71roadster

I am installing tubular A arms amongst other things and am wondering about the caster settings. I saw in the vette brakes catalog that a caster of about 2.5 degrees is rec'd for stock A-arms on the c3 and all the other cars have caster of 4.5 degress. Why isn't 4.5 degress rec'd for the stock c3? It would really help the steering stay on center. Will the stock A-arms not adjust that much (cant think of a reason why not)? How much will the tubular A-arms adjust?

For those that are running tubular A-arms, what are your caster settings?

Thanks
Chris

terryrudy

Chris, when you take it to Custom Alignment you may want to ask them as well. I brought in my Vette Brakes suggested alignment settings and they looked at them and said "Yeah, thisi s pretty much what we start with and we go from there and do this and this and this..." and immediately I was lost. So I think they will give you good advice as well.
-terry

zwede

It's difficult to get 4.5 dgr with stock A-Arms. You would end up with a bunch of shims on one side and none on the other. The shims can also fall out with that much difference, as the shaft is not parallell to the shims anymore.

My alignment is +4.2 dgr caster, -0.3 camber and 1/8 toe-in. Rear is -0.5 camber and 1/8 toe in. Seems to work well.

71roadster

Thanks you guys

So Markus, do you have the offset cross-shafts? The ones that are on my tubular a-arms have no offset that I can detect. If you have the offset cross-shafts I would imagine that they have a lot of material on the rear part of the shaft that seats against the frame (to eliminate the need for a bunch of spacers) while the front has no extra material. Is that about right?

Thanks
Chris

PROSOUTH

Some good questions have been asked and answers given. I have to deal with this soon myself.

I also would like to know if the extended upper ball joint will reflect on these settings?

I am planning on using the tall ball joints as was discussed earlier on the Forum. This allows the Vette to have a taller spindle. JIM

gkull

The max you can run stock and have it hold the shims is just under 4 degrees. Mine are set to 3.93. Offset A-Arms can do @5 degrees. I also use Zero toe and -.55 camber.

zwede

Chris, I have tubular A-arms with offset X-shafts. But the offset is the same front and back, there is no extra material on one end. The extra caster is possible because the tubular a-arm relocates the balljoint further to the back.

/Markus