Thread: Caster question caster was out -2.7

not to rain on anyones parade here but all of the topics covered by dobbo, defenderzook and everyone else at some point (for legality reasons only) will require an engineers certificate...

IMHO the best way of doing it is not cutting the ends off the axle its cutting the mounts off of the axle and putting them back on in the correct position ITs more work yes but its safer as you havent cut any one part completely off and repositioned it...

playing devils advocate

if you remove and replace the ends and you crack a weld there is only one weld and its holding the whole wheel assembley on and has nothing to back it up so bye bye wheel assembley and hello major accident and secondary damage if you manage to avoid that. You also probabley wont get much notice between a minor crack turning into a major seperation.

If you cut all the other mounts off and reposition them the mounts that hold the locating amrs in have a minimum of 2 welds on them AND theres 2 per arm. The spring mounts are under compression unless at full droop. So if one weld lets go here your going to get some wierdness in the handling and probabley a nasty metal fracturing type cracking as the vehicle articulates so youve got some kind of warning sign that somethings going wrong.

Personally my first stop would be speaking to a suspension specialist and an automotive engineer and seeing about getting a set of arms that are made with the correct offset to get your camber back.

Originally Posted by ROVERNIT

can some one advice at what degree would an of the shelf D2 have as far as caster angle the bloke that did the wheel alignment was at a buerepairs so he wasn't all that switched on he was a young fella he did a good job don't take me wrong but he didn't know what I was driving all I wanted was a quick fix to centre my steering wheel for tomorrow when I was out last week end and prior it was pain for the steering to be off centre

Steering geometry from the factory:
⇒Camber angle - Front and rear - unladen condition –10' ± 30'
⇒Castor angle - unladen condition 3 degrees 45' ± 45'

It's should have next to no camber. Castor is the problem.

Originally Posted by DEFENDERZOOK

back the the caster......i think dobbos way would be a better option......
i think it was dobbo that said cut the ends off the diff and weld them back on again......
this method will raise the back of the diff......to allow the prop shaft to sit a bit straighter.....decreasing the angles on the uni joints a bit......
and give the correct amount of caster you require......


if you take the option of welding.......make sure you get someone that knows what theyre doing......these components are under a lot of load......
so need to be done properly for your safety......

If you correct the castor by rotating the diff housing, then the back of the diff will be dropped increasing the uni joint angles. Interestingly this is also a common method used on Toyotas to correct castor, except they only cut the ends of the diff. The ends are already welded in and are cut around the ends plug (close to the OE weld) to goes into the axle tube, rotated and rewelded in position.

Originally Posted by ROVERNIT

the bloke that did the wheel alignment was at a buerepairs so he wasn't all that switched on he was a young fella he did a good job don't take me wrong but he didn't know what I was driving

I hope they're better the bro-repairs here.
Every time I've been in I come out dissappointed.

Had a wheel alignment printed out so I could show the insurance co the rear axle was bent. They tried to adjust things I specifically told them not to and even bent the front tierod because they couldn't adjust it.
They didn't see anything wrong with 4mm of rear toe-in either.

Two years ago they replace a tube for me, strip off half the wheel weights and give it back to me without rebalancing. Then swear black and blue they'd never do such a thing before finally fixing it.

This year got a puncture, the guy didn't balance it until I'd asked him twice and couldn't get the pressure right either. All the while telling me my rear wheel alignment was out and he could adjust the rear tie-rod on a beam axle.

Some more 'devils advocate' for you.

Chatting to my neighbour, good mate and top engineer...

When welding diff members etc, the diff is supposed to be heated up before any welding occurs to prevent stress points and potential failure and cracking.

Not doing this could have grave consequences based on his knowledge.

But this *could* be enough...
SPF2560KFrontRadius Arm To - Diff Mount - Eccentric Kit
SPF2560XKFrontRadius Arm To - Diff Mount - Eccentric Kit

SPF2560K is 2 degree
SPF2560XK is 3 degree

May get you what you need....

Tombraider, who is the manufacturer of the bushes?

I know this isnt supposed to be a place for advertising but......

if your in brissy and not in a hurry for tyres/suspension repairs I have a great thing going with the guys at jax quickfit in ipswich... Might have something to do with the fact that their Boss sponsors my now ex boss in his racing car and that everytime I turn up with a vehicle I have the lock nuts off and help out with what I can. My latest effort was having them go through 5 tyres and 4 hours worth of effort to replace and balance one tyre that had sidewall damage.


Might also have something to do with the fact that I have them load the old rubber in the back which they can never do as they have to take a case of beer out first.


back to my point, IF your not in a hurry and you can wait for me to knock off and organise to get your vehicle into their shop I HIGHLY recomend them.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Tombraider, who is the manufacturer of the bushes?

Fulcrum / SuperPro