caster/camber adjustment

[deepcj7]

Does having A-arms that are caster adjustable really make a handling difference worth $500. I don't want any wider than stock. Just in case I used the wrong term, I want the tires like this / \ . I did a search but could not find what I was looking for. Thanks

[R3Concepts]

Thats camber, camber is adjusted with ball joints. Caster is adjusted with heim joints on the top mounts, if not preset from company. Stock arms are about as good as it gets for camber caster settings. But its all preset by the factory, if your not going wider then its a waste.

[protraxrptr17]

R3 is right, you are talking about camber. Caster is measured by drawing an imaginary line between the ball joints. If you don't know alot about setting up front ends, you need to stay away from caster adjustments. Plus it's hard to measure accurately. Mark Laeger told me that is the reason he builds his front ends without caster adjustments. He sets them all at 6 degrees when he welds them together. I used to play with it a little when I raced karts. I don't really see much advantage on quads. Camber does make a difference though. I run mine at maximum lean-in. It is called either positive or negative, I can't remember which. You get better traction on hard-pack with them leaned in. I've tried less extreme settings and didn't like it. But, steering effort increases with them leaned like that. You would be perfecly happy with camber only adjustments. I have the best front end in the business and it's camber only.

[R3Concepts]

Tires in at the top is negative camber which is the only camber you should run, and I would only run -4 to -6 degrees camber, anything more isnt good for the ball joints. Caster is a positive set-up and should only be set at about +4 degrees. Caster is a non-crucial adjustment but might be nice if the company does not know how to preset caster. Even if the arms come with the camber preset, take the time and re-set them, not all frames are the same, and it could save a lot of headaches down the road.

[deepcj7]

Thanks. My bike is set up for XC, so I want to keep the stock width, but have been doing alot of MX with it. Is the improvement in handling justify me buying the A-arms for the sole purpose of having negative camber adjustability? R3- I know you said no, but wanted to reword my question just in case there was any confusion. Thanks for your help.

[R3Concepts]

No.

[muff]

no this would not be beneficial enough, try buying suspension first if you havent already :D