Caster the friendly ghost....
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
Likes: 230
From: Orange Park Florida
Caster the friendly ghost....
You can mill the holes 1/4 inch forward. Mill them towards the front of the car so the cross shafts can be slide backwards and this gives about 5 degrees positive caster
I allways get confused as to which is desirable for handling, and why, IF they do put just the opposite caster in from the factory....
so, for superior handling we want POSITIVE caster, meaning the upper ball joint centerline is behind the lower....?? I would think it would be the opposite as true for better handling.....so the obvious question is...why?? someone esplain.....??
I think I used to understand it, years ago, but it's an old topic I need refresher course on, I suspect...
I allways get confused as to which is desirable for handling, and why, IF they do put just the opposite caster in from the factory....
so, for superior handling we want POSITIVE caster, meaning the upper ball joint centerline is behind the lower....?? I would think it would be the opposite as true for better handling.....so the obvious question is...why?? someone esplain.....??
I think I used to understand it, years ago, but it's an old topic I need refresher course on, I suspect...
Racer
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 342
Likes: 0
From: Onley VA
More caster, less response, more stable. Less caster, more response, less stable. As you see, and as with every thing, it's a compromise. Any thing less then about 2 deg. is/can be evil, factory for C3's is (I belive) 2 1/4deg.
Last edited by Godfathers Ghost; Apr 15, 2007 at 02:01 AM.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,345
Likes: 3
Second Viewpoint:
Agree more positive caster more sable.
However the only negative to higher positive caster is higher steering effort, and since Corvettes were available without PS, there were two different factory specs, with the PS cars having more positive castor. Even with PS the factory spec is less than current practice.
Most new sports car have 5 to 7 degrees positive castor. The best respond better than a C3 (though not THAT much better). Check out the steering response of an SRT-10 and see if you think high positive castor is unresponsive.
I own both a '69 C3 with modern rubber (Eagle F1s 245/45ZR17s) and an '04 SRT-10 convertible and have driven a few C6s - the Viper is the sharpest steering of them all.
BTW, the Viper is STILL the only choice for a new sub $100,000 500 HP convertible - I wasn't even able to consider a Corvette given my personal preferences.
My '69 modified small block is within 90 RWHP of the Viper, although the Viper has a much broader powerband and drinks (the Viper) about half the fuel......
Agree more positive caster more sable.
However the only negative to higher positive caster is higher steering effort, and since Corvettes were available without PS, there were two different factory specs, with the PS cars having more positive castor. Even with PS the factory spec is less than current practice.
Most new sports car have 5 to 7 degrees positive castor. The best respond better than a C3 (though not THAT much better). Check out the steering response of an SRT-10 and see if you think high positive castor is unresponsive.
I own both a '69 C3 with modern rubber (Eagle F1s 245/45ZR17s) and an '04 SRT-10 convertible and have driven a few C6s - the Viper is the sharpest steering of them all.
BTW, the Viper is STILL the only choice for a new sub $100,000 500 HP convertible - I wasn't even able to consider a Corvette given my personal preferences.
My '69 modified small block is within 90 RWHP of the Viper, although the Viper has a much broader powerband and drinks (the Viper) about half the fuel......
