Bad Right Caster, what?

[Bosrudorfer]

Well I got new 17's and had the car aligned. Turns out that my right front caster is "not perfect" and could only be tuned to 6.1 while the left is at 6.6. I spoke with the tech and he informed me I could replace it with aftermarket, which and were to purchase if anyone can recommend? I will be going coilovers soon and can install it when I do that.

I posted a picture of the print out. Or is this normal for the 240's?



Thanks!

[McRussellPants]

Car may have been wrecked, its probably just the billion year old top mounts or Tension Rod Bushings.

Go to SPLParts.com and get their V2 Tension Rods. Not only will they fix your problem they will make the car feel a billion times better.

[Bosrudorfer]

nah car is clean. that was just what I was looking for, and it even has install directions, awesome, thanks!

[chandler]

Im an alignment tech at my work and those specs are about right, I wouldnt worry about it too much, just go through your suspension piece by piece and get better parts, it will feel a lot better driving when you do

[Bosrudorfer]

That is what he told me and it's good news!, that he was unsure if the 240's actually have the casters this way. The car really doesn't lean towards the right/left unless there is a "dip" in the road. Turning wise the car is great but if I drive straight and there is a "dip" in the road the car wants to go either to the left or the right and I have to balance it out. This is somewhat annoying but due to their being more tire and me on stock.

I had the rims/tires balanced, aligned, etc. the works and have 90+% thread with the left rear being new 100% so my thought is this is most likely due to me putting the 17's on stock suspension. Hopefully when I install the coilovers, strut bars, tension rod bushings, and maybe a roll cage this will solve this problem.

My thinking is "Work on suspension first then power. If you can't control the power you got a large problem!" and not to mention the car looks pretty funny with the 'more than fist wide' gap LOL.

Thanks for all the help!

[skydragoness]

I'm curious what 'SAI' stands for, i'm looking at my printout and its out of spec

[Bosrudorfer]

I have a question, I will be ordering the V2 Tension Rods but am somewhat confused as the the brake deflectors, does the S14 already have them?

Also the only problem I seem to be having now is when I drive straight the car at times has a need to go to the left or right, and I need to adjust the steering wheel. What could be causing this? Me being on stock suspension?

Thanks!

[McRussellPants]

I have a question, I will be ordering the V2 Tension Rods but am somewhat confused as the the brake deflectors, does the S14 already have them?

Stock S14s dont have brake deflectors... unless your on stock brakes and track your car hard you shouldn't need em... but their only 10$ or whatever.

Also the only problem I seem to be having now is when I drive straight the car at times has a need to go to the left or right, and I need to adjust the steering wheel. What could be causing this? Me being on stock suspension?

get the tension rods, set them right and find out. Tension Rods and Solid Subframe bushings will be the most cost effective improvements to car feel so you won't be dissapointed.

[SmithSR]

I'm curious what 'SAI' stands for, i'm looking at my printout and its out of spec

Steering axis inclination

The farther back you tilt caster, the more stability you are to have at, say, highway cruising. The farther in SAI is tilted, steering effort is decreased, but so it scrub radius.

Use SAI to find bent spindles and struts, or *gasp* struts that were unevenly drilled out to accomodate S14 spindles on an S13 chassis by a backyard DIYer.

[skydragoness]

Steering axis inclination

The farther back you tilt caster, the more stability you are to have at, say, highway cruising. The farther in SAI is tilted, steering effort is decreased, but so it scrub radius.

Use SAI to find bent spindles and struts, or *gasp* struts that were unevenly drilled out to accomodate S14 spindles on an S13 chassis by a backyard DIYer.

*bump*

Hey Smith, I had my car 'checked up' today on the Hunter machine. The SAI is still a degree off on both sides (like 14.25' left and right).

I don't get it. The inner/outer tie rods are Tein off my old S13 (that always had perfect alignments), SPL tension rods, new strut-mounts (KYB), brand-new Nissan-OEM LCA's w/ fresh ball joints pressed-in.

I don't know what else to look for that's making the SAI off. If its any help, my car--despite the alignment being 'perfect' on paper-- has this quirky steering habit. It's super hard to describe but its as if the wheel doesn't return to the center as quickly as it should after completing a turn. My bf thinks I'm insane (i'm anal about how my car handles, duh) and I don't know where else to take it to have someone troubleshoot it.

You mentioned scrub radius: I noticed after some backroading I smell the distinct scent of tire rubber coming from the front--but no visible sidewall marks. I just figured I smelled them because they are new and they are really soft (BF Goodie Traction T/A)

argh. stupid car, my white S13 was sooo much better.

[chmercer]

if you smell tire, its rubbing. 100%.

[skydragoness]

Rubbing sidewall I hope? Hopefully the remedy for that is just upping the cold psi a bit. I haven't checked it in a couple of weeks and we've been having freakishly warm weather lately. The BF Goodie's I have are notoriously soft ( I only bought them to get through the occasional snow we get, and then I'll switch to stiffer tires when I get my 16's on in the spring).

Oh i have my alignment print-out in front of me:

SAI

Front: Left

14.00

Front: Right

14.90
Modified by skydragoness at 9:53 PM 1/12/2006

[McRussellPants]

About your SAI. it might be why your rubbing. maybe your lower bracket slipped and/or you have too much camber and the tire is flexing into the strut.

If you have coilovers with camber plates its because someone used the scrub radius adjustment to adjust camber instead of using the plates.

If you want a quicker centering steering add more caster.

[skydragoness]

^ Well, I don't have coilovers. I run AGX's w/ Suspension Technique springs. So my front camber is still in specified ranges.

Front: Left-0.55'

Front: Right-1.05'

What should I look for that could be bent?

[McRussellPants]

If you know your camber is off .5 degrees side to side why are you wondering why your SAI is off?

Thats just what happens when you adjust camber at the lower bracket like on springs and shocks.

You prolly just have crappy 900 yr old top mounts and FLCA Bushings and they are causing the camber to be off.

Unless your running like a 9in wide wheel then you don't need to be worrying about scrub radius when rubbing.

[skydragoness]

^Well, eventually I'll be running 16" wheels in the spring time, Exar recommended I do 225 all around and the front 16's will only be 7' wide. Um, by top mounts are you referring to the strut mounts? As those are brand-new KYB OE units. Would a simple camber-bolt kit solve the issue? I'm just surprised I never had this problem with my white S13 that was running this setup. You also mentioned my LCA's, and those are brand-new OEM as well.

[ddgsxr504]

Well I got new 17's and had the car aligned. Turns out that my right front caster is "not perfect" and could only be tuned to 6.1 while the left is at 6.6. I spoke with the tech and he informed me I could replace it with aftermarket, which and were to purchase if anyone can recommend? I will be going coilovers soon and can install it when I do that.

So what exactly is the problem? I understand that your caster is off but you can't buy caster, so how would you go about fixing that anyhow? I can see how tension rods would affect that but what else is there?