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HybridZ

Caster measurement at home?


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Hi all-

 

If all goes to plan this weekend, I'll put my TC kit back in and relocate my LCA pivots.

 

Toe I can set easily enough. Some pre-drill measurements should let me get the camber dialed in, just by moving the LCA pivots slightly different amounts on each side.

 

What about caster? I previously massaged the TC kit's aluminum sockets to keep the tires from hitting the front valence, reducing the ever-precious caster.... so I plan to see what I can do to get some of that back.

 

But is there an easy way to measure it on-car? Preferably without removing the springs from the struts?

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If you have a camber gauge you can measure caster with it, but I think you really need slip plates to get an accurate measurement. The way to do it is to measure the camber with the wheels straight ahead, then turn them and measure the camber again. The amount of camber change can be calculated to find the caster measurement. The guy who made my adjustable TC rods tried to adjust the caster using a protracted angle drawn on his shop floor and what he gave me was I think 3 or 4 degrees off of what he said it was when I actually put the car on an alignment rack. The math works, so I think it is just moving the wheels the right number of degrees that is the tricky bit.

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Thanks guys - I get the pitcher now... Too bad I finally threw those @!#!%@ worthless ramps away, they'd come in handy loading the suspension with the car up in the air.... I'll figure something out.

 

Chances are I'm going to run into tire interference, so I'll do my best to max it out and keep it even.

 

In other news, I drove the car the last few days (been out of commission pending a brake bleed). Wow. :eek: I definitely need to NOT drive this thing on the street. I don't know how you guys with "fast" Z cars keep your licenses.

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On the project car I used an adjustable angle gauge* lining it by eye with the ground level and strut angle from the side. Just moved the top of the strut forward/back until it lay at the required angle, 8 degrees.

 

Any difference of a degree or two is quite noticeable after some practice so that method should be good enough to get a reference point when fitting adjustable tops.

 

* don't know the correct name for the gauge, it has two arms that pivot in relation to each other, with a scale marked in degrees. Its just a simple hand tool.

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