caster

[henny496]

Hello
It has been a while since I been posting or replying to any of the threads on CAC.
I have been quite busy and sorry for lapsing on that
The one thing that has kept me quite busy is my car. I am going 20 different directions at once
I had to narrow my control arms on my front suspension and I bought custom uppers which are 1.5 inches narrower
The front frame on my car is an ex drag car pc( only track use) The upper control arms have custom shafts that have had the mt holes redrilled for more caster
The upper arms I have are stock car pcs and I can mt them wherever I want for the caster. They have adj mounting brkts as well
Should I mount the control arms as per original for caster, or should I add a little more in if possible as it was?
It is modified for Pinto R@P as well( from drag car, so that has already worked)
Does the vette front end get really light and need more caster? I have the nose of the car down and won't have a problem with air lifting the front end up
As usual, my questions are a little off the beaten path and I look forward to any input, regarding stock or modified handling
I am fairly sure this summer will be ground pounding time. I have outsourced quite a bit to help with the load and I am going gung ho to finish it
take care
Tom

 

[firstgear]

Tom, I wish I knew what to tell you....anything I would suggest I would tell you to do the opposite....its like me buying and selling stocks...what ever I do....you are best to do the opposite!

Good luck.....looking forward to when you will post some more photos...
Herb

 

[67HEAVEN]

Hi Tom,

Good to see you back.

The midyear front end gets very light at high speed.

With your car's stance (low front; high rear) you'll want to increase the positive caster to ensure high speed steering stability at the end of the 1/4.

This may help. http://www.vbandp.com/instructions/htmlinstruct/align.htm

 

[henny496]

Hello
Herb, I wish you had said something to me, before I followed your lead on those Nortel stocks.....oh well LOL
Thanks 67 for the comments. I may set the car up the same as it was. I noticed in the charts it had specs for offset control arms and caster
The new suspension you have, does it have offset upper arms or are they normal ?
Your road racing experience is something I know little of
The upper arms will have adj mounts for camber , which will come in handy with all of the mods I have done( Howe race cars)
The car will have a more aggressive stance than stock, so perhaps I should go with the caster specs for the offset arms as the chart specifies
Let me know if you agree
I don't want to deviate too much from stock for overall geometry with the mounts(anti dive etc)
thanks very much
Tom

 

[henny496]

Hello
I think I have things sorted out for a game plan now. I will take pics and get some posted in the next little while as an overall progress update
take care
Tom

 

[67HEAVEN]

The new suspension you have, does it have offset upper arms or are they normal ?

Tom, they're normal, not offset.

The car will have a more aggressive stance than stock, so perhaps I should go with the caster specs for the offset arms as the chart specifies
Let me know if you agree

If your control arms are normal, you may find that the sweet spot for caster is somewhere between the stock settings and those suggested for offset arms on the link above.

In light of the major modifications you're making, you may have to tweak things a bit once you get to put in some test runs.

I'd carefully work your way up to high speeds, paying close attention to steering control as you go.

I'm looking forward to more photos and to seeing the finished product in the sunlight.

 

[firstgear]

Hello
Herb, I wish you had said something to me, before I followed your lead on those Nortel stocks......

UH-OH!!!!!!!!