Toe and caster

On another board a guy with an altered was complaining about a violent front end shake during shut down. He said he had 1/2 inch of toe and 15*(!) of caster. He said it was hard steering. The toe is obvious but how much caster should he really have.

I ask mainly cuz I just curious but am also considering an altered myself. Is a front engine car always real hard to steer. I realize Im spoiled in my RED.

 

1/2" toe How often does he change his front tires? Toe on a rear wheel drive car should be about 1/16" in. Caster for a car with a wheelbase around 125" should be in the region of 10-12*.

I wonder how much his alignment is slowing him down...

Paul.

 

Yeah, I bout dropped my teeth when I saw that 1/2 inch toe. That surely didnt help the handling either. Im surprised that the caster would be that high. I thought more like 5-10 at the most.

 

Yeah but if he leaves with the wheels up, think how cool the puff of smoke from the front tires looks when they touch down The extra caster helps the car go straight although 15 sounds like a lot as THJTS said 10-12 is more the norm.

 

Sounds like he could plow snow with that much toe in it.

 

I dont run an altered, but I've run a straight axle under my nostalgia door car for years. It likes alot of caster, around 12* and we run very little toe in probably 1/16th. Ive had the shutdown shakes before, it usually doesnt do it until about 25 mph. I also had problems with it shaking when the front end came down after a good wheel stand.

I put a heavy duty steering dampener on it, I think it was for a motorhome or something, havent had a problem with the front end since.

 

you only need an 1/8" toe in and if the front end is still shaking you probley dont have enough air in the front tires i have had those shakes after the burnout and in the shutdown area with 50lbs in the front tires it wont shake but with 35lbs-40lbs it will shake the wheel almost out of yourt hands so i put 60lbs in my front tires havent had the problem since i would not have guessed that but after i made a post about it jackie stidham clued me in