[DeTomaso] Any experience with Marino's offset control arm bushings to increase caster?
jderyke at aol.com
jderyke at aol.com
Wed Apr 2 15:53:19 EDT 2014
With all the upper ball-joint shims on one side PLUS offset upper a-arm bushings, the total negative caster will be around -4.6 or so degrees. If you need more than that, also installing offset LOWER a-arm bushings (offset the other way) adds another couple of negative degrees. Having a machine shop mill about 0.080"-or-so off one side of the upper ball joint carrier can add yet another degree (you'll then need a new 0.080" thick shim). Once the bushings are in place, you can fine-tune the caster setting by moving upper ball-joint shims around. But remember- as caster goes up (negative), steering effort also goes up. Corvettes and other high-speed sports cars run a maximum of -7 degrees caster, but they also use power steering to lessen the resulting steering wheel load.
Judy and I find that - 4.5 degrees is an excellent compromise in our '72L with 245-50 front tires over the maximum stock setting of about -2.6 degrees. And after everything is done, the front wheels will definitely need to be re-aligned. While this is going on, check front brake hose routing so no tire rubbing occurs, and that large tires do not contact the right side wiper shield at full-lock. I've had offset upper bushings in place so long on our car, I can't remember how it steered before.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Green <kenn_green at yahoo.com>
To: cengles <cengles at cox.net>
Cc: detomaso <detomaso at poca.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 2, 2014 12:30 pm
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Any experience with Marino's offset control arm bushings to increase caster?
Chuck,
Marino said they only provide maybe one additional degree of
caster. Did you do something more than just make one end thinner?
Seems like you can only get maybe 1/8 inch (1/4 inch total) of
shifting? I'm not sure what the separation between ball joints is, but
that looks like less than 2 degrees of added caster?
Ken
From: "cengles at cox.net" <cengles at cox.net>
To: kenn_green at yahoo.com
Cc: detomaso at poca.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 11:33 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Any experience with Marino's offset control arm
bushings to increase caster?
Dear Ken,
1) no experience with Marino's offset bushings
2) The offset homemade bushings I have provide 5 degrees
of
positive caster with major improvement in handling and high speed
stability. Highly recommended
3) Marino is a good guy and a reliable, reputable vendor
in my opinion.
Go buy'em, Chuck Engles
On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 1:12 PM, Ken Green wrote:
> Can anyone comment of the benefitA and durability ofA Marino's
offset
front control armA bushings?A
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ken
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
>
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-------------- next part --------------
With all the upper ball-joint shims on one side PLUS offset upper a-arm
bushings, the total negative caster will be around -4.6 or so degrees.
If you need more than that, also installing offset LOWER a-arm bushings
(offset the other way) adds another couple of negative degrees. Having
a machine shop mill about 0.080"-or-so off one side of the upper ball
joint carrier can add yet another degree (you'll then need a new 0.080"
thick shim). Once the bushings are in place, you can fine-tune the
caster setting by moving upper ball-joint shims around. But remember-
as caster goes up (negative), steering effort also goes up. Corvettes
and other high-speed sports cars run a maximum of -7 degrees caster,
but they also use power steering to lessen the resulting steering wheel
load.
Judy and I find that - 4.5 degrees is an excellent compromise in our
'72L with 245-50 front tires over the maximum stock setting of about
-2.6 degrees. And after everything is done, the front wheels will
definitely need to be re-aligned. While this is going on, check front
brake hose routing so no tire rubbing occurs, and that large tires do
not contact the right side wiper shield at full-lock. I've had offset
upper bushings in place so long on our car, I can't remember how it
steered before.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Green <kenn_green at yahoo.com>
To: cengles <cengles at cox.net>
Cc: detomaso <detomaso at poca.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 2, 2014 12:30 pm
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Any experience with Marino's offset control arm
bushings to increase caster?
Chuck,
Marino said they only provide maybe one additional degree of
caster. Did you do something more than just make one end thinner?
Seems like you can only get maybe 1/8 inch (1/4 inch total) of
shifting? I'm not sure what the separation between ball joints is, but
that looks like less than 2 degrees of added caster?
Ken
From: "[1]cengles at cox.net" <[2]cengles at cox.net>
To: [3]kenn_green at yahoo.com
Cc: [4]detomaso at poca.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 11:33 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Any experience with Marino's offset control arm
bushings to increase caster?
Dear Ken,
1) no experience with Marino's offset bushings
2) The offset homemade bushings I have provide 5 degrees
of
positive caster with major improvement in handling and high speed
stability. Highly recommended
3) Marino is a good guy and a reliable, reputable vendor
in my opinion.
Go buy'em, Chuck Engles
On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 1:12 PM, Ken Green wrote:
> Can anyone comment of the benefitA and durability ofA Marino's
offset
front control armA bushings?A
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ken
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
>
> DeTomaso mailing list
> [1][5]DeTomaso at poca.com
> [2][6]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
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