What is front caster angle?
Caster is the angle that identifies the forward or backward slope of a line that is drawn through the upper and lower steering pivot points. Caster angle settings allow manufacturers to balance steering effort, high speed stability, and front end cornering effectiveness.
Is caster a tire wearing angle?
Strictly speaking, caster is not a tire-wearing angle. However, the more positive caster a vehicle has, the more its tires lean over during turns. In other words, increasing positive caster increases camber change during turns. Consequently, its tires may develop a shoulder-scuffing pattern associated with camber wear.
How do you calculate caster angle?
Turn the steering wheel right until the wheel is turned 20 degrees right of straight ahead (turning 40 degrees total). Hold the gauge at a 90-degree angle and the reading will be your caster angle for the left wheel.
Is too much positive caster bad?
If you have too much positive caster, you can induce a tire shake/shimmy. Also as an important note here…. underinflated front tires can also induce a tire shake/shimmy too. The amount of caster directly correlates to the length of caster trail in a given suspension.
What should the caster angle be on a Honda?
Turn the front wheel 20° outward, then turn the adjusting screw of the camber/caster gauge to set the bubble at 0°. 4. Turn the wheel 20° inward and read the caster on the gauge with the bubble at the center of the gauge. If the caster angle is not within the specification, check for bent or damaged suspension components. Front Caster angle:
What does caster stand for in wheel alignment?
Wheel Alignment: Caster Angle. Caster is the forward or backward tilt of the steering axis viewed from the side of the vehicle. Vehicles with SLA suspensions use the upper and lower ball joints to create the angle, and those with struts use the center of the upper strut mount and the lower ball joint as the angle.
What do you need to know about caster angle?
Positive caster is often engineered in racing cars since it improves high-speed stability and corning while increasing steering effort. Park the vehicle with the front wheels on the turntables (set to zero). Point the wheels straight ahead. An absolutely flat surface is needed for accurate measurement. Attach the gauge to the right front wheel hub.
How does caster displacement affect the steering axis?
Caster displacement moves the steering axis ahead of the axis of wheel rotation, as with the front wheels of a shopping cart. Caster angle moves the steering axis from vertical.
What should the caster angle be on a camber?
In other words, a caster angle of anywhere between 7º 0’ and 7º 30′ is acceptable. The ‘ symbol after the 15 indicates minutes. Minutes are 1/60th of one degree. To convert these to degrees, divide the number of minutes by 60. 15’ equates to 0.25º. This gives us a caster angle tolerance of 7º to 7.5º. CHECKING CAMBER ANGLE –
How do you determine the caster angle of a car?
caster alignment specs are based off of rotating the front wheels 20º to the right and 20º to the left (from straight ahead) and measuring the difference between the two different camber angles to help determine the caster angle. If this seems confusing, it should become clearer by reading on and looking at the pictures.
What’s the correct caster angle for a golf ball?
This translates to a perfect caster of 7º 15′ with a tolerance of plus or minus 15 minutes. In other words, a caster angle of anywhere between 7º 0’ and 7º 30′ is acceptable. The ‘ symbol after the 15 indicates minutes. Minutes are 1/60th of one degree. To convert these to degrees, divide the number of minutes by 60. 15’ equates to 0.25º.
What’s the caster angle on a SLA tire?
Wheel Alignment: Caster Angle. Vehicles with SLA suspensions use the upper and lower ball joints to create the angle and vehicles with struts use the center of the upper strut mount and the lower ball joint as the angle. It is compared to an imaginary line down the center of the tire or zero caster. Zero caster is when the tire is true vertical.