Caster increase?

[dave23572]

Has anyone tried increasing positive caster on a ZS?

If so what effect did it have on handling and steering response?

I have seen some caster adjusting bushes for the bottom suspension arms.
But they look like they would be rather hard to position accurately.

I have seen camber adjustable top arms, but not ones that adjust caster.

Dave

[Mark S]

I doubt you would notice any difference at all, unless it was a race car that had 10-15k already spent on suspension setup, then you may notice a tenth or two on track.

[sneekyparrot]

I have camber / castor top arms but as already said I don't see the point of messing with it on a road based car.
You can alter the castor to increase camber as the wheel turns in to aid corner entry but it starts to **** about the the steering geometry hence it's really left to heavy track / race cars.

P.

[dave23572]

I have camber / castor top arms but as already said I don't see the point of messing with it on a road based car.
You can alter the castor to increase camber as the wheel turns in to aid corner entry but it starts to **** about the the steering geometry hence it's really left to heavy track / race cars.

P.


Well I am particularly looking to improve turn-in and corner entry.
Give the the steering more bite with hopefully a little more weight as I find the ZS steering rather light and "lazy".

[Mark S]

if the feel through the steering is the problem, you would be much better off modifying the steering rack to solve the problem, but it would involve removing and refitting the rack which is not an easy task.
Other than that, set the camber to zero add some 9j rims and huge tyres that are nearly bold and that will add a lot of weight to the steering! (joking on that one)

[sneekyparrot]

What tyres u running Dave?

Not sure what the stock camber is on the Zs but I can't see a prob with running -1 degree, yes it's going to start scrubbing the inner but can't have everything.

Not sure what u can do with steering thou, nowt off shelf gonna fit.

As above bigger wheels / tyres , maybe coilovers and rear toe but it's starting to get £££ plus someone like rally Matt to set it up.

Open diff? Type b or quaife gonna help change feel on the front.

P.

[dave23572]

if the feel through the steering is the problem, you would be much better off modifying the steering rack to solve the problem, but it would involve removing and refitting the rack which is not an easy task.
Other than that, set the camber to zero add some 9j rims and huge tyres that are nearly bold and that will add a lot of weight to the steering! (joking on that one)



What is the modification to the steering rack you referred to?

Dave

[sneekyparrot]

I dicked around with the suspension on an xr3i rep I built years ago, ended up with a ***** load of camber and castor, thing would absolutely fall into a corner but would not self correct and had the tyres smoking in 15mins so be care full.
I would just go .25 of a degree at a time and test on the same piece of road same corners etc

[dave23572]

I have camber / castor top arms but as already said I don't see the point of messing with it on a road based car.
You can alter the castor to increase camber as the wheel turns in to aid corner entry but it starts to **** about the the steering geometry hence it's really left to heavy track / race cars.

P.


What top arms are you using?
I've seen camber adjustable top arms, but not caster ones.

Dave

[sneekyparrot]

These ones Dave.

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sps-72160_w.jpg

Spc arms.

You turn the ball joint thru pre set notches that either add pos or neg caster.

P.

[Mark S]

What is the modification to the steering rack you referred to?

Dave

steering racks are not diy mod items. Like I said, it will need removing, refitting and modification, non of which will be cheap.
You will need to find someone to rebuild the rack with an upgraded or higher/stiffer rated torsion bar.
An overview is here http://www.woodwardsteering.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=662:9a-how-power-steering-works-the-torsion-bar&catid=44:woodward-tech

[sneekyparrot]

steering racks are not diy mod items. Like I said, it will need removing, refitting and modification, non of which will be cheap.
You will need to find someone to rebuild the rack with an upgraded or higher/stiffer rated torsion bar.
An overview is here http://www.woodwardsteering.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=662:9a-how-power-steering-works-the-torsion-bar&catid=44:woodward-tech

omg how funky is there gear :trampoline:

[dave23572]

These ones Dave.

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sps-72160_w.jpg

Spc arms.

You turn the ball joint thru pre set notches that either add pos or neg caster.

P.

Were they expensive?
Do you know the part number?

What camber/caster settings did you go for?
Did the caster setting improve steering bite?