How much caster

[jamie077366]

Hi guys, so after a lovely evening trying to get the long bolt out of upper  wishbone (bolt had welded itself to bush inserts) I’m wanting more caster on track day hatch. So from what iv read Il get more neg camber on lock and better straight ahead stability.

how much do I mover upper  wish bone back, im not power steering but don’t mind if heavy at parking speeds, just to be optimal on higher speed corners.

oh, any recommendations for new ball joints, best make/supplier? 

thanks for any advice, ps Il renew membership when I get a minute 😀👍

 

 

 

[Jessopia74]

Old boy (he road rallied a Coupe and a Mk2) set mine up way back and doubled the washer width. I could not give you a number but it certainly went around corners like it was in rails. Needed nothing other than the thick top washers from me. 

[Moonmonkey]

As Jess says, to adjust the camber you use different thickness big and small washers on the top bolt. You can get 3mm, 6mm and 9mm thick for each. 

IIRC standard setup uses a 6mm big and a 6mm small washer. To move positive or negative you use the 3mm and 9mm washers. Moving the wishbone back, to give  positive caster uses the 3mm big washer and the 9mm small washer, negative caster uses a 9mm big and 3mm small

You can get the washers from Krause Rennsport. While there are pretty cheap the postage would be high unless you are buying other stuff. Probably easier to get some made locally 

https://www.krause-rennsporttechnik.de/shop/en/Chassis/Front-Axle/Manta-Ascona-B/Caster-shim-for-upper-wishbone?source=2&refertype=1&referid=156

Edited June 22, 2023 by Moonmonkey

[®evo03]

Haven't experimented yet, but can the standard washers be used in different order. 

[Moonmonkey]

6 hours ago, ®evo03 said:

Haven't experimented yet, but can the standard washers be used in different order. 

I think the standard washers are both 6mm so it doesn’t change the caster if you move them around.  You need to have unequal thickness adding up to 12mm (eg 3 & 9mm) to move the angle. I would guess you can have any combination from 0 - 12mm and 12mm - 0

 

 

[Jessopia74]

4 hours ago, Moonmonkey said:

I think the standard washers are both 6mm so it doesn’t change the caster if you move them around.  You need to have unequal thickness adding up to 12mm (eg 3 & 9mm) to move the angle. I would guess you can have any combination from 0 - 12mm and 12mm - 0

 

 

IIRC and my my memory is not so good these days, but it had a very thin washer and two std thick on my setup, so more like 12mm? Perhaps. That is what I was going to replicate on my 400, but seems pretty easy to try other widths with that guide. Once I figure a good spot guess I can turn a couple Down on the lathe 

[1200bandit]

Got all my suspension parts of eBay,

not that much money for what you get

[Moonmonkey]

1 hour ago, Jessopia74 said:

IIRC and my my memory is not so good these days, but it had a very thin washer and two std thick on my setup, so more like 12mm? Perhaps. That is what I was going to replicate on my 400, but seems pretty easy to try other widths with that guide. Once I figure a good spot guess I can turn a couple Down on the lathe 

Sounds right that would give you maximum castor movement without modifying anything. 
 

[GTEPETE]

In conjunction with new caster adustments, you can also slot the mounting holes for the upper balljoint to enable you to adjust the camber, more precisely than just turning the balljoint 180 degrees (especially if you have lower springs fitted)...

[jamie077366]

On 22/06/2023 at 20:55, Jessopia74 said:

Old boy (he road rallied a Coupe and a Mk2) set mine up way back and doubled the washer width. I could not give you a number but it certainly went around corners like it was in rails. Needed nothing other than the thick top washers from me. 

Great thanks , 

Thanks for advice guys, 

im going to go 12mm one side and see how we go, I guess now bolt is actually free it’s not a big job to play around 😀