Hi everyone,

 

After putting my larger wheels on (18") the wheel alignment shop said that its caster was out on the front. They said perhaps it has had a shunt or crash! .. which it has definitely not.

 

Could bigger wheels affect the caster?

 

Also to correct the caster do I need to get some adjustable tension rods?

 

The issue is that the car pulls to the left at the moment

 

Kind regards, William.

Short answer is Yes, bigger wheels can affect the geometry of the car. Iirc, you can slightly adjust the rear but you can't adjust the front. I'm sure that one of our experts will be able to explsin it better than me though.

Caster angle is the self centering effect of the wheels and is the least likely of all suspension settings to cause pulling

 

Camber has the biggest effect followed by track, especially incorrect rear toe is set off centre

 

Ideally front camber should have a slightly more neg camber on the n/s than the o/s to negate pulling to the left. All cars will naturally try to drift to the left slightly due to road camber and this will help reduce this

 

To adjust front caster you will need adjustable tension rods, to adjust front camber you need adjustable upper arms or a shim kit

 

Rear toe & camber has adjustment as standard

 

HTH

Thanks guys much appreciated clearing this up! The guy in the shop working the hunter machine said that the caster will have the most affect on pulling to the left :s ... But from your experience I trust what you are saying Paul. I have some adjustable camper arms ready to fit as the driver side as slightly too much camber (a degree or two more than the near side) so I imagine this will be affecting the pulling to the left so I will do as you suggested and set the OS camber a degree or so more than the near side and hopefully this will help everything along!

 

Best regards, William.

Caster angle is the self centering effect of the wheels and is the least likely of all suspension settings to cause pulling

 

Camber has the biggest effect followed by track, especially incorrect rear toe is set off centre

 

Ideally front camber should have a slightly more neg camber on the n/s than the o/s to negate pulling to the left. All cars will naturally try to drift to the left slightly due to road camber and this will help reduce this

 

To adjust front caster you will need adjustable tension rods, to adjust front camber you need adjustable upper arms or a shim kit

 

Rear toe & camber has adjustment as standard

 

HTH

 

Yeah, that's what I meant..:whistling:

Thanks guys much appreciated clearing this up! The guy in the shop working the hunter machine said that the caster will have the most affect on pulling to the left :s ... But from your experience I trust what you are saying Paul. I have some adjustable camper arms ready to fit as the driver side as slightly too much camber (a degree or two more than the near side) so I imagine this will be affecting the pulling to the left so I will do as you suggested and set the OS camber a degree or so more than the near side and hopefully this will help everything along!

 

Best regards, William.

 

If you have a degree or two more neg camber on the drivers side then this will deffo be the cause, that's a massive amount lol!

 

I would suggest no more than around 20' (mins) of more neg camber on the left, maybe even less to start with if poss.

 

I set my car up fairly even and it drove spot on! Some cars do react differently and it can be a touch trial and error, maybe just try 10' more to start with and go from there, if you have as you say a degree or more on the drivers side then this will "push" the front of the car to the left