How To: Adjust Caster On Fullflight A-arms

[linkin24]

I have had my FULLFLIGHT a arms for about a year now and just recently adjusted the caster. I thought when i bought them they were ready to install so i never attempted to set it. Well after i started riding my friends LTR i realized my Z didnt handle nearly as well as his LTR, so i set out to find the problem.

At first i thought that it was because i have a +1 forward style a arm set up. So i looked into that and found that Gust was running a similar setup, +1 up front and +2 in the back, (he ended running +1.5 on the front) but anyway i just figured that wasnt the problem.

Then i thought it was my tires, but i rode a friends cannondale with bald tires on the front and it handled better than mine so i knew that wasnt the problem. So i started looking on here for some more info and found some articles on caster adjustment. there were no really detailed posts just a little info here so i asked drnez about it gave me a little info and i did some searches on google and this is the info i found.

Caster is angle of the top ball joint or heim joint in relation to the bottom one. It has to be between a 4 and 5 degree angle (for MX). Here is what i did step by step to find the angel it was originially set at it and how i set it to the proper angle.






STEP 1-

First i took a motorcycle jack and put it under the quad to the height it is when i am sitting on it. then i removed the front shocks.





STEP 2-

After i had the front shocks removed, i could then measure the angle the joints were at. I took and old straight tie rod as my straight edge, a small level and a angle finder (contractors protractor).

-contractors protractor-




I took the tie rod and ran it along the inside of the top and bottom heim threads. then i took the angle finder
and ran it along side the tie rod. after i had those steps done i had my friend hold the level on top of the angle finder untill it was level. All of that gave me my angle of 11 degrees.




STEP 3-

It was originally at an 11 degree angle which was way off from where it was supposed to be, so i knew i found the reason it was handleing so bad.

So i took the top a arm off on the side that it is mounted to the frame.



Once i had it off i screwed both of the heims all of the way in as far as they would go and still mount up to the frame.



then i started turning the back heim out. janssens website said to start with three turns and go from there so that is what i did. I mounted it back up and measured the angle again (STEP 2 Pic 2). it was still too much of an angle so i turned it out 3 more times for a total of six full turns.



So i mounted it back to the frame once again and measured it and it cam out to be exactly 4.5 degrees.



Once all of that is done move on to the next side and repeat the steps. After both sides are set at the proper angle you will need to set the toe of the tires and the camber. the tires should be toed in between 1/8 and 1/4 inch.

To adjust the camber you use the same method for finding the angle of the tire as you do for finding the angle of the heims. set the tie rod on the out side of the tire, run the angle finder along it and then use the level to find the angle. You the adjust the top large heim in or out untill it gets the wheel to the angle that is desired. it needs to be a 4 degree angle as well (for MX).




Once all three things are set put the shocks back on, take it off of the stand and your ready to ride.




I hope this is easy to understand for everyone. I had no idea how much better the quad would handle with the caster set right. It was a night and day difference. So if you have never done this or did not do it right i would suggest doing it because it will make riding a lot more fun and it will be easier to ride. you wont have to make it turn anymore it will trun easily on its own, and turn on a dime.



Also here a link to jannsens website. it gives you all of the angles for caster and camber for different styles of riding like Motocross, Cross Country, Sand Dunning, Desert Racing and Recreational Riding. It will also give you some other useful info for setting up the front end of your quad...

http://janssenmotorsports.com/tech_article...cle&artid=9

[drnez]

Great writeup man, You should submit it to the tech articles thing.

[linkin24]

QUOTE (drnez @ Oct 12 2006, 09:42 PM)

Great writeup man, You should submit it to the tech articles thing.[/b]

Thanks. i tried to make it easy for everyone to understand. Once you do it though it is very easy. I just thought it might help some people who either never took the time to adjust it or didnt know how so just never tired.

[NormalZ]

Pinned in Suspension & Chassis...

[linkin24]

QUOTE (NormalZ @ Oct 13 2006, 01:09 AM)

Pinned in Suspension & Chassis... [/b]

hey thanks man. i was hpoing someone would do that. I just hope people will put it to good use.

[PeeWee]

Great job.....i see whats on my weekend agenda!!!!!

[808Ltz400]

great write up lincoln ..it just made me understand how to setup caster ..this is sure on my to do list before this sundays race

[linkin24]

QUOTE (808Ltz400 @ Nov 1 2006, 06:49 PM)

great write up lincoln ..it just made me understand how to setup caster ..this is sure on my to do list before this sundays race[/b]

i am glad it helped. i found out how improtant it was to set it so i wanted to make sure i showed everyone how simple it was and wrote it up to make it easy to understand.

[quad9]

good pics.
except the 1 thing that is not correct, you never adjust the front end when the quad is on any sort of stand. it must Be on level ground, tires inflated corretly, and shocks installed.
this is what i have done in the past, and is just what the jansen racing, and lonestar tech articals says to do.

[N.J.C.]

There's some good points about setting up suspension and I think it just needs brought back up. I've been getting PM's lately about setting up arms and figured I'd add something to this. Here's a great explanation of camber, caster, toe-in and toe-out. Study this and it will help you with adjusting your front end.

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

[Joshz400_03]

One thing to keep in mind is you want your upper a arm to be behind your lower if you look down the ball joints

[dtfm33]

QUOTE (joshz400_03 @ Jun 26 2008, 02:07 PM)

One thing to keep in mind is you want your upper a arm to be behind your lower if you look down the ball joints[/b]

Correct! That is the caster adjustment! As was stated above. If the quad is not level when you make the adjustments, you adjustments will be off too!

[rinehart_mitch]

I know this may not belong in here but i was looking at buying a set of full flights do you like them is it good quality?

[chrisroberts916]

I found this to be helpful

Setting your Caster and Camber

Here is any easy guide to precisely setting up your front end.

Camber
Camber is the amount of degrees that the tire and wheel is tilted in or out at the top in relation to
the bottom of the tire. A tire that is tilted in at the top and out at the bottom is said to have negative camber.
The farther it angles out at the bottom the greater the amount of negative camber.
For positive camber, the top of the tire is farther out than the bottom. The reason for having
camber in your front end is as follows. An ATV’s suspension is forced over in a corner and the suspension
flexes. With everything in motion, all this force wants to flex the tire more upright, or reducing the amount
of negative camber.
A tires greatest traction is achieved when more of the tread is in contact with the ground. As the
bike enters a corner, the forces tend to bend everything over, adding positive camber. To make sure that the
tires greatest amount of tread is in full contact when it is most needed, we set up the front suspension with a
negative camber. How much negative camber you choose depends on the amount of suspension travel, and
some various other factors such as the terrain you plan to ride on.
Caster
Caster is the amount of angle that the spindle has in relation to the vertical centerline of the wheel.
If the upper ball joint is farther forward than the lower ball joint, it is said to have negative caster. If the
upper ball joint is farther to the back than the lower ball joint, it is said to have positive caster. The greater
the amount of positive caster, the more stable the ATV will be at speed. The less positive caster it has, the
easier it will steer and the quicker it will turn. As the spindle is laid back, the tire has to lay over more
when the front tires are turned. This adds stability. If there is not much angle, the wheel will turn more
easily, making it quicker and easier to turn.
Recommended Caster: Positive Recommended Camber: Negative

Motocross:

5 - 7° Motocross: 1 - 3°

Cross Country:

5 - 7° Cross Country: 1 - 3°

Sand Duning:

3 - 5° Sand Duning: 2 - 4°

Desert Racing:

6 - 8° Desert Racing: 2 - 4°

Recreational:

5 - 7° Recreational: 1 - 3°

TT Racing:

3 - 4° TT Racing: 1°

Toe
The toe of an ATV measures the relation of the leading edge of the front tires to the back of the
tires. Toe-out refers to the fact that the front of the tires point out. Toe-in refers to the fact that the front of
the tires point in.

We recommend you set your toe-in to ¼ of an inch.

How to Setup your Front End
Before you start this procedure, a few things need to be done first. Make sure your workspace
floor is completely level. You will need a straight edge and an angle finder (available at your local
hardware store). Do not attempt to set up your front end on a stand of any kind. Your quad

must have the

tires on, and be on the ground at ride height. Make sure that the tires have equal tire pressure from side to

side. This is commonly overlooked and can significantly change your measurements.