Castor/Camber Correction

[Griffdowg]

Does anyone know if places like kwik fit, national auto etc. have the ability to sort out the castor and camber on my 90?

or do i need to take it to a land rover garage?

im a bit worries that since my "klunk" in Lacock my steering is out. ive set the tracking but things dont look right. drives ok, but i dont want to wear my tyres all wrong.

any thoughts on where i should take it?

G

 

[Pikey]

They should but I'd take to an independant tyre specialist that deals in commercial/agricultural tyres as they tend to know what there doing and will probably have done loads of truck/van/landy wheel setting before.

 

[Griffdowg]

cheers pikey,

i did find some places today which said they did "wheel alignment" so i may try them tomorrow, if their open. will prob steer (hahaha) clear of the larger type places.

Thanks.

G

 

[GRUNT]

I do believe yer can't alter yer castor and camber, if they are out it's a matter of getting new swivels and bearings cos thats the bit that'll be bent. The only thing you can play about with is the toe in and out, and you can check that quite accurately with a tape measure.

 

[Griffdowg]

ow dear ow dear ow dear grunt ive done the tracking. i thought there may still be some "adjustment" somewhere what do i do now!

G

 

[GRUNT]

Wot dunt look right about it all?

 

[GRUNT]

An is there any play in the swivels, how easy is it to move the road wheel from lock to lock.

 

[dirty hands]

I do believe yer can't alter yer castor and camber, if they are out it's a matter of getting new swivels and bearings cos thats the bit that'll be bent.

I'm sure I read that somewhere. If the casteor n camber are out it suggested that its likley to be suspension related.

Thats what I think it said anyway.

 

[Griffdowg]

basically. if you put a bit of wood flush to the tyre/wheel on the drivers side its 3cm from the arch. the passenger side is flush, or set in slightly. so it looks like the axle has shifted over by 30mm. also confirming this is the springs. the passenger side look spot on vertical where as the driver side has a definate lean to it.

i just thought i may have knocked the wheel out a bit.

yes there is a bit of play in the swivels, but nothing huge.

G

 

[Griffdowg]

forgot to add:
lock to lock is fine i can also just about squeeze a knuckle in both sides against the radius arms on full lock. so they seem balanced and fine.

G

 

[slob]

yer need to do a drop test.. no not that!! find a flat level dod of concrete . park yer landy on it . then using a plumb line suspended from various parts of yer chassis mark with chalk where yer plum touches the ground.

next mark the vehicle center point, front and rear, on the ground. join these points up with a chalk line. now yer other chalk marks you join up diagonally. these chalk lines should cross on the center line. if them meet to one side yer chassis is bent.

 

[GRUNT]

Reet I'm only going by how I understand the castor an camber malarky.

The castor is the angle the wheel pivots on from vertical, so it's the angle through the centre of the wheel and the upper and lower pivots in the swivel housing, and can't be adjusted. If the wheel has had a kin good belt the pivots could get damaged or the railko bush in the top one and the taper roller in the bottom one could be damaged, You could tell by slogger in the swivel.

The camber is the angle that the wheel sits from vertical, adjustment and out of kilter is the same as the castor. I spose the axle immediately behind the swivel could have been bent but cant see it. I spose the bolts holding the swivel housing to the axle could have been stretched though and the flange damaged.............Nah shirley not.

 

[Griffdowg]

i did wonder how you could do that. cheers slob. i am worried i may have twisted it somewhere. who knows. thanks

G

 

[slob]

can't find much on the net about drop tests ....exceptin fer this

Read More on 'Don't click the photo when you are over eighty !' - PreWarCar.com

 

[Griffdowg]

I agree grunt. i cant see how it would work. might try slobs technique and see how i get on. ASDA carpark seems like a fine place to set up

G

 

[GRUNT]

Have yer slackened yer radius arms off an bounced up an down on the bumper, cos thats the only thing that I reckon has got the strength to pull everything over, cant see it being the springs cos there too springy an the damper bushes have got more slogger in em than a grannies fanny.

 

[Griffdowg]

slacken them off at the front? or take them off? i need to replace the bushes anyway. seems like a fine idea. although with my weight i dont think im going to shift anything by jumping on the bumper!

do you think the MOT will pick up a bend chassis if it is that way? im inclined to keep hush hush.

G

 

[CharlesY]

There are three main "angles", called CASTOR, CAMBER, and KING PIN INCLINATION. Then add TOE IN or TOE OUT.

Bad news huh?

Well not in a REAL LandRover, which means them all up to and including the TD5s. Basically, if your Landy has a huge bloody big heavy old fashioned axle at both ends like a REAL Landy (not like a Disco3) then ALL the nasty angles are permanently established simply by bolting all the bits in the right places, and that's that.

About the only way to get it wrong would be to bend the whole axle, and while I suppose someone is bound to have done that, it can't be easy or commonly done.

Consider the back axle. The wheels sit with NO toe-in/out, NO castor angle, NO camber angle, and NO kingpin inclination. This is why back tyres on LandRovers last forever. The tyres run dead in line, upright, no fancy stuff.

It isn't quite so at the front.
They arrange it with CASTOR angle so that the steering tends to self-centre going FORWARDS. The TOP swivel is a tiny bit BACK from the lower one, and the effect is that the car tries to self-steer where it is travelling towards.

There is an excellent explanation here ....
T01

Toe-in or toe-out is set so that in normal cruising conditions the front tyres are running as nearly as possible dead parallel, thus cutting down tyre wear and reducing tyre drag. Assuming the axle isn't bent, adjusting Landy toe-in/out is easy to do, and no other angles can be disturbed in the process.

So there.

CharlesY

 

[Griffdowg]

yer... thanks for that Charles. i kinda allready established those things. now i also realise i cant adjust the camber/castor. im just going to drive the thing and hope for the best

 

[Davec]

About the only way to get it wrong would be to bend the whole axle, and while I suppose someone is bound to have done that, it can't be easy or commonly done.

Not that difficult, or that unusual, especially with extreme, or fast, off roading, or hitting a solid object, like a wall, with a wheel whilst driving on the road.