Caster
Caster
is one of the three main factors involved in wheel alignment
(and the hardest to explain), the others being camber and toe. Caster applies only to the front (steering) wheels of
a car. It is the angle by which the steering pivot axis leans
forwards or backwards away from the vertical when viewed from
the side. A backward-leaning pivot axis corresponds positive
caster, a forward-leaning means negative caster. An example
of high positive caster is provided by the front forks of
a chopper bike, which result in the road patch made by the
tire being far ahead of the support for the wheel. No car
has negative caster; neither do cars have positive casters
as great as those of a chopper bike. A camber that is out
of adjustment will not affect tire wear but may have an effect
on the vehicle’s steering behavior.
Positive caster is what tries to straighten the wheels of a car when coming out of a turn, which is obviously a good thing. But if the caster is too positive the steering will feel heavy and the steering wheel may kick when the vehicle hits a bump. If the caster is not as a positive as it should be then the steering will be the light and the vehicle will have a tendency to drift from a straight line. If the caster of the wheels differs from side to side, then the vehicle will tend to pull to the side on which the caster is less positive.
One of the tools which can be used to correct camber is a
caster-camber bubble gauge.
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