"It really amazes me how you guys can jump on an idea like this and
possibly
come to the wrong conclusion. Arch you lowered your coaches back end and
said drove better and when you raised it, it drove "squirrely". You came =
to
this conclusion without ever knowing if the castor and camber of the fron=
t
was set correctly or not, and whether the ride height was set correctly.
YOU
can conclude what you did ONLY is everything in the suspension was set
correctly to begin with."
While I would agree that perfect alignment before testing would be
best, the test is still valid.
In effect when Arch lowered the back of the coach he increased the
amount of caster. While the test was conducted in advance of
completion of the alignment the same test can be conducted
by anyone who believes their coach is properly aligned.
Caster can be accidentally adjusted through bad ride height.
Intentially adjusting ride height with the air to test changes
in caster is valid.
When I discussed caster with Jim Bounds he advised that more caster
is good. Helps to keep the coach going straight. I believe the number
was "even as much as 5 degrees".
When my alignment was done I could only get 1 1/2 degrees of caster
on the one side and 2 degrees on the other. Personally I would like to
get more.
I don't think anyone will get much more than the 2 degrees unless
camber is wrong or the offset bushings are used.
The only down side to lots of caster is that it makes it more difficult t=
o
initiate a turn.
Turning is no problem. I have power steering and don't run my coach
on a slalom coarse.
Wind and ruts, going straight and getting the suspension correctly
adjusted given the lack of dedicated caster adjustment is the issue.
Hopefully this provides some insight as to the intent of the test.
Regards
Gary Zingle
1973 GMC 26 foot
possibly
come to the wrong conclusion. Arch you lowered your coaches back end and
said drove better and when you raised it, it drove "squirrely". You came =
to
this conclusion without ever knowing if the castor and camber of the fron=
t
was set correctly or not, and whether the ride height was set correctly.
YOU
can conclude what you did ONLY is everything in the suspension was set
correctly to begin with."
While I would agree that perfect alignment before testing would be
best, the test is still valid.
In effect when Arch lowered the back of the coach he increased the
amount of caster. While the test was conducted in advance of
completion of the alignment the same test can be conducted
by anyone who believes their coach is properly aligned.
Caster can be accidentally adjusted through bad ride height.
Intentially adjusting ride height with the air to test changes
in caster is valid.
When I discussed caster with Jim Bounds he advised that more caster
is good. Helps to keep the coach going straight. I believe the number
was "even as much as 5 degrees".
When my alignment was done I could only get 1 1/2 degrees of caster
on the one side and 2 degrees on the other. Personally I would like to
get more.
I don't think anyone will get much more than the 2 degrees unless
camber is wrong or the offset bushings are used.
The only down side to lots of caster is that it makes it more difficult t=
o
initiate a turn.
Turning is no problem. I have power steering and don't run my coach
on a slalom coarse.
Wind and ruts, going straight and getting the suspension correctly
adjusted given the lack of dedicated caster adjustment is the issue.
Hopefully this provides some insight as to the intent of the test.
Regards
Gary Zingle
1973 GMC 26 foot
