How much castor do you run?

I have an awesome alignment guy locally who really knows his stuff. I had him make sure my car was squared up. This is my first bug chassis, but It feels like a yard kart( non racing go kart) in that it feels like it has 0 castor. It's stabile at speed, I'm just used to feeling more castor. He said it was maxed out. Any thoughts as to why it "doesn't center itself"? Example, you put a tic of steering in at 60 mph, it will hold that arc. Any other car with castor will center the wheel, and go from turning to straight again. Is this normal?

Does front beam have adjusters in center to lower front or are you using "dropped" spindles? Are you using caster shims (1 or 2 each side)?

i used two each side, great stability at high speed, but hard to turn when parking. bill

Guys, with a big Banjo wheel, or even with the small Dino wheel, it's super easy to turn. I'd be willing to bet there is 1-2 degrees of castor, period. Again, it's not unstable, but it's not self centering. It doesn't have drop spindles that I am aware of. I'll look into castor shims.

When and if you purchase castor shims, remember, they are installed between the lower axle tube and the frame. It's important that you also buy the longer bolts to secure the front beam to the frame properly.

How do the shims go in with a ball joint style spindle?

It is not related to the spindle. However there are different shims for ball joint and king pin beams because the tubes are different diameters.

The shims go behind the lower tube where the beam bolts to the frame head on the pan.

Some people say you don't need longer bolts if you are installing only one shim.

My recommendation is to install (2) caster shims on each side w/ the longer bolts. World of difference in the handling.

Keith:

Shims come in at least two thicknesses to give you 1.5 degree and about 2.5 degree more caster.

Check the spec for a 1970 VW sedan and add whatever you need between the lower torsion tube and the beam to get to 2-4 degrees MORE (positive caster) than stock. If you're "max'd out" per the stock spec, then you don't have enough.

Is there a better place to find these shims, I'm boycotting CIP1, they screwed me bad on their return policy ... I was 1 day late returning an item after spending $400 with them... Anyway, who has the thick shims?? My alignment guy went b k and looked in the computer, I have 2.5*... I'm looking for 6-7* honestly. I am perfectly happy with more steering effort, at the cost of stability. On my race cars, we run 10* at fast and bumpy tracks. At Daytona we run 5-6*. I hear straight line performance makes really nice thick shims, but I can't seem to find them on Google.

Hahah, I just realized I misspelled caster, not Castor oil...

UPDATE: Gene Berg had what I needed... Excellent people to deal with so far.

Search CASTER on the SAMBA. Several listed.
http://www.thesamba.com

Keith:

Don't forget -these cars are really light in front, so anything more than +4* won't make it more stable, just heavier at low speeds.

I ordered Gene's 2.5* kit. That will put me at 5-5.5* . That's nothing.... I have a big banjo..... The steering should be light.

Perfect!! Make sure you get at least (Class 5 bolts)..

or (Class 8) if you can find them are best.. they have 12 notches in the hex head that denote the higher grade.

I'm not sure Class 5 and Class 8 apply to metric bolts.

Bolt grades, SAE and Metric

http://www.k-tbolt.com/bolt_chart.html

UPDATE... I put 2 shims that are about 3/8" thick combined.... I bought bolts that are plenty long and are 8.8, which if my memory is correct, i think that translates to a grade 5 bolt, a little under 97,000, vs 130,000 for grade 8??? Anyway, it didn't make it much harder to steer at all, barely noticeable, but man.... it is way more responsive on rough roads. Way more stabile... Thats the way to go here.... Thanks guys....

I know just how you feel. I couldn't keep my car going straight at any appreciable speed. Installing the shims was one of the first things I did years ago. It amazed me the difference those little strips of metal made!

~WB

I just ran the gauge on it and I am at 7 degrees on one side and 7.5 on the other. it feels really good. Its not darty on pothole patched and wagon tracked country roads... Very slick... Thanks all.

Sounds like you need a Toyota Land Cruiser instead of a Speedster.