HP D44 Caster/camber angle questions

[DaveB]

My son and I are getting ready to weld on the inner C's on his narrowed HP D44 front axle and have some alignment angle questions. I have the Cs set up now with the stock 7-8 degrees of caster but after doing a bunch of searching I have found that some suggest 5-6 degrees for bigger tires. My son will be running 33-35 so what would be the best angle ?

I am also trying to find the best way to measure the caster. From my reading I have found several ways to do it: The top flat part of the C, the bottom flat part, or a rod through the ball joint holes. I have tried all three and each way gives me a slightly different angle. I presume the rod through the holes is the most accurate but I wonder why they differ.

Also the camber angle that I am measuring from the spindle mounting surface of the steering knuckle is coming out at 89.5 degrees rather than 90 degrees, is that a concern ?

I want to make sure the measurements are on before welding the Cs back on.

 

[kkemp]

I just did this on the Dana 30 on my YJ. I set the caster for 7 degrees. I'm currently running 32's. The caster feels really good. I measured mine using the top flat part. I used a straight edge, a tape measure and a calculator to measure the angle. UNSTUCK measured it with his digital angle finder and found them to be within .02 degrees of each other. However, from what I've been reading, I don't think it's critical that they match. If anything the passenger side can be a little more. The FSM for my 93 YJ says 6.5 for the driver side and 8.0 for the pass. side. According to UNSTUCK, all the specs he's seen, they are always the same. So, I don't know what to say. Mine feels really good however it does drift to the right. Only because the road is slanted that way. I haven't checked everything else yet, so it could be pulling for another reason. Tire pressure maybe?

Hope that helps.

 

[astjp2]

Its not rocket science, just get your pinion angle set with the housing on jackstands and then set an angle finder on the bottom of the C, the caster angle is set depending on what kind of vehicle you are running. My auto YJ needs 8-11 degrees, the manual for the same year is 6-9 degrees. The scout had 0 degrees and the CJ I have runs around 3-6. I personally would rund around 7-9 degrees for any size tire. Tim

 

[Gravy]

I think consensus on NAXJA is 5-6* for XJ's and 33-37" tires.
that's what I run and it's fine

 

[UNSTUCK]

I just did this on the Dana 30 on my YJ. I set the caster for 7 degrees. I'm currently running 32's. The caster feels really good. I measured mine using the top flat part. I used a straight edge, a tape measure and a calculator to measure the angle. UNSTUCK measured it with his digital angle finder and found them to be within .02 degrees of each other. However, from what I've been reading, I don't think it's critical that they match. If anything the passenger side can be a little more. The FSM for my 93 YJ says 6.5 for the driver side and 8.0 for the pass. side. According to UNSTUCK, all the specs he's seen, they are always the same. So, I don't know what to say. Mine feels really good however it does drift to the right. Only because the road is slanted that way. I haven't checked everything else yet, so it could be pulling for another reason. Tire pressure maybe?

Hope that helps.

It was .2*. I don't think any angle finder is that accurate. Like others have said, this isn't rocket science. Set your angles and burn them in.

 

[DaveB]

I found that the following things helped make better angle measurements: clean off the rust and any imperfections from the surfaces and make sure the digital angle finder is not at a compound angle. I did end up getting the rod through the knuckles to match the lower flat measurement and set the angle at 6 degrees. I hope I did it right cause its all stuck back on now. I also found that heating the C's up in the oven makes it much easier to get them on. The wife however didn't appreciate me doing that in her new oven.

 

[jdub]

You'll just need to make cookies for her and hope they don't taste like metal.