Staying on track 2

When we talk about things related to the steering system, things that come to mind usually include ball joints, tie-rod ends, pitman arm, idler arm, center link, rack ends, steering box, power-steering pump and so on and so forth. When we are at an alignment shop, we see the mechanics mount gadgets on the wheels that start reading out measurements like toe-in, camber and caster. You see them fiddle underneath the car and after a few minutes the say, “done.” But when you look at the car, you don’t see anything changed. Hmmm.

Think of it this way... Look at the wheels of a shopping cart. Basically they are called caster wheels. If you notice they keep the shopping cart straight, unless you push the rear of the shopping cart to the left or right. If you mount the front caster wheels at slight angle just a few degrees, lets say backwards, you will notice that it will be easier to turn the front wheels to any direction and will even return to the center, on its own. This is your caster setting.