xj_maniac_newb

Alright heres a question for you at-home-alignment guru's. Is there a point at which caster affects camber? I've been fighting with aligning this thing for weeks and have finally eliminated some things. The toe-in is finally set correctly (did it myself), being at about 1/16" in. The caster is still set from the alignment i got, and the numbers are 3 degrees on the left and 3.2 degrees on the right. The jeep steers fine but does pull to the right some, especially when braking.

Now my caster may not be perfect, but it is within specs from my understanding. However, the slight pulling to the right isnt my concern at the moment. My REAL concern is what appears to be excessive negative camber on the passenger side tire. I've noticed excessive wear on the inside of the passenger front tire. I've also noticed that i can feel the vibration from this negative camber driving down the road over 45 mph, however should i go into a turn to the left the vibrations disappear. This tire wear didnt exist when my caster was set to around 0, and only appeared after having the jeep aligned for a second time and the caster being set to around 3.

My wheel bearings are good, and my ball joints seem to be fine as well, which leads me to believe something else must be causing this.
So my question is, can caster angle affect camber this much? My plan is to try setting the caster to about 5 and reset the toe to see if that helps it any.

Lowrange2

Technically, the MORE caster you add the more camber you'll notice but you'd only notice if the toe was way out of whack.

I couldn't imagine driving an XJ at a 0* caster angle. It'd be all over the road.

My caster is set at 6-7*, toe at ~1/8" and camber looks fine.

Since you're only noticing it on one side I'd lean towards something being bent or worn out.

xj_maniac_newb

Oh it was real fun to drive with the caster set at 0* (it was actually around -1* or so if i remember correctly). Thing was scary as all get out at any speed.

See the thing is, after i set the toe yesterday the jeep drives and steers fine besides the slight pulling to the right, and its barely noticeable unless i'm braking hard. The only way i've actually noticed the camber is the vibration from the tire, and the wearing of the tire itself. Other than that the jeep drives fine.

t_gray12

Sorry to interject here. Hey lowrange what size lift you running? I'm at about 5.5 inch and have no idea what caster I need

jeepindude99

What size lift are you running??

xj_maniac_newb

For anybody wandering.. No it was not my caster angle that was causing my excessive camber. It was a very worn very silent wheel bearing.

Bustedback

Caster and camber are two different angles, adjusting one won't change the other on a solid axle vehicle in most cases.

freegdr

Covered your self ....In most cases...

freegdr

Chart in here should give pretty good Idea where you should be....http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoAlignment.htm

Bustedback

It's all about CYA. I don't want to give wrong, or bad information. The only way the caster would change with the camber on an XJ would be with an off set upper ball joint, but those did not come from the factory.

freegdr

Actually we have a camber offset from the factory it is more visual with bigger tires.

Bustedback

It's built into the C, not the ball joint though, and it's not adjustable unless you use an offset ball joint. Some solid axle front ends use an eccentric bushing that the upper ball joint stud goes through. The Ford twin I beam that is used on the pre 94 Ranger and Exploders use a bushing on the upper ball joint to adjust caster and camber.