How does caster affect camber

Please turn it on so that you can experience the full capabilities of this site. You want to be able to go around a corner without spilling your latte or energy drink, and you certainly want to be able to drive in a straight line without fighting your way through every mile. Here's how camber, caster, and toe help you get the most from your tires and fuel economy, and improve your safety and handling. The inward and outward tilt of the tire and wheel assembly viewed from the front of the vehicle is called camber.

When the top of the tire is leaning inward, it is a negative camber. Positive camber has the top of the tire tilting outward. When the camber is at the correct angle, the tire and wheel will roll straight. Positive and negative caster mainly apply to race cars, and unless your vehicle is lifted or customized in some way that calls for an adjustment, street cars usually run on factory determined settings.

The amount of toe, whether it's toe-in or toe-out, is expressed as the difference between the track widths as they are measured at the leading and trailing edges of the tires. Toe is expressed in degrees or fractions of an inch, and while your wheels should be pointed directly ahead as you are traveling straight forward, there are some benefits to toeing depending on the type of vehicle that you drive.

The purpose of toe is to ensure that all four wheels roll parallel to one another. However, race cars use toe-out to promote enhanced turning ability. Street cars, or basic passenger cars, use toe-in because there is no need to corner quickly. Toe-in also provides increased stability because it discourages turning. If your vehicle has the proper amount of toe you should experience ideal straight line stability, corner entry, and very little tire wear. Toggle navigation. What is Camber?

Positive Camber - When your wheels are tilted outward, the vehicle has improved stability. Another way to get positive caster is when the two mounting points are on the same vertical line as each other but are both infront of the centre line of the wheel.

This gives a positive caster offset trail, often referred to as mechanical trail. Neutral caster is when the upright mounting points are on the same vertical plane as each other as well as being on the same vertical plane as the centre line of the hub and wheel. Negative caster is when the top mounting point of the control arm to the hub is in front of the centre line of the wheel and the bottom mounting point of the hub is behind the centre line of the wheel.

Another way to obtain negative caster is for both mounting points to be on the same vertical line as each other but behind the centre line of the wheel. Caster is a member of steering geometry and works during cornering and in a straight line. Positive caster is the most used type of caster in the automotive industry due to its many benefits.

There are 3 types of caster. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. Negative caster gives no feedback to the driver in terms of wheel position. It is also the type of caster that is used on a shopping trolley and is the reason why wheels can wobble and turn with ease.

A further disadvantage of negative caster is that it will increase under braking conditions making the steering more unstable due to the car pitching forward. This can however be solved with anti-dive steering geometry. The only notable advantage to having negative caster is that the steering input effort required is very low making the steering very easy to turn.

One advantage of using zero caster is that it retains the slight reduction in kingpin torque before reaching the limit of adhesion, which is useful for a driver to know when the limit is near. Also, zero caster provides easy steering input without the extreme unstability of using negative caster.