What happens if you have too much caster?

If you don't have enough positive caster (forks too little angle toward the front) the car will wander and feel unstable. If you have too much positive caster, the vehicle will be harder to turn. However, just like with camber, vehicle pull is not caused by too much or too little caster, but by side to side imbalance.

What are the effects of too much caster?

The main problem with too much caster, is that you reduce your contact patch in turns, so you are more likely to slide out in high speed turns or on slick surfaces, It also increases wear on the inside and outside edges of the tires.

Can you have too much Castor?

You can never have too much caster!!

Increase directional stability. Maximize tire contact patch during braking and acceleration. Improved steering feel and self center. Increased dynamic negative camber (on turn).

Can too much caster cause death wobble?

If your Jeep has too little caster angle, it can be a candidate for developing death wobble. As always, too much of a good thing ain't bad. Add too much caster angle and your Jeep will wonder down the road like it's lost as the two tires fight to follow their own independent path.

What is excessive caster?

Excessive caster angle will make the steering heavier and less responsive, although in racing large caster angles are used for improving camber gain in cornering. Caster angles over 7 degrees with radial tires are common. Power steering is usually necessary to overcome the jacking effect from the high caster angle.

How Caster Works

How does caster affect steering?

Caster angle settings allow the vehicle manufacturer to balance steering effort, high speed stability and front end cornering effectiveness. Increasing the amount of positive caster will increase steering effort and straight line tracking, as well as improve high speed stability and cornering effectiveness.

Can caster cause a vehicle to pull?

Poor camber and caster alignment can cause your vehicle to "pull", and can cause tire tread to wear unevenly. Toe in won't cause your vehicle to pull, but it can cause extremely fast tire tread wear.

What speed does death wobble happen?

In most cases, the death wobble will occur when driving at speeds of at least 45 miles per hour and can be triggered by hitting a bump or pothole. Some of the most common causes of the death wobble include poorly installed suspension parts or loose or damaged steering components.

What is Castor shimmy?

The rapid side-to-side swiveling motion of a caster wheel shown in Figure 1 is called shimmy. This vibration is not a resonance phenomenon but is a self-excited motion which occurs above a characteristic critical speed of the caster wheel system, depending on the dynamics of the situation.

What causes caster wobble?

There are three common causes of caster shimmy — high speeds, loose swivels, and misalignment. High speeds: In most cases, rapidly moving casters can cause casters to flutter. At low speeds, a caster wheel rotates around its principle axis, causing it to move smoothly.

What does caster do for alignment?

Your caster angle helps balance steering, stability, and cornering. Specifically, it's the angle of your steering axis when viewed from the side of your vehicle. If you have positive caster, the steering axis will tilt toward the driver.

Should caster be the same on both sides?

Caster is the angle of your vehicle's steering pivot when looked at from the side. ... Your tire's caster should be the same on both sides of the vehicle; if it's not the same, then the vehicle will tend to pull to the side that is less positive. Toe is a measurement of how parallel your tires are to each other.

What does negative caster do?

Negative Caster - If the line slopes towards the front of the vehicle then the caster is negative. Negative caster will allow you to steer less around turns, but may cause you to drift if you are driving straight forward.

Does Castor affect tire wear?

While caster doesn't affect tire wear like camber, it does have a big impact on steering and handling. The higher the caster, the more stability a vehicle will have at higher speeds.

How does caster affect drifting?

Caster really helps a drift car by making it self-steer better. When you start to drift, you can simply let go of the wheel and let if feed through your fingers, and the car will counter faster than if you were steering it yourself. Caster also gives you more negative camber as the wheel turns, which helps front grip.

Can caster be adjusted?

One way to adjust caster is with an adjustable arm. In the case of a MacPherson strut system this can be in the form of an adjustable tension rod that holds the lower arm forwards or backwards in the wheel arch. The screw can be adjusted to move the wheel forwards or backwards adjusting the caster angle.

Can caster cause shimmy?

Steer wheel shimmy can be caused by excessive wheel caster. Excessive front axle caster can also cause steer axle wheel shimmy.

How do you stop caster wheels from wobbling?

What does death wobble feel like?

Death wobble happens in Jeeps, 4x4s, and trucks when rapidly rotating steering wheel components cause your steering wheel to move rapidly from side to side. This causes your vehicle to feel like it's about to fall apart and you want to hold onto the steering wheel for dear life.

Why does my truck shake violently when I hit a bump?

If you feel a slow shake, it's likely that your wheel was bent to the point it can't drive straight. If you feel a fast, vibrating shimmy, hitting the bump may have knocked your vehicle's weight off, and now a tire is out of balance. Either way, now your vehicle's parts are out of sync.

What is a tank slapper?

Noun. tank slapper (plural tank slappers) A phenomenon resulting from inadequate dampening of the steering of a motorcycle at high speed. This results in the violent oscillation of the handlebars from left to right, so that they make contact with the gas tank, which is situated on the chassis between them.

How do you tell if your caster is off?

Your car's caster works in the same way. When your car travels straight down the road with little handling on your part, that's due to your caster setting. If you're driving down a straight path but start pulling to one side, that's a sign your caster is off.

Will a car pull to the side with more positive caster?

If you don't have enough positive caster (forks too little angle toward the front) the car will wander and feel unstable. If you have too much positive caster, the vehicle will be harder to turn. However, just like with camber, vehicle pull is not caused by too much or too little caster, but by side to side imbalance.

Does caster affect ride height?

Ride height can also affect caster. Spring sag or overloading a vehicle can alter ride height up to several inches, which can increase caster readings by up to a degree or more.