Caster and some other suspension questions are caster changes used to affect the amount of camber change when the wheels turn? Also, toe in/out: I know what it is but which does what? Does toe in improve turn in and toe out improve stability under braking? What about rear toe?
Re:Caster and some other suspension questions The answer to the first question is yes, they help keep the wheels flat when cornering. The same thing can be achieved by negative camber, but at the expense of tyre wear on the inside. In relation to toe in/out, what toe in does is it helps give the car straight line stability, although you lose top speed but you will never notice this loss of top speed on a road car. If you have toe out, you will have a car that will respond to steering change very quickly, but it will be very edgy to drive.
Re: Thanks for that toe in toe out is the angle off straight in the axis that the wheels turn (toe in, front wheels point together when going forward, toe out, front wheel point away from each other when going forward with 0 being when the wheels are parralell in that plane (adjusted with tie rods on steering rack) castor angle is the angle off vertical between the upper and lower ball joints with 0 being vertical. i'm not sure how this makes a car behave other than if theres not enough of an angle it can make a 74 cortina steer like a truck (worked the muscles up though) can i get an explanation?? camber angle is the angle which most people know, the top of the wheel moves in towards the car for negative, out for positive, 0 straight up and down without changing toe
Changing castor will change the amount of camber when you turn with zero caster your camber will stay the same as the wheel turns becuase it is pivoting on a vertical axis. With caster, as the wheel turns the camber increases (or decreases, depending on + or - caster or which way you want to look at it :wacko: ) because it pivots off axis. Don't know how that affects steering effort though. My first car was a 73 Cortina (go the TC) and yeah, it was hard to steer lol. After the first time I ever went to the gym in my life, I could hardly turn the wheel getting out of the carpark :LOL::LOL:
Also. If you've hit a curb. (or the previous owner) adjustables will enable you to steer straight again. Often one side is slightly out.
Egg thanks for advise, iam getting a wheel alighnment monday, but when i rang to book in and explained i had just put on new tension rod, he said to me well we normally only have to play around with the tie rod ends,iam at a bit of a loss here:unsure:
Tie rod ends ajust toe in toe out, just like anyother car, if they dont no how to adjust tension rods, take it to someone who dose. Never let cretin's near a Zed!
