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gz1
15-03-05, 08:53 PM
Hi guys,

Hopefuly there is a steering and suspension expert here, or at least someone that knows more than me in this area.

My terri was delivered with bad wheel aligment. This was fixed by the dealer and the car was noticeably better, but this niggling doubt remained that all was not well. So I put the car on the wheel aligner and discovered the following settings:
Left front Caster 6.25
Right front Caster 5.87
Left front camber -1.13
Right front camber -0.86
Left front toe 0.7
Right front toe 0.9

Left rear camber -0.59
Right rear camber -0.96
Left rear toe -0.2
Right rear toe -0.96

On the front there is a pretty big difference between left and right especially in caster angles. Also the wheelbase was measured and the left side was 6mm shorter than the right side. (left 2840mm, right 2846mm). I suspect this is due to the different castor angles but not entilrely sure, can anyone confirm??
I know these differences are not huge, but I would have expected a new modern car to have better tolerances that this.
It is also obvious that the wheel aligment has been "fudged" by adjusting the toe angles differently to compensate for the different camber angles on each side as the caster and camber angles are not adjustable.
Is there anyone in the position to verify wheather these figures are within tolerance and/or acceptable? If they are to be left like this what would be the affect on the car? In my opinion it would at the very least show accelerated tyre wear.
I would be very interested in any opinions on this at all, even if to say stop worrying it's nothing, in which case I'll just get an aftermarket caster/camber kit and have the settings adjusted correctly ;-)
thanks guys.

Sox
15-03-05, 10:10 PM
Those differences are actually quite small and may be there intentionally because of the camber of our roads.

Rick.

johnydep
16-03-05, 09:46 AM
Front Camber (deg): -1.15 +/- .5
Front Caster (deg): 6.4 +/- .5
Front Toe-In (mm): -3 +/- 1
Rear Camber (deg): -1.1 +/- .5
Rear Toe-In (mm): 4 +/- 1
Thrust Angle (deg): 0 +/- .15

Lower Ride Height = more negative camber more positve caster

MrFlibbles
16-03-05, 10:47 AM
thats nothing i get to check the alignments and brand spankin commodores some of them have castor differences up to 3 degrees!

gz1
16-03-05, 11:55 AM
Front Camber (deg): -1.15 +/- .5
Front Caster (deg): 6.4 +/- .5
Front Toe-In (mm): -3 +/- 1
Rear Camber (deg): -1.1 +/- .5
Rear Toe-In (mm): 4 +/- 1
Thrust Angle (deg): 0 +/- .15

Lower Ride Height = more negative camber more positve caster
Thanks Johnydep, That's the information I was after.
Seems that the specs are at their limits with one side of the front caster out
by a fraction past it's limit.
Probably will end up leaving as is because I hope that as the suspension settles, it will reduce the ride height a little and thus the settings will move towards their specified settings rather than away from them.
Makes me feel a lot better now.
P.S. If you live in Sydney I'll have to buy you a beer sometime.
cheers