all of the caster it's going to get, to my knowledge no one has ever published a caster number for a lifted '80, with stiffer springs, shocks, tires, etc, so who cares what the number is as long as it is comfortable to drive, works.

 

[ToyotaDon]

Mine measured at -2 ° after installing my OME springs. I've been thinking of LandTank's plates (claims +7°), but that would put me all the way up to +5°. I bet something homebrewed like this would be a better option.

 

[Thanatoz]

I am very interested in doing something like this. My rig is downright scary sometimes. Following every grove in the road and making sudden lane changes. Not to mention wrestleing with it when braking. At first I just thought the CC bushings were junk (which they were) so replaced with stock bushings. But that hasn't helped any. I have to do something to correct the castor. This seems cheaper then new arms. But I don't know if it will be enough.

 

[Tools R Us]

One of the advantages is: It allows for test driving, confirming that the result is what you were looking for, before welding the "washers".

 

[Tools R Us]

I was thinking you may be onto something and were interested in finding out how much more caster achieved vs bushings.

Im thinking maybe similar to what caster plates provide?

If so, there would be substantial savings

just a thought

This is easy, just measure the axle angle and compare the reading to other rigs. It doesn't give you caster reading, but does give the relative difference. For me the actual caster reading is . If it is something that you are curious about, maybe Brian can stop by, toss it on the rack and do a caster sweep?

 

[murf]

I saw your post of an approximate of 5 degrees which was what I was looking for.

The bushings help but once you start throwing in spacers or J springs, something like this would be the way to go with the extra correction.

I look at at alignment specs all day so Im hooked on numbers for relative comparisons.

 

[Tools R Us]

...
I look at at alignment specs all day so Im hooked on numbers for relative comparisons.

I agree that they are valuable when you see the same type of vehicles, good comparison to how you would expect it to drive. When I have something custom, modified, etc, the stock spec is likely not what will work best, so think of it, go about it differently:

I start making adjustments, working at making the rig drive comfortably, don't really care about the numbers, just find what the rig wants. Then measure what it likes, to be able to put it back the same in case of repair. In this case, once the washers are welded, it will always go back the same, so the number is .

 

[azrider]

im with Thanatoz, my truck follows the grooves of the road, especially when its deep grooves cut in by the baking summer heat. I thought thats just the way it is with the lift and tires. I have the braking symptoms too like he said, but not on perfect asphalt. This might be something I need!!

 

[Thanatoz]

im with Thanatoz, my truck follows the grooves of the road, especially when its deep grooves cut in by the baking summer heat. I thought thats just the way it is with the lift and tires. I have the braking symptoms too like he said, but not on perfect asphalt. This might be something I need!!

I'm very glad to hear I am not the only one. I would be game to do something about it, but I'm not just understanding suspension geometry.

 

[-Spike-]

Maybe we can convince Kevin to visit the north side, have a wrenching party at my shop, he can hold hands...

 

[86tuning]

Tools, thanks for the detailed instructions.

I just did mine, OME 850/860 (heavy front/medium rear) and ended up with -1.8 deg caster. It drove okay, but I couldn't let go of the steering when driving at any speed.

Did a bunch of grinding, re-did the caster sweep and ended up with +2 which is what I had before the springs were installed. Drives good, and no hint of driveline vibes. Will make some washers and weld it up soon.

The bolts to 'jack' the arms into position is clever, and very helpful.

Highly recommended.

Thanks again!

 

[Tools R Us]

Glad it helped!

We have been doing it with the plasma, much less grinding!

 

[LFD2037]

Tools, thanks for the detailed instructions.

I just did mine, OME 850/860 (heavy front/medium rear) and ended up with -1.8 deg caster. It drove okay, but I couldn't let go of the steering when driving at any speed.

Did a bunch of grinding, re-did the caster sweep and ended up with +2 which is what I had before the springs were installed. Drives good, and no hint of driveline vibes. Will make some washers and weld it up soon.

The bolts to 'jack' the arms into position is clever, and very helpful.

Highly recommended.

Thanks again!

Did you move the front AND rear holes or just the front? I have the same lift, w/no armor(yet), & am thinking moving just the front is what I need. But if you did both, front & rear, & it netted 3.8* total difference, then I need to do both as well.