Cannot get Enough Caster!

[Vincent Hill]

Before I put in the Electric Power Steering, I Changed the Caster To 5.0 degrees to make it easier for my wife to Drive and parallel Park.

Now I want to increase the Caster to 7.0 degrees, but I do not have enough Adjustment to get past about 5.2 to 5.5 degrees of Caster.

My question is, can the Top Of the Strut Mount go bad (Rubber Deteriorate) to the point
I have lost a Few Degrees Of Caster?

[eastbay]

I could see the lower control arm bushings compressing rearward to lose caster. Why do you want such high caster anyways?

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by eastbay

I could see the lower control arm bushings compressing rearward to lose caster. Why do you want such high caster anyways?

Thank you! A good place to look. I will put a jack under it and see if I have any play, Movement or wear.

With the Electric Power Steering, AND 5 degrees of Caster, even with the Boost turned down (as Much as the Rheostat allows), the Steering is very sensitive. Also as you can see, I have the Plate as Far Back as it will go and all I can get is about 5.5 degrees of Caster. If I could even get back to 6.5 degrees, that would be 1.5 Better Than I have now!

I have also been looking for an Adjustable Caster / Camber Plate so I can Adjust Both like I can on my BMW 320i.

[rattlsnak]

More caster will make it more sensitive.. Not sure what you are trying to accomplish?

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

More caster will make it more sensitive.. Not sure what you are trying to accomplish?

More Caster will make the Car want to go Straight! On a Motorcycle it is called Rake. Remember the “Choppers” (like Easy Rider) with the Long front ends, they could barely turn. As I stated, I only have “5.2” degrees of Caster which makes the car want to change Direction as you Breathe. Porsche Uses about 6.5 Degrees and I cannot even get that right now.

So again what I am asking is has anyone pushed the Strut “Back” (as in toward the Rear Of the Car) as far as they can and found that their Steering Angle (Caster) was still too steep? And what did they do to Cure it?

I was looking for Caster / Camber Adjustment Plates like I used in my BMW 320i. With them, I can easily go between 4.5 and 7.5 degrees of Caster and as much Negative Camber as I want. They only thing I saw Close was sold by Pellican but only had extra Camber Adjustment And Cost Between $500 and $800 usd.

[Arne2]

How much rake does the car have? Is the nose particularly low, or the rear higher than normal?

[T77911S]

wait, your wife drives your Porsche?

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by Arne2

How much rake does the car have? Is the nose particularly low, or the rear higher than normal?

Excellent Question! Crazy But even though if the Rear was High Enough And they front Low Enough That would change the Caster by a Lot, I never thought about it that way even though I used that thinking to level the car on my slopping Driveway.

As far as I know, the Door Sill is about the only Flat Level Place in the car. And that matches pretty close to the Flat spot on the Sun Roof. By making them Level, that “should” remove that from my problem. BTW, it does sit pretty Level and was the first thing I did 10 years ago when I got it. There is about equal space between the Tires and the Fenders Front and Rear side to side. The PO has Lowered it and the Ride was Horrible.

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by T77911S

wait, your wife drives your Porsche?

It is HER Car! It is her Second Porsche. Her first was a 1976 911s that she got cut off (Twice) in a turn going about 130. Me, I like Faster Things! Like going 230 MPH Landspeed Racing

[dannobee]

Goofy caster angles are usually a result of ride height being off. FWIW. Check and adjust before elongating holes or buying a camber/caster kit. That is, if you want it back to factory specs.

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by dannobee

Goofy caster angles are usually a result of ride height being off. FWIW. Check and adjust before elongating holes or buying a camber/caster kit. That is, if you want it back to factory specs.

GOOD ADVICE!! I will do some more measuring and make sure! I sure wish you were / are Right! But since the Measuring shows what I had years ago (about 7 to be exact) I am not too Hopeful. The scary thing to me is I had to push the Struts as far “Forward” to get my caster that I now have with the Struts Pushed BACK as far as they go!

BTW, I plan to Recheck the Accuracy Of my Tool on my New Honda Civic Si that should have between 4.8 to 5.8 range and should be 5.6 degrees.

[Driven97]

I would doubt the measurement rather than the car at this point.

[eastbay]

One quick note, I fooled around with strings, expensive camber gauges and toe plates for a few years, thought I was doing OK. Then I bought a full blown Hunter alignment machine. What I thought was a good alignment was shown to be ridiculously way off.

My cars really drive like a dream now with my custom alignments. Too bad you are not in my vicinity so you could do your own custom alignment. Personally, I like zero toe, minimal camber and lower caster for a quick and lively setup, but my high speed long distance driving is minimal along with zero track time.

[T77911S]

my wife wont drive mine.,

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by T77911S

my wife wont drive mine.,

Her Other car was a Mini Cooper S That I did some work on to make a little over 200 HP that she set a Landspeed Record In. Only the Van is an Automatic. She stated that driving that car is the only time she really feels Good. No aches or pain because full Time and attention is needed.

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by eastbay

One quick note, I fooled around with strings, expensive camber gauges and toe plates for a few years, thought I was doing OK. Then I bought a full blown Hunter alignment machine. What I thought was a good alignment was shown to be ridiculously way off.

My cars really drive like a dream now with my custom alignments. Too bad you are not in my vicinity so you could do your own custom alignment. Personally, I like zero toe, minimal camber and lower caster for a quick and lively setup, but my high speed long distance driving is minimal along with zero track time.

ZACTLY!! I agree 100% with everything you did and the results. You get better Tire life, less Steering Effort And QUICK Turn In.

I had the same thing but when I installed the Electric Power Steering, I had too much Mechanical advantage. So I am trying to do “2” things. Add High speed stability and more control over the Power Steering. I am installing a new Controller that I can go from “0” Boost to 100#% Boost and a On and Off switch.

The alignment tool is Electronic and totally Computerized. Very accurate when you are Careful.

[Trackrash]

Originally Posted by Vincent Hill

So again what I am asking is has anyone pushed the Strut “Back” (as in toward the Rear Of the Car) as far as they can and found that their Steering Angle (Caster) was still too steep? And what did they do to Cure it? .

I, and many others, have enlarged the holes in the fender mount to allow more movement of the top strut mount.

[eastbay]

What are you running for toe?

[Vincent Hill]

Originally Posted by Trackrash

I, and many others, have enlarged the holes in the fender mount to allow more movement of the top strut mount.

Ok, I started doing exactly that and Quickly realized that the Mounting holes are “NOT” the Limiting Factor.

The Hole The Strut Mount sticks out Of has a Lip to Reinforce that area an make it Stronger. My Strut is at Most 3 to 4/16” from that lip.

I seemed to gain about 0.2 degree for about every 1/16” of Mounting Plate Hole I Removed. So to just get to 6.0 I would need to remove about 5/16” and roughly 1/2” Just to get to “Factory” Specs. Also the Front Bolt Hole (Shock Side Of the Hole) is at Most 1/4” from the Strut Flange . See my Dilemma?

So my thinking is to Find Out (Before I Remove all Of That Metal) is to see if anyone had my Problem and How (If they did) Resolved it?

The Only Options I think there are is
#1 a New Top Strut Mount. (Which The Old one may be the cause of this problem!

#2 an Adjustable Top Strut Mount. (I have looked everywhere and not found any!

[stlrj]

The easy way to get more caster is simply by raising the front end.