castor correction

[lx450landcruiser]

i think this has been touched on before but i thought id ask for a direct answer. i installed the 2.5 medium lift from slee and i havent done the castors yet. from what i can tell im not doing any damage by not installing them right away? they just wear faster right?
after i did the lift i was so giddy i had to just drive it so i did an have been since with out the new castor and my old suspention was so bad that this felt like heaven. are the castors going to change the ride again? or just keep the bushings from wearing at a faster rate?

thanks
mike

 

[ginericLC]

The caster correction kit doesn't really prevent wear. It rotates your axle back up so that your steering geometry is correct. If you want it to steer correctly do the caster correction.

 

[hoser]

The correction bushing will allow you to CRUISE down the highway with one hand on the wheel rather than fighting to keep the vehicle going straight.

 

[T Y L E R]

This has also been touched on :

Some 80's seem more prone to being touchy , or wandering in ruts etc , post OME upgrades . I know nothing about wearing bushing , but I did the OME , and run 35 MT's and have not noticed any twitchiness .. The truck will almost track around curves on it's own . . . and you don't need but to rest a hand on the wheel lightly to control it's direction . Still good to know if you're pleased with the ride , if you indeed 'need' to install the correction kit to avoid 'wear' or what not ...

T

PS : Enjoy the ride ... I remember the feeling like it was earlier today .. *L*

 

[Rich]

...
The truck will almost track around curves on it's own
...

FYI, the above is a symptom of insufficient castor. Castor is what the suspension engineer uses to enable the steering to tend to "return to center", I.E. track straight down the road while minimizing the constant steering inputs necessary for it to do so.

 

[T Y L E R]

unhuh ; ok ... it tracks amazingly well . On the hwy , in the pouring rain last year , I decided to try something to see how easily it tracked ... I looked for a straight away , and just hovered my palm over the wheel ... and went 6/10ths of a mile without a single correction . This was the same trip I noticed it also tracked around that bend .. perhaps the wheel unwound as I would have naturally ... and I assumed it was 'steering' itself around the corner .. probably

T

 

[StressPuppy]

I just put the 2.5" OME medium duty lift on my 97 LC and was so excited I drove it for a few days without the caster correction. When I finally got around to it, it was NIGHT and DAY difference.

Tracking wasn't the problem for me. It was when I hit any sort of imperfection in the pavement. It wasn't always predictable as to where it would want to go next. So I would say: DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!!