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longer lca's without lift

streetpirate

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Oregon City, OR
what are the disadvantages/problems with running a longer than stock lca with no lift? wouldn't this provide some high speed stability for a stock xj with some nasty dw? (Ive done some funny things to my xj, and i think the caster has changed some)
 
NOT EXACTLY, whoops caps./

http://www.artsautomotive.com/thealignmentstory.htm

"Caster

Caster is the hardest to explain of the three commonly used alignment angles. I like to use the motorcycle analogy. Lots of positive caster is like the forks on a chopper; the wheel is far in front of the support for the wheel. No car that I know of uses negative caster, so I'll describe less positive caster as like the forks on a regular street bike, the wheel is only slightly in front of the support for the wheel. Caster will not affect tire wear, but it can cause a slight drift if it's not equal on both sides. Caster is an angle that only applies to the front (steering) wheels of a car. The more positive caster is, the more stable the car feels, especially at higher speed. More positive caster also improves steering wheel return. To help understand what steering wheel return is, try this experiment: next time you turn a corner, let go of the steering wheel when you are done turning. You will notice that the steering wheel spins back to the centered position. Without positive caster, the steering wheel would stay turned until you manually turned it back to the center position. The only downside to lots of positive caster is it make the car hard/slow to steer. The reason positive caster adds stability, steering wheel return and increased steering effort is the weight of the car is trying to straighten the wheels. You may notice on some luxury cars with lot of positive caster (and powerful power steering) that the front of the car will rise when the wheel is turned to the side, and sinks as the wheel comes back to center."

i need my street heep to track straight and not drift all over the road, AND the stock ride height dw i get between 40-50. my guess is the frame side is tweaked a bit b/c axle and all 4 control arms are new(junkyard). Somehow i lost some caster.
 
streetpirate said:
Somehow i lost some caster.
have you measured your caster angle or are you just guessing that it's not right?
It's pretty easy to do a reasonably accurate measurement on your own. Gojeep has a "how to" on his site and I know it's also covered in several posts here on NAXJA.
 
streetpirate said:
NOT EXACTLY, whoops caps./

http://www.artsautomotive.com/thealignmentstory.htm

"Caster

Caster is the hardest to explain of the three commonly used alignment angles. I like to use the motorcycle analogy. Lots of positive caster is like the forks on a chopper; the wheel is far in front of the support for the wheel. No car that I know of uses negative caster, so I'll describe less positive caster as like the forks on a regular street bike, the wheel is only slightly in front of the support for the wheel. Caster will not affect tire wear, but it can cause a slight drift if it's not equal on both sides. Caster is an angle that only applies to the front (steering) wheels of a car. The more positive caster is, the more stable the car feels, especially at higher speed. More positive caster also improves steering wheel return. To help understand what steering wheel return is, try this experiment: next time you turn a corner, let go of the steering wheel when you are done turning. You will notice that the steering wheel spins back to the centered position. Without positive caster, the steering wheel would stay turned until you manually turned it back to the center position. The only downside to lots of positive caster is it make the car hard/slow to steer. The reason positive caster adds stability, steering wheel return and increased steering effort is the weight of the car is trying to straighten the wheels. You may notice on some luxury cars with lot of positive caster (and powerful power steering) that the front of the car will rise when the wheel is turned to the side, and sinks as the wheel comes back to center."

i need my street heep to track straight and not drift all over the road, AND the stock ride height dw i get between 40-50. my guess is the frame side is tweaked a bit b/c axle and all 4 control arms are new(junkyard). Somehow i lost some caster.


Like I said get some adj CA's and adjust your caster angle. I don't know the year of your XJ but you can also add shims to the rear braket of where your LCA's mount.
 
the funny stuff was just stupid teenager driving. pretend my rf tire hit a curb going 45. kinda like that. if i do somehow extend the lca's for more positive caster, will there be any negative effects? the only thing i can think of is pinion angle, but im not lifted, so i dont think it will change enough to matter. i dont think what im trying to do will effect the track bar or steering linkage any. without me going outside and crawling under, can i put steel shims on an '87?
 
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