i paid $169 for a pair of ajustable bearing plates from autobarn. They are made out of nolathane and are red in colour. Not sure how much caster i've got because i didn't look at the alighment specs, but they make a huge difference in handeling.
So whats the go with castor? Can you have too much? Are there any disadvantages of having high castor (i.e. tyre wear etc) and what would be the ideal amount of castor for a street VL?
Cheers!!
3 - 4 positive I rekon.
downside is more steering effort, but if u have power steer thats not a problem.
Castor will "induce" neg camber to the outside wheel when cornering, so u dont need as much static neg camber (which can cause tyre wear). and increases self centering of steering.
yeah id say your radius rods and or bushes are stuffed.
Im running 4 and 4.5 degrees positive castor (the .5 difference is to compensate for the camber of the road) on the front of my calais and less than 1 degree negative camber. It handles great, doesnt scrub tyres, before i fitted the new suspension $500 worth of rubber on the front didnt last much over 6 months, now the front tyres are wearing nice and even, have lasted twice as long as they used to, and get a pretty hard time on corners.
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
went into fulcrum and they reckon it is normal to only just get postive castor with my setup, they said $152 for fixed +2 deg radius rods. and they reckon that could make it scrub the bumper :roll:
Well the stock standard VL with fe2 suspension castor is set at 2 degress postive. They are wrong about anything above 2 degrees castor will scrub the bumper on a normal suspension set up but then again I don't know what suspension you have and your wheel size.
like i said, im now using standard radius rods again and i have 4.5 degrees pos castor easily with my strut tops alone.
The +2degrees radius rods will/may make it scrub on the bumper, Thats why i removed mine and went back to a standard radius rod.
From Memory my total toe setting is 1mm i will have to find the prinout from my last alignment to confirm that though.
i dug this thread up from the grave
i bought some of the new model KRR207 radius rods, they will at minimum add +0.5 pos castor. You can then remove shims to add positive castor as required. These are being fitted monday along with the new model Kmac adjustable bearing caps. Hopefully will be able to get them set between +3 to +4 degrees, ill post up what happens (if anybody still cares )
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
turboluke, could you let me know how the radius rods turn out? (via this thread or PM).
I've got some radius rods in my handling pack (i fitted everything else already), I'm going to get some quotes today and hopefully get them fitted next week or so, i was just getting alittle worried about them when i saw this thread... but i just checked and they are the KRR207 model, which are the new model?
I have got the new whiteline adjustable radius rods fitted and k-mac strut tops.
as soon as pedders fitted the new radius rods along with new control arm bushes it started scrubbing on the drivers side bumper. cut it back a bit and it is better but is still scrubbing on big bumps, yet to find exactly where. removed the plastic inner guards which made it better but still does it.
Pedders ****ecd up the wheel alignment too when they fitted everything. it was pulling slightly to the left but they said it was the best they could get with the adjustable rods. couple of months after they did it i checked my tyres and the inner edge what just getting thru to the wire. (they were almost gone anyway when pedders did it). went and got new tyres at Jax and did a wheel alignment and they said my casto was like -5 or something rediculous. fixed it now and it drives great. doesnt pull at all. Jax rule at alignments. pedders ???
Definitely reccomend the new whiteline adjustable rods as long as they are set up right. the turn in is great. makes the tail very slippery on roundabouts in the rain. they use shims to adjust the castor unlike the old whiteline ones which i think had a bolt you could turn to adjust on car.
yeah the KRR207 are the new ones KRR207X has the bushes also
VL nick,
few questions
where the radius rods put on with or without shims?, with all the shims on they apparently only add 0.5+ castor to what the std unbent rods will. Im undecieded as to how they will go in (ie with or without shims)
Did you know how much positive castor the front now has on your car?
How does the car feel driving in a straight line on freeway? is it any harder to steer?
and finally
which model kmacs have you got installed, i just recieved the new model ones with "more adjustment" so maybe they can be used to reduce castor more if it is excessive (original models failed: common problem)
also does anyone know with the kmac strut tops: can they be put in like the originals in three variying postions (spinning the top) and then adjusted from there?
thanks
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
Im running the KRR207 Caster Rods now, but i left all the shims but one on the rod, which is 0.8deg castor (0.5deg stock if you use all shims)
Didn't want my wheels hitting the front bumper like 87Calais wheels did.
So i didn't go overboard pulling more castor with the rods alone.
I pulled all the extra caster in with the KMAC strut tops.
Running about 4.5-5.0+ Total Castor at the moment.
The new rods are alot better than the old whiteline design, which were a prick to setup because of their twist design, the new ones just use a couple of shims, which is piss easy to setup.
Mick
thanks i think ill just leave one off too then, so your wheels dont hit the bumper?
also VL nick just a thought on the increased "turn-in"
positive castor will also make the front springs compress easier thus effectively softening up the front, try softening up the rear also by going back to the std sway bar or softer shocks
i intend to wind up my front shocks a bit in order to avoid any oversteery behaviour. i have been messing with the rear adjustable shocks lately and my car is certainly nicer to drive and more sure footed with a softer setting in the rear. i figure if i set the fronts a bit firmer at the front i can then adjust the balance of the car by making the rear shocks comparitively softer or firmer
Im running 17" wheels with pedders sports rider (similar height to whiteline superlow) and they dont hit the bumper.
You may be able to leave 2/3 shims off if you want, and get away with it.
But i wasn't going to risk it, they are a prick to pull on and off (castor rods that is), so i was happy with 0.8deg, still 0.3 more than factory, just from the rods alone.
I didn't even order the adjustable rods when i done the suspension on my current car, i ordered standard rods, but my mate that got the parts for me (trade price), ended up with the new (at the time) KRR207's , i was happy, but a bit of a waste of money considering i didn't want to take full advantage of their capability.
Mick
