question about caster adjustment

[turabaka]

I'm curious as to how caster adjustment will affect toe in/out. does adjusting the caster more positive cause the tires to toe in or out on the front suspension?

I'm curious because I'm currently bottomed out on the tie rod ends and can't toe the car out anymore. Which means I had to back off my camber a bit in order to get the car to have proper toe settings.

[cygnus x-1]

I'm curious as to how caster adjustment will affect toe in/out. does adjusting the caster more positive cause the tires to toe in or out on the front suspension?

I don't think it would really do either. How would you adjust it? By putting shims under the UCA mounts or something?



I'm curious because I'm currently bottomed out on the tie rod ends and can't toe the car out anymore. Which means I had to back off my camber a bit in order to get the car to have proper toe settings.


Because pulling the knuckles in at the top also pulls the tie rod ear in as well. Interesting. Is there any more thread left on the threaded part? Could you cut a little off the end so it goes in to the rod end further?


C|

[turabaka]

uh.... the radius rods are adjustable. They change the caster setting, but because of how they're positioned I feel as if they would slightly mess with the toe settings. I just don't know which direction.

[cygnus x-1]

uh.... the radius rods are adjustable. They change the caster setting, but because of how they're positioned I feel as if they would slightly mess with the toe settings. I just don't know which direction.


Ahh yes, the radius rods. Forgot about those. :idea:

Adjusting those would change the toe if the tie rod and control arm were different lengths. I just went and took a peek at the 2g 'lude (basically the same) and they look pretty similar, so I doubt changing the caster will do much to the toe.

Changing the caster will affect the steering feel and caster gain though so keep that in mind if you decide to mess with the caster.


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[turabaka]

Ahh yes, the radius rods. Forgot about those. :idea:

Adjusting those would change the toe if the tie rod and control arm were different lengths. I just went and took a peek at the 2g 'lude (basically the same) and they look pretty similar, so I doubt changing the caster will do much to the toe.

Changing the caster will affect the steering feel and caster gain though so keep that in mind if you decide to mess with the caster.


C|

I don't need it to mess with the toe a whole lot. If I could get it to toe the car out a degree more I'd have enough adjustment to do what I need.

I'm just trying to avoid shortening my tie rods if I don't need to. It's looking like I'll probably have to do that though.

[Hauntd ca3]

adding caster by tightening the radius rod nuts in the front of the car ( ie pulling the wheel forward in the wheel arch) will give toe out since the steering knuckles will be pulled in when the when the wheel moves forward and vise versa, removing caster will cause toe in.

[turabaka]

adding caster by tightening the radius rod nuts in the front of the car ( ie pulling the wheel forward in the wheel arch) will give toe out since the steering knuckles will be pulled in when the when the wheel moves forward and vise versa, removing caster will cause toe in.

perfect. That's exactly what I was hoping for.

[2ndGenGuy]

Isn't the toe going to change depending on the angle of the tie rods in relationship to the car? If the tie rods were at 90 degrees exactly, won't moving the knuckles either forward OR backwards from that point pull the ears inward, causing toe out? Or am I visualizing it wrong?

[cygnus x-1]

adding caster by tightening the radius rod nuts in the front of the car ( ie pulling the wheel forward in the wheel arch) will give toe out since the steering knuckles will be pulled in when the when the wheel moves forward and vise versa, removing caster will cause toe in.


If the LCAs are already angled forward then yes, the wheels will move forward and inward slightly as the radius rods are shortened. Thing is, the tie rods will do the same thing if they are angled forward as well. The bottom line is that it just depends on the geometry and how everything lines up. I think the only way to know for sure is to try it.


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[POS carb]

you might have the wrong tie rods if they are both bottomed out!

[turabaka]

Welp. turns out the caster adjusters were already maxed out all the way positive, so rather than try backing off the caster or the camber to correct my toe settings I just took the grinder to them. Ground 10mm off of each inner tie rod, and then tapped them all the way up to the adjusting nut. Plenty of adjustment now, and I can run all the camber I want.

[Oldblueaccord]

Without knowing your specs I think that's going to be to much caster you will find out.

wp

[turabaka]

Without knowing your specs I think that's going to be to much caster you will find out.

wp

It's not. I've had the adjusters maxed out for 2 whole seasons now, and it handles perfectly with -3 degrees camber, 1 degree of toe, and the caster adjusters maxed out.