1937 120 Caster

Posted by TxGoat On 2024/2/20 20:43:53

I suspected that my car had too little caster based on its road behavior. Today, I cut a large plain washer in half and loosened the radius rod rod nuts enough to allow inserting a washer half on the bottom of each radius rod attachment to the lower control arm that the spring rests on. While this is not a satisfactory method, it did allow me to add caster and then road test the car. The improvement in handling was immediately evident. The car tracks much better with almost no wander on uneven pavement surfaces, and the ride is a little better, with a generally solider, more stable feel. The car goes around curves on gravel roads with much better stability and traction and less noise from the tires, and it's more stable and linear on paved curves and corners. Steering effort is about the same. I need to locate some proper caster shims to do a permanent job. The washers opened a gap at the lower side on the radius rod to control arm joint of about 3/32". The car had no caster shims at all.