caster and rake

[tfor2]

Hi Guys.I have read somewhere that you should take into account the rake of your chassis when setting your caster.Does anybody know if that is indeed true or not.My chassis has a rake of 6 degrees so I would like to know before I set it.

 

[Spanky]

It might have a slight effect on your settings, but the only way to come to the optimum setting is through trial and error. I wound up with 8 degrees on my T-bucket after several tries, and it seems to be good.

 

[choppedtop]

Mine is setup at 7 degrees.

 

[tfor2]

Thanks for your reply.I am running 7 degrees at the moment but the steering is quite heavy and will not self centre.My T is running a reverse corvair steering box but from what I have read on here it may be that I do not have the steering centered properly.Would that have a detrimental effect?

 

[LongJohn]

If your tie rod is in front like a lot of them are all normal steering characteristics are out the window.

 

[Neshkoro]

In my mind the rake and caster two independent things. The rake is the angle of the body or the chassis to a horizontal surface. The caster is the angle of the kingpin to a horizontal surface. The only connection to each other is if you change the rake you’ll change the kingpin angle. Once you decide the rake of the car/chassis then you can then adjust kingpin angle.
Let’s see if we agree! In