Kingpin Inclination

[5teve]

Hi Guys

I just had another tyre fitted after my old one seemed to scrub itself really quickly, so decided to have the wheel alignment done also.

turns out it wasnt very far out however more worryingly the kingpin alignment (whatever the hell it is! :D ) is massivly out!

the target angle is 7deg both sides, however the right (which is the side the tyres srcubbed) is 21deg and the left is 11 degrees.

now 21 degrees seems massive and i would of thought visible too... the guy at the tyre place said he isnt set up for suspension work so to take it somewhere that is, and maybe one of the arms was bent,

would this be the case? whats likely to be the cause or could it just be a dodgy reading?

Thanks in advance guys...

Steve

[langy]

I'm going to presume that you have a D2 with the newer type of steering set up, as the traditional LR front axle hasn't got adjustments for changing the castor and camber of the steering - ( well, not unless you attack your axle mounts like Discowhite -but that's another story) - which are the imaginary axes (I checked, the plural of axis is axes, although pronounced differently) the ball joint rotates around, relative to vertical looking from the front of the car (Camber) and the side of the car (Castor)

If it is a D2 - then a trip to a suspension specialist is on the cards - an inspection won't cost the earth, and they will be able to tell you if the knuckle type steering is bent or not.

The reference to the kingpin is merely one way of saying camber or castor. Since there's no mention of the top and bottom joints moving, (And I'm not a D2 owner, so anyone else is welcome to jump in.....) it sounds possible that it's bent.

[lokka]

Was thinking much the same there langy as refering to king pin angles your playing the castor / camber game and the only change you can make is castor unless of course its a d2 but i thought they were preaty much set in and unchangeable unless something is serously bent or if its got the swivel balls pre d2 maby one has moved or the housing has twisted which ive seen happen

[Blknight.aus]

urmmm, kinkgpin inclination is not the only thing that effects your camber\castor (while it does reflect on them) its and adjustment/measurement in and of itself.

its primarily responsable of how the wheels change their camber on a turn to help with control of the contact patch while cornering.

if your castor itself was off by 14 degrees or the camber youd pick that up by eye but since kingpin inclination only comes into its own while cornering if youve only checked the wheels with them straight ahead your not likely to pick it. although you might on a beam axle landrover when you look at it and ask yourself

"why does my front axle look like a banana?"

[5teve]

sorry guys it was late when i posted...

its a 2002 D2, caster and camber were measure reasonably ok...

im really wondering if its a crappy measurement, but i think a trip to a suspension specialist may be in order! if it was a crappy measurement the machine would be well and truely hosed as its out by a factor of 3 and its a new wheel alignment machine!

just as an interesting note i noticed after i first bought it that the LH sway bar sits far closer to the inner wing plastic panel than the RH side almost as tho the sway bar had been bent, its never rubbed, never seemed to pull to one side or anything tho so i didnt worry! im guessing i may need to now unless i leave it until i have scrubbed all the tyres and then get a new decent set ;) may get me my justification (and permission!) for a set quite quickly! :D

im thinking looking behind the wheel i should be able to notice a 21 kingpin slope over a 7 degree... something i'll check over the weekend!

Thanks as usual and merry christmas to you all!

Steve

[lokka]

Sounds strange to me maby it could have been in a prang ia a past life and smacked that side on something hard ....

How long have you had it and has it allways scrubbed the tyre on that side ???

[5teve]

had it a year and its been slowly scrubbing the same tyre for that tyre... seemed to accelerate it when i put a part worn on the opposite side a month or so ago.... the real wierd thing is tho is that its wearing the tyre on the outside and with a 21deg inclination i would of expected the inner face to wear?

maybe it has had a smack... gotta be checked...

Thanks

Steve