Hi, I purchased some Castor Shims as my 1974 Bay has been lowered approximately 2". The steering does not self centre and it is a little skittish on the motorway. I have replaced all the steering linkages and had the tracking set, so this only leads me to know the Castor Angle must need adjusting. I have these two crescent moon shims, but for the life of me I cannot figure out where I am supposed to place them on the lower front beam? I have search the internet and found some pictured but they relate to the king pin setup, whilst I have the ball joint setup. Please can someone help?
It shouldn't be a problem. Lowered vans still self centre. Check your ball joints (new?) are correctly fitted and not stupidly stiff.
That’s why you can’t fit caster shims – you adjust the caster with the caster nut on the upper ball joint.
Camber nut? Maybe someone adjusted camber so the mark is towards the rear and inadvertantly upset the caster?
Thanks have not replaced the ball joints as they were done by the previous owner, although i will check them out tommorow for wear. The tracking was done recently and set to 0 degrees. Camber has not been done. I have struggled to find a tyre company in south east london that will do a full geometry alignment. I forgot to mention i have fitted electric power steering to the bus, but have it set quite firm. Thank you again.
Some of the modern Kwik fit ones do have all singing / dancing laser alignment , there`s at least 3 close to me ... Finding someone who actually know how to adjust the settings to what you need is half the problem to be honest . I had mine done where i live in W.London but recently had a few days in Leeds so visited the tyre place i used when i lived up there . The tracking was ALMOST there but no cigar . Some minor tweaking and normal service was resumed ... Tyres and exhausts Morley Ltd if anyones needing tyres or tracking around South Leeds - ask for Mike
Tracking isn`t a black art, you can check and set with two bits of string, and you`ll be just about as good as the super fandango jobbies that won`t work on your bus anyhow. Set your camber to max and you will be close enough as you won`t get it exact with a lowered bus. Also do you know how it was lowered ? The T2D type dropped spindles with the reversed balls joints also need a little work on the trackrod ends too and if that aint right the bus can be real skittish and wear the inside edges on the front tyres in less than a thousand miles and be a real horror to drive. Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Ask me how I know
However....the caster schims are for a Bug, not a Bus. They are supposed to fit between the lower torsion tube and the frame head. P.
Most don’t power centre but a Bay has plenty of caster angle so if it self-centred before fitting PAS, and it should, it will self-centre after.
Agree to a certain extent BUT transformed the handling when i got it done the first time . The second time was after some clown masquerading as a VW garage down here in `THAT LONDON` screwed up the geometry simply fitting new ball joint dust covers and assured me he`d checked the geomtry `in the usual way` . 500 miles later it`s scrubbing the tyres ....... aholes . Got it laser redone by my fellow Yorkshiremen on a visit `home` - transformation was Immediate
I'm guessing he didn't check at all. If you have a bit of a pull to one side firstly check tyres and pressures, then a couple of bits of string. It'll take you an hour or so the first time then ten to fifteen minutes after that, just to check. The laser is just taking the place of the strings. Looks real good too. Ozziedog,,,,,,,,
