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-.9 degree Caster correction suggestions

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,343
That's definitely good news! A full 1.8° improvement right there, and you didn't even have to get greasy!

Paul
 
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Bmatt75

New Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2017
Messages
29
Loc.
Lillington, NC
Good news for sure and I’m a dumba$$ for not reading the report correctly! LOL. Thx for clearing that up for me. I have ordered the track bar bracket so we will see how that helps the handling.
I guess the best way to get caster back to spec or better would be to take Lars advice on the cut-n-turn the inner”C”. I’m not sure the pinion angle wouldn’t be thrown way off using other methods.
 

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blubuckaroo

Grease Monkey
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
11,795
Loc.
Ridgefield WA
Caster on these is a guess unless you get it checked.
On our '77, I use 4 degree bushings with a 2" lift and the driveline angle is still ok. Not all are that way.
 

lars

Contributor
Been here awhile
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Jun 29, 2001
Messages
3,038
Loc.
NorCal flatlands
Good news for sure and I’m a dumba$$ for not reading the report correctly! LOL. Thx for clearing that up for me. I have ordered the track bar bracket so we will see how that helps the handling.
I guess the best way to get caster back to spec or better would be to take Lars advice on the cut-n-turn the inner”C”. I’m not sure the pinion angle wouldn’t be thrown way off using other methods.

What I want to know is how you got your Bronco to stick to the ceiling ;)
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,343
Good news for sure and I’m a dumba$$ for not reading the report correctly!

Nah, there was that negative sign just below it, so maybe you were just remembering it wrong as you were typing. Easy to miss.

I have ordered the track bar bracket so we will see how that helps the handling.

Should at least make an improvement. You can still use more caster, but at least the two bars will be more parallel than they are now, which is quite an important factor all by itself.
The desired characteristics for the relationship between the trackbar and draglink are:

1. As parallel as possible.
2. As close to the same length as possible.
3. As close to the same plane as possible.

And don't forget to loosen all the adjuster clamps and rotate the tie rod too.
Then when it's set at the proper angle you can tighten it all up again and not have changed your toe-in by any notable amount.
However, on that score, it's always worth playing with toe-in yourself when you get to driving it regularly. As you get more accustomed to how it feels, you can feel the difference of 1/16" increments. Easy enough to find the sweet spot and no fancy equipment required.
But the readout is great so you know your starting point with everything.

I guess the best way to get caster back to spec or better would be to take Lars advice on the cut-n-turn the inner”C”.

That's actually the only "correct" way to do it. All the other methods we use are compromises. They work, but can't fix it all. And if you have to use them too much, something has to suffer.

I’m not sure the pinion angle wouldn’t be thrown way off using other methods.

Your angle looks very workable at this point, and you might even be able to squeak another 4 degrees in there without binding. But you might not. As I said, it's too hard to tell by just a pic, but from the pic I would say you would be better off staying away from the other methods.
Judging by the fact that the pinion is indeed lower (or higher in the case of your gravity defying pic!;D) than the driveshaft by a notable amount I'd have to conclude that your C-bushings are indeed installed correctly.
You just happen to be one of the few owners of a '76 front end that was extremely caster-challenged from the factory!:(

The trick with the cut-n-turn is, as mentioned, going back to 2° C-bushings and letting the rotation of the steering yokes do all the caster correction.
That way you have a nice low pinion angle and can dial in as much or as little caster as you want.

But let's see how it drives after the changes and go from there.

Paul
 
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