castor angle?....how

[bigneily]

hello fellas , been tryin to figure it out by reading old posts without much luck how do you check your castor, i'm assuming with a magnetic angle finder, but where would you attach it? and what would be considered acceptible on a soa rig? my spring shackles are not stock they are longer but i'm not sure by how much since i don't know what stock length is? tryin to get to the bottom of the alignment issue....

 

[Splangy]

hello fellas , been tryin to figure it out by reading old posts without much luck how do you check your castor, i'm assuming with a magnetic angle finder, but where would you attach it? and what would be considered acceptible on a soa rig? my spring shackles are not stock they are longer but i'm not sure by how much since i don't know what stock length is? tryin to get to the bottom of the alignment issue....

Scroll down to the bottom of this link for stock shackle sizes:

Specter Off-Road Land Cruiser Parts - Page 288 Shackles - Aftermarket

 

[3doghouse]

It's covered well here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/293665-castor-adjustment-camber.html

 

[nspctr1]

I paid twenty five bux for a alignment shop to determine mine.

 

[dgangle]

I paid twenty five bux for a alignment shop to determine mine.

what did you ever end up doing?

 

[bigneily]

thanx for the links gents i measured my shackles they are 4 3/4 in long, now for a soa rig what do you fellas think the caster angle should be or close. my cruiser darts all over the place while everything looks tight, i think my caster angle is wrong, so i'm going to try to remedy the shatty handling....

 

[dgangle]

+3 to +6*, depending on who you ask.

 

[Pin_Head]

+ 2-3 degrees is appropriate for cruisers with power steering. +1 is the stock value. Some people run more, like 5-6 degrees, but I don't think that this is a good idea for trucks that you are going to drive on the highways at high speed. High caster angles decrease the front tire contact patch in turns, making it more likely to slip on wet pavement. It also increase the wear on the edges of the tire. I have never seen any vehicle or truck with more than 3 degrees of caster specified.

 

[bigneily]

and what i also picked up from reading the supplied links is that it is almost impossible to get a accurate caster reading, unless you disassemble the outters and measure off the bare knuckles above the races, or have a alignment shop give you your #'s am i correct...

 

[Pin_Head]

If you have a stock axle, you can measure off the pinion flange, which should be 90 degrees with respect to a flat pavement surface. If the pavement isn't flat, you have to subtract its angle from the pinion measurement. The accuracy of these measurements is probably about +/- 1 degree, so it is good enough to tell if your caster is incorrect.

 

[bigneily]

my diff housing is cut and turned, so this wouldn't be considered stock, am i correct...

 

[Pin_Head]

Correct, cut and turn is not stock.
The only relatively easy places to measure would be the machined flat spots on the top or bottom of the knuckle.

If the knuckles were cut and turned, then the caster should have been taken into consideration in the job, because that is the point of doing it.

 

[bigneily]

thanx pinhead....

 

[ullose272]

i used to do alignments everyday for five years, there are plenty of cars over 3 degrees caster, bmws, benz, euro cars are almost always 6-7 sometimes up to 9 degrees. most truck have max 4 degrees. id get it around 3 degrees and put on a steering stab.