Looking at new lower control arm bush's for the TR (mine are shagged) and I have found some but the passenger side has "increased" castor and drivers side is "standard" castor.

Given that I'm not Einstein when it comes to suspension geometry can someone explain to me if having one side with increased castor is really a bad thing? or what are some benefits/disadvantages?

Castor is the lead angle between the vertical suspension centre comapred to where the centre of the tyre contact patch is.
This is in the longitudinal direction.


Basically more castor is a good thing.
I originally had a KS Touring wagon and had the bushes done several years ago.
Makes the steering a bit heavier - good thing with a 2nd Gen.
Definitely improves the handling.

Have also done it to my AWD, again highly recommended.

Have a look for an explanation on the Whiteline site.

You can get these bushes from either Nolathane or RedRanger.
Gerry

3sx.com might have sum bushes on there for a gto if u wanna look in that direction?

I don't mind looking elsewhere the reason I ask is there are some on ebay (STAY AWAY ASSHOLES) that are nice and cheap in my current jobless state and was wondering mainly if the increased castor one side, standard other side would see any ill-effects. Just hope I win them now.
p.s. stay away I want these.

once you've done this tuffy you can then add a little more lock to the wheels, if you wanna ask how let me know. its a bit long winded.

Also has your book arrived?

if the front end is 100% straight then there is no need to increase castor on either or any side, having more castor to one side will change the alignment geometry and the end result could be uneven tyre wear, pulling/drifting to one side of the road... you've seen the effects of out of wack castors in my TL after the job Pedders did to it... the other mob that looked at fixing the issue were wondering which circus clown fitted them...

Most cars have a higher castor on the left side so that the car will drive straight on a cambered road. The only way to see if you need this would be to look at an alignment report on your car. They are usually used to stop the car from pulling left.

Interesting, I'll give a suspension joint a call tomorrow down the road and ask there opinion on the matter.

Does your car drive straight now? If so, either add equal castor to both sides or don't add any at all.

Does your car drive straight now? If so, either add equal castor to both sides or don't add any at all.

I see....Drives fine.......I think....I'll pick these bushes up anyway as $18 (as it stands) vs $90 is much better......I'll take the car for a spin tomorrow and pay more attention to how it drive's instead of you know, flooring it everywhere. My lower control arm bushes are pretty rooted, like....majorly ripped/torn/oil soaked etc

Increased castor is good. But increasing it unevenly is only done to correct alignment issues.

So, go for an alignment, get the specs & see how it drives. If it sits straight whilst your combing your hair/ picking your nose, etc, then add castor to both. You'll be pleased with the results. I take it they're poly bushes?

Paul,
If your lower bushes are stuffed, and I have no doubt that they would be, replace them as the lower control arm would be diping and diving everywhere under heavy braking let alone under normal driving

I generally only use Genuine rubber bushes but for the second gen the RHS is NLA thus you have no choice other than to use the aftermarket plastic ones. Remember you will need to work damn hard to get the old bushes out, perhaps if you have a spare set of bushes you can use to do the swap so you can still drive the car as yo are doing it.

I do have a press here however even still is a damn prick of a job to do

Sorry I should have added a bit more about increased castor bushes.

If your car is always pulling to the nearside, then the fix is to just increase the castor on that side only.

If it runs straight and you want to improve the cornering ability then a pair of increased castor bushes are the go.

Gerry