Highway Driving

It appears my post messed up. Here's another try.

Analiese: I HIGHLY recommend having front end CASTER SHIMS added to your car. They make a world of difference in how skittish it feels. I think Kirk puts in one set (mine had 1 set when delivered) to begin with. I added another set with good results (MAJOR improvement) and then I added a 3rd set and was definitely pleased with the results. Also check tire pressures (I think whats been recommended here is appx.20# Front and 22# Rear) too much is not good.

If the car is skittish, the first thing you should check is tire pressure. Too much will definitely make the car bounce around.

22-24 psi in the front, 24-28 in the rear makes a big difference.

what are caster shims?

Analiese:

Greatly simplified, wheel alignment is basically three measurements: toe, camber, and caster.

"Toe" means the wheels alignment relative to a straight-line. If the wheels splay outward, that is "toe out". If they are pidgin-toed, they are "toe in". There is a measurement for this- how much either way.

"Camber" means the difference in the wheel top and bottom from perpendicular. If you were to drop a straight line down and measure the distance from the line to the top and the bottom of the wheel, you'd likely see that the bottom was out further. The amount (in degrees) would be "negative camber".

"Caster" is a bit more difficult to explain unless you have a pretty good idea how the front end of your car is put together, but greatly simplified, caster is the tilt of the steering axis, as view from the side. Positive caster effects the tendency for a wheel to continue to track in a straight line and creates a bit of reluctance to turning. Most speedsters need a shim (or 2, or 3) to give them more caster, which allows them to track with less "dartieness".

An alignment shop is going to have no idea how to do this, unless they have VW experience. You'll likely need to get some caster shims for yourself and take them with you if you find a shop that knows how to do it.

Good luck. forewarned is forearmed.

Analiese:

If your speedster doesn't wander much at highway speeds you don't need caster shims.

Caster shims are half circular wedges that go behind the bottom beam, tilting it forward. This restores the caster that is lost when the VW front suspension is lowered, or doesn't have enough caster to start with for stability at higher speeds. VW gave beetles just enough caster for legal highway speeds; more just makes low speed steering harder, something they didn't want for the 100 lb ladies buying their cars.

Imagine a chopper...now that's a lot of caster angle.

Now picture a little red wagon. No caster. Kids dont need much caster..

The caster on a chopper refers to how the front wheel is slanted far ahead of the body of the motorcycle.   Think of the bikes on 'Easy Rider'.

Kids only need castor oil.

If you're going to talk about caster shims you have to consider front beam braces.

They tie the box tube body frame and the pan to the front beam. Unreal stability and auto-cross cornering.

https://www.speedsterowners.com/clip/2557660011617767

Caster shims: http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDe...uctCode=ACC-C10-4190

Usually--not always--need slightly longer bolts to go with.

that 'shoulda been my line bob..nice one

I'm all about caster. all the subarus' I owned had rear F control arm mounts that would 'push' the front wheels forward to nearly 7 degrees. Awesome to drive with that much caster AND not really hard to steer with power assist. The hot setup i had in my STi was with a JDM 11 to 1 'box and all that caster

my SAS will surely have a crooked # for a caster setting