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[chrisgixer]

A quick question for you knowledgeable people:

Would the process of changing the front dampers affect the caster angle?

No. Not beyond manufacturing tolerances, which will be minuscule as far as caster angle goes.

Only way is too move the subframe.

[chrisgixer]

A quick question for you knowledgeable people:

Would the process of changing the front dampers affect the caster angle?

No. Not beyond manufacturing tolerances, which will be minuscule as far as caster angle goes.

Only way is too move the subframe.

[RacingSnake]

Thanks for your reply Chris. That's interesting. I've just found the printout of a wheel alignment check I had done (at my local tyre place, not the one I used that listed on the WIM website) before I changed the front suspension and anti-roll bars. It gave the front caster as approx 5° both sides.

Seems very strange then that one side changed by 7° after fitting new suspension. I'm now wondering whether the guy set the equipment up incorrectly, and that in fact my caster is actually perfectly all right.

I need to go back in a couple of weeks for a free re-check anyway so I'll see what it comes in at then.

[chrisgixer]

The key is the position of the wishbone ball joint to hub, this effectively moves the wheel for and aft as well. Moving this forward or back, via the subframe, sets the caster.

This assumes that the bushes are structurally sound, and capable of holding the desired position. Or as a Kev said, something isn't bent.

That is a prety huge error. Does the wheel look central in the wheel arch for and aft? Or another way, as the bumper could be loose, is it the same distance from rearward side of the wheel arch to the tyre on both sides...? A simple 3 finger test should show an error that big.
If bushes are sound and the gap from tyre to wheel arch is the same both sides, you might be right and they just cocked it up.

[RacingSnake]

Just to give an outcome to this wheel geometry problem, I went back to the tyre place after a month of fitting my suspension components to let them settle.  A different guy performed the wheel geometry check this time, and immediately the numbers looked more sensible.  Both front caster was approx 5° both sides before any adjustments. The tracking needed a tweak, but nothing else needed changing.

Therefore it does seem that the 7deg difference side to side was down to operator error. I wish I had been a bit more on the ball when the alignment was set first time. But I needed to go back again once the suspension had settled, and hindsight is a wonderful thing.

If anyone else has spurious results on a wheel alignment check, I'd definitely recommend getting a second opinion, or getting the garage to double check.