Caster

[JP X]

I always see people talking about camber. I don’t see much about caster. What are y’all running? Are you still stock? Do you take advantage of the camber that happens when you turn with more caster? How much? How does it affect handling? Doofus minds want to know!

 

[Beermoney]

I talk to Vorshlag about it one time when I was setting up their plates on my S197. Terry seemed to be of the opinion unless you are about to run extremely high speeds for extended times, factory is best.

I took his word for it, I'm no suspension guru.

 

[o-man]

I run just camber plates. If I remember correctly, These cars have 7+ degrees of caster which is a bunch

 

[blacksheep-1]

Caster allows camber gain when you are turning the wheel, so, IMO the more castor the better

 

[JP X]

Caster allows camber gain when you are turning the wheel, so, IMO the more castor the better

That's what I thought. Makes a whole lot of sense on the surface to run lots of caster. But I've never tried non-OEM caster so thought I'd see what people like Fab and Fly are doing. Come to think of it, that sounds like a good name for a driving team. "Fab 'n' Fly Racing". They need to get together.

 

[Scootsmcgreggor]

6.5-7* is about as much as you want, it’s quite a bit actually. Yes your outside tire cambers in more with steering angle which is good in limited amounts but your inside tire loses camber and that you don’t want.

Extreme steering angle example to illustrate the point:

 

[JP X]

6.5-7* is about as much as you want, it’s quite a bit actually. Yes your outside tire cambers in more with steering angle which is good in limited amounts but your inside tire loses camber and that you don’t want.

Extreme steering angle example to illustrate the point:

View attachment 75289

So I'm hearing...don't muck with it.

 

[DaveW]

6.5-7* is about as much as you want, it’s quite a bit actually. Yes your outside tire cambers in more with steering angle which is good in limited amounts but your inside tire loses camber and that you don’t want.

Extreme steering angle example to illustrate the point:

View attachment 75289

Yeah, this. There is nothing in suspension that is without compromise including caster. When you get near double digits, unless the suspension is designed for it, there is a lot of jacking going on which may not be great for wider tires.

DaveW

 

[blacksheep-1]

Sort of , those drift cars have completely redesigned front suspensions with different Ackerman angles, spindles and etc. Even though it's a good example of extreme caster, it's IMO not really applicable to us.

 

[navseng]

6.5-7* is about as much as you want, it’s quite a bit actually. Yes your outside tire cambers in more with steering angle which is good in limited amounts but your inside tire loses camber and that you don’t want.

If you think about the way the chassis rolls, both inner and outer tires will benefit. Assuming you have actual camber gain with steering. If your caster is not greater than your SAI then you will not gain camber.

 

[Scootsmcgreggor]

Jr’s car doesn’t actually run that much caster, it’s just exacerbated by the steering angle. They try to reduce caster actually for this reason. It’s a balance to have enough caster to get the right centering feel without too much that the wheels gain/loose too much camber with angle. It’s still applicable to us too, just not as much.

 

[SMGDHG]

6.5-7* is about as much as you want, it’s quite a bit actually. Yes your outside tire cambers in more with steering angle which is good in limited amounts but your inside tire loses camber and that you don’t want.

Extreme steering angle example to illustrate the point:

View attachment 75289

But which tire produces the majority of the grip, the inside tire or the outside tire?

The outside. I know E36 BMW guys swear by increasing caster to gain extra camber. I have been meaning to try this with my s-197 but haven't had the opportunity to get it aligned.