need help with caster
need help with caster Hey guys. Long story short oil pan gasket blew and replaced gasket/pan. I had to drop K member (factory) to do this. I noticed when I tightened up K member that the bolt closest to the firewall on the driver side didn't go in the same spot it was when I loosened it. Took it to have the alignment checked and he told me the caster way WAY off. They didn't have the tool to adjust caster so he told me to try and move the K member back where it was then bring it back down. I attempted to move the K member but couldn't really find a good way to do it but did manage to get it a little closer to spec. The adjustment on the lower a arm is adjusted all the way and can't be adjusted anymore. Caster range according to their stuff was 4.3-5.3 degrees and the driver side is 5.6. Pass side is 5.1. Is this something I should even worry about? What would be the best way to correct it? I had the car painted recently and he checked the frame to make sure it was straight. Thanks!
".....Took it to have the alignment checked and he told me the caster way WAY off. They didn't have the tool to adjust caster ..."
go to a tech who knows how to do alignments, the so called "tool" makes things a
" little" easy But by no means absoletly needed, a pry bar/ screw driver works better and faster
"... Caster range according to their stuff was 4.3-5.3 degrees and the driver side is 5.6. Pass side is 5.1..."
with this caster settings your car will pull/drift to the right a little if you turn the steering wheel alose , will not cause wear, to lower caster on left pull the bolt on left IN TO CENTER of car OR move the bolt on the right side out to rase the caster on the right side to obtaine a litter more caster on right than on left
"...Is this something I should even worry about?"
not a problem unless you are use both hands for some thing other than driving???
"..What would be the best way to correct it? "
answer above
goog luck, Johnny
go to a tech who knows how to do alignments, the so called "tool" makes things a
" little" easy But by no means absoletly needed, a pry bar/ screw driver works better and faster
"... Caster range according to their stuff was 4.3-5.3 degrees and the driver side is 5.6. Pass side is 5.1..."
with this caster settings your car will pull/drift to the right a little if you turn the steering wheel alose , will not cause wear, to lower caster on left pull the bolt on left IN TO CENTER of car OR move the bolt on the right side out to rase the caster on the right side to obtaine a litter more caster on right than on left
"...Is this something I should even worry about?"
not a problem unless you are use both hands for some thing other than driving???
"..What would be the best way to correct it? "
answer above
goog luck, Johnny
Last edited by SS SLP2; May 14, 2012 at 11:28 PM.
Thanks for the help. It does pull to the right quite a bit; it just bugs me. When I loosened up the K member the last bolt hole in the driver side didn't go in the exact same place it came out. The adjustment for the caster in the lower a arm is already adjusted all the way in on the drivers side. I'll probably mess with it later when I've got more time- trying to get the AC working right now lol. It's getting too hot out!
"...adjustment for the caster in the lower a arm is already adjusted all the way in on the drivers side. "
in this case adjust out on the right side to get a little more caster on the right, ABOUT 0.50 more , will not be a problem IF you go above OE specs, in fact the more caster the more stable at high speed
be sure and set toe AFTER playing with both/eather caster/camber
Johnny
in this case adjust out on the right side to get a little more caster on the right, ABOUT 0.50 more , will not be a problem IF you go above OE specs, in fact the more caster the more stable at high speed
be sure and set toe AFTER playing with both/eather caster/camber
Johnny
Cool thanks! The adjustment on the pass side is right in the middle so I should have plenty of adjustment there. The tire place is probably already regretting me purchasing the "lifetime alignment" lmao. Especially when I had to take my own tools down there and show them how to do it. I think I've had it on the rack 5 times in the last month 
