Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Has anyone had any experience in having more castor than what is required? Just wondering how it might travel on road. I have a 3" lift but I dont want to use bushes, so I was thinking of a 5 deg caster plate. Any thoughts. I will be adjusting the toe in this weekend and I will see how it feels on the road after that

If you adjust the toe in too far it will tram track all over the road. I know cause I had the maverick back to the same place twice and it drove like crap. It was only when I measured another gq and compared it i found out what the problem was. Adjusted to the same as his and it is good to drive now and I had it rechecked at another alignment place and it was spot on. Only adjust it to what it should be.

When you think of castor think of it as forks on a bike. If you have them tilting back under the bike (like turning the handle bars around) instead of racked forward it will be twitchy and very light on the steer. This is what is called negitive castor which is what happens when you lift a vehicle. However with too much positive will be like forks racked too far back and be heavy on the steer etc.

Therefore rotating the diff towards the back of the car gives you more positive and rotating it towards the front is more negitive

You need to get a castor read out first then work out what you need. The general rule of thumb in for every inch you go up is another degree of castor. The other 80 series i had that i bought the guy eventually had bushes in it becuase it drove like crap with 5 degree paltes and a 3 inch lift. Although i didn't drive it like it apparently it was bad.

Most cars run a positive castor. two degrees extra (if that what it works out to) is a fair bit. Alingment is a game of mm's and factions of degrees. I am a bit neurotic when it comes to steering but my cars drive spot on though

Hope it helps.

In regards to toe, I currently have 1mm toe in. I will adjust this to a maximum of 4mm toe in and see how it goes.

What have you got against castor bushes?

I dont like bushes due to the little bit of movement that they restrict. That and the fact they are a harder bush and wont last as long. Given the way the 3 link front works I just dont like the thought of em there

Very, very interested in this!!!

I also have about 3 inch lift and the car is all over the road following any little ruts. It has no castor correction (I bought it like this).

I figure the castor plates are easy to fit, leave the standard softer bushes in place, and also allow for the fact that in the future I may want to raise the car slightly by fitting coil spacers if I need to. It also means that if for some reason I want to remove the lift and return the car to standard height, I can just unbolt the plates.

I asked Pedders about it on the weekend. They were really vague about having a couple of degrees too much caster, saying they think if anything it may cause a little shaking in the steering.

Tom.

I don't have any experience with castor plates but when I bought my Landcruiser it had about 7cm of lift and was almost undriveable at highway speeds. I got ARB to fit castor bushes which took me from negative castor on each side to about 2 degrees of positive castor on each side. Made it so much more driveable.

Yep the reason landcruiser toms tram tracks and twitchs is because of to much negitive castor. Get it wheel aligned and get it corrected to the specified castor either with bushes or plates.

Approx 2 degrees positive is where you want it as a very broad general rule. Too much positive has been known to scrub out tyres more.

If i needs bushes just get a second hand set of arms and fit the bushes to them. It takes me about half an hour with a rattle gun to change arms. Then keep the standard ones as spares. That's what I have for the maverick and the 80 series.

Honestly I like a car to steer and drive correctly To achieve that it has to fall into the manufacturers specs. Anything outside is a comprimise in my opinion. I have been thru heaps of setting with castor and even camber. Factory setting the best. All else was just an experiment the cost me time and heartache and money. But as you said for a couple of hundred dollars for plates you can take them off again and then do bushes.

Let us know what it does. I'd be keen just for agruments sake and my own knowledge.

Cheers

Hey fellas, caster correction is a good idear, but putting plates on a three inch lift will make the steering feel heavy and squated, this is due to excessive cambering and toe on turns, which in time will wear your tyres unevenly.
2 degree bushes are more than enough to bring your truck back to the way it was before you lifted it without spending a fortune..good luck..

Shane
I run plates with 3-4 inches lift and it is beautiful.....makes the steering heavier, which in my opinion is good.....I also agree with the no bushes stance.....the articulation you loose and the cracked housings you risk arnt worth it...not to mention the early failure rate compared to OEM
If you are handy with a stick welder, and oxy...here is another option......
slot the front holes in the diff....the thickness of the bolt (14mm) is 2 degrees, rebolt and add flat washers either side....set up alignment and weld washers to brackets....cost...time only....if its not enough, you can do it to the back holes aswell....
Andrew

I'm going to be replacing all the tie rod ends on the weekend. One is worn so I'm going to do the lot and I'll see how it behaves on the road after that and make a desicion which way to go.

hey guys
my 80 has about 3-4 in lift. have just put new 35s on it and wanted 2 now what 2 do also with the front bushes. or plates?
my car is wondering all over the road at the moment and it has only got urethane bushes in it(standard setup)
have already had alot of trouble with breaking the control arm mounts and bending the diff housings so i need 2 do something soon.

80BOY wrote:hey guys
my 80 has about 3-4 in lift. have just put new 35s on it and wanted 2 now what 2 do also with the front bushes. or plates?
my car is wondering all over the road at the moment and it has only got urethane bushes in it(standard setup)
have already had alot of trouble with breaking the control arm mounts and bending the diff housings so i need 2 do something soon.

No affiliation yada yada but check out ebay at the moment....plates new for $220...you should have rubber in there, if not, you will need to put them back in with the plates.
Andrew

I have a 3 - 4 inch suspension lift and went through the same thing. Didn't want bushes and the plates overcorrected. I ended up get Giantracing off this board to make me up some drop boxes. They are bolt in type and can be removed if I need to. The caster is now perfect and it drives soooo good
Burnsy

Could you put up some pics of the drop boxes

I'd be interested in seeing some pics of the drop boxes

Just replaced the tie rod ends and realigned the front. Driving back to normal now. Toe in adjusted to about 5mm, I dicked about with it until it felt the best on road and thats what it turned out to be