Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Wheel Alignment Angles

Some wheel alignment angles include:
Camber:
This is the angle of the wheel on the vertical axis. For example, if you're looking at the wheel from the front on, the camber is the angle that the top/bottom sticks out.
Positive camber is when the top of the wheel is on an angle and negative is when the bottom is on an angle.
 
The camber on my car was -0.33 and -0.47 which was well within specification. On my vehicle, however, was not adjustable.

Caster:
Caster angle is the angle of the suspension in relation to the wheel.
The red line being the angle at which the suspension sits.

The caster on my vehicle was out of specification (-0.27 and +0.14). However, this is not adjustable on my vehicle.

Toe in/out:
This angle is the angle of the wheels in relation to the longitudinal axis. For example, if you're looking at the wheels from the top, the direction that they point is toe in/out. Looking at a forward facing vehicle, facing inwards would be toe in and outward would be toe out.
 

On my vehicle the toe was out of specification (1.4mm) and needed to be adjusted. It is now 0.0mm which is perfect.