UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

12/11/2017 Wheel
alignment
Camber, Caster, and Toe in toe out

PREPARED BY- Dawit Gutema (GUR/0285/07);

Euel Shimelis (GUR//07);
Mesera Abdi (GUR/0811/07);
Yonas Abrham (GUR/1255/07)
SUBMITTED TO – Mrs. Marta Zeleke
UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR, GONDAR, ETHIOPIA
 Acknowledgement

First of all we would like to deliver our deepest regard to the course instructor Mrs. Marta
Zeleke (MSc,). Secondly we would like to thank our fellow class students for their critics. Lastly
we would like to thank those who directly or indirectly helped us while we were preparing this
booklet.

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 Abstract

Wheel alignment is part of standard automobile maintenance that consists of adjusting the
angles of wheels. For enhancing drive performances either overall or particular. This booklet is
intended to illustrate the basics of wheel alignment camber, caster and toe.

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 Contents
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................... I

Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... II

Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

Chapter 2 Wheel Alignment ........................................................................................................... 2

2.1 Wheel alignment basics ........................................................................................................ 2

2.1.1 Primary angles ............................................................................................................... 2

2.1.2 Secondary angles ........................................................................................................... 3

2.1.3 Measurement .................................................................................................................. 3

2.2 Caster .................................................................................................................................... 4

2.2.1 Influence of caster on car behavior ................................................................................ 5

2.3 Camber .................................................................................................................................. 5

2.3.1 Influence of camber on car behavior ............................................................................. 6

2.4 Toe ........................................................................................................................................ 6

2.4.1 Influence of toe on car behavior .................................................................................... 7

References ....................................................................................................................................... 8

III
 Chapter 1 Introduction

Wheel alignment, sometimes referred to as breaking or tracking, is part of standard

automobile maintenance that consists of adjusting the angles of wheels so that they are parallel to
each other and perpendicular to the ground. The purpose of these adjustments is to reduce tire
wear, and to ensure that vehicle travel is straight and true (without "pulling" to one side).
Alignment angles can also be altered beyond the maker's specifications to obtain a specific
handling characteristic. Motorsport and off-road applications may call for angles to be adjusted
well beyond "normal", for a variety of reasons.

An increasing number of modern vehicles have advanced driver assistance systems

(ADAS) such as electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes, lane departure warning, adaptive
cruise control and traction control. These systems can be affected by mechanical alignment
adjustments. This has led many manufacturers to require electronic resets for these systems, after
a mechanical alignment is performed, ensure the wheel aligner you are considering to allow you
to meet these safety requirements.

Wheel alignment technology advances continuously with the introduction of new makes
and models of vehicles, engines, transmissions/ transaxles, steering and electronic suspensions.
Two wheel alignment is quickly becoming obsolete and four wheel alignment is rapidly being
incorporated on many of the new models.

With the technology being incorporated in the newer vehicles, it’s not just the front tires
which steer the vehicle. Many manufacturers now use four wheel steering and complex electronic
suspensions. Specific procedures must be followed to ensure proper wheel alignment. On these
newer, more sophisticated vehicles, an alignment technician can easily end up misaligning the
wheels by not following the proper procedures.

With today’s computerized vehicle systems, improperly aligned wheels can effect engine
performance, ride, tire wear, steering and premature component failure. Wheel alignment is the
proper adjustment of ALL the interrelated suspension angles. In alignment terminology, these
adjustment angles are called caster, camber, toe-in, steering axis inclination (SAI), vehicle ride
height and toe-out on turns.

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 Chapter 2 Wheel Alignment

2.1 Wheel alignment basics

Wheel alignment, sometimes referred to as breaking or tracking, is part of standard

automobile maintenance that consists of adjusting the angles of wheels so that they are parallel to
each other and perpendicular to the ground. The purpose of these adjustments is to reduce tire
wear, and to ensure that vehicle travel is straight and true (without "pulling" to one side).
Alignment angles can also be altered beyond the maker's specifications to obtain a specific
handling characteristic. Motorsport and off-road applications may call for angles to be adjusted
well beyond "normal", for a variety of reasons.

An increasing number of modern vehicles have advanced driver assistance systems

(ADAS) such as electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes, lane departure warning, adaptive
cruise control and traction control. These systems can be affected by mechanical alignment
adjustments. This has led many manufacturers to require electronic resets for these systems, after
a mechanical alignment is performed, ensure the wheel aligner you are considering to allow you
to meet these safety requirements.

2.1.1 Primary angles

The primary angles are the basic angle alignment of the wheels relative to each other and
to the car body. These adjustments are the camber, caster and toe. On some cars, not all of these
can be adjusted on every wheel.

These three parameters can be further categorized into front and rear (with no caster on the
rear, typically not being steered wheels). In summary, the parameters are:

 Front: Caster (left & right)

 Front: Camber (left & right)
 Front: Toe (left, right & total)
 Rear: Camber (left & right)
 Rear: Toe (left, right & total)

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 2.1.2 Secondary angles

 The secondary angles include numerous other adjustments, such as:

 SAI (Steering Axis Inclination) (left & right)
 Included angle (left & right)
 Toe out on turns (left & right)
 Maximum Turns (left & right)
 Toe curve change (left & right)
 Track width difference
 Wheelbase difference
 Front ride height (left & right)
 Rear ride height (left & right)
 Frame angle

Setback (front & rear)

Setback is the difference between right side and left side wheelbase length. It can also be
measured as an angle. Setback less than the manufacturer specified tolerance (for example about
6mm) does not affect car handling. That's because, when the vehicle is turning, one wheel is ahead
of the other by several centimetres and therefore the setback is negligible. There are even some car
models with different factory setting for right and left side wheelbase length, for various design
reasons. An off-spec setback may occur because of a collision or a difference between right and
left caster.

2.1.3 Measurement

A camera unit (sometimes called a "head") is attached to a specially designed clamp which
holds on to a wheel. There are usually four camera units in a wheel alignment system (a camera
unit for each wheel). The camera units communicate their physical positioning with respect to
other camera units to a central computer which calculates and displays.

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Often with alignment equipment, these "heads" can be a large precision reflector. In this case, the
alignment "tower" contains the cameras as well as arrays of LEDs. This system flashes one array
of LEDs for each reflector whilst a camera centrally located in the LED array "looks for" an image
of the reflectors patterned face. These cameras perform the same function as the other style of
alignment equipment, yet alleviate numerous issues prone to relocating a heavy precision camera
assembly on each vehicle serviced.

2.2 Caster

The caster angle or castor angle is the angular displacement of the steering axis from the
vertical axis of a steered wheel in a car, motorcycle, bicycle or other vehicle, measured in the
longitudinal direction. It is the angle between the pivot line (in a car an imaginary line that runs
through the centre of the upper ball joint to the centre of the lower ball joint) and vertical. Car
racers sometimes adjust caster angle to optimise their car's handling characteristics in particular
driving situations.

θ is the caster angle, the red line is the pivot line, and the
grey area is the tire.

Figure 1 Caster (positive)

When a vehicle's front suspension is aligned, caster is adjusted to achieve a self-centering

action in the steering, which affects the vehicle's straight-line stability. Improper caster settings
will require the driver to move the steering wheel both into and out of each turn, making it difficult
to maintain a straight line.

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 2.2.1 Influence of caster on car behavior

Caster generally will be between +2 and 5.5 degrees, positive. Only applies to the front-/steering-
wheels. Is needed to create straight-line stability or one could say "directional steering stability"
In order to understand what the effect of caster is we can take the front-wheels of a shopping cart.
These wheels do have positive caster and because of that they will go in the direction where you
push the cart. If you would turn these wheels 180 degrees than they would have negative caster.
Pushing the cart now will be a lot more difficult and at the same time very unpredictable/unstable.
Positive caster will also affect camber when steering; the outer wheel will get more negative
camber as the inner wheel's camber will get less negative. The more positive caster the more "feed-
back" you will feel driving the car, especially with a force feedback wheel. One could think, "The
more positive caster the better" but that's not really the case. It would make steering harder as the
steering force will increase. Also there's another disadvantage; while steering; positive caster will
cause the inner wheel to rise and the outer wheel will drop. This again will transfer "corner-weight"
from the inner to the outer wheel, causing a loose feeling in the car.

2.3 Camber

Camber angle is the angle made by the wheels of a vehicle; specifically, it is the angle
between the vertical axis of the wheels used for steering and the vertical axis of the vehicle when
viewed from the front or rear. It is used in the design of steering and suspension. If the top of the
wheel is farther out than the bottom (that is, away from the axle), it is called positive camber; if
the bottom of the wheel is farther out than the top, it is called negative camber.

Figure 2 From the front of the car, a right wheel with a negative camber angle

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 2.3.1 Influence of camber on car behavior

When cornering the body of the car will start rolling, inducing positive camber. Negative
camber will compensate this effect. Resulting more grip and stability while cornering. Also;
negative camber creates a force on the wheels called "camber-thrust". Going straight Left and
Right will be in balance and the car goes straight. Resulting better straight stability with more
negative camber.

When cornering the inner wheel will be lifted from a little too sometimes completely. Than
the camber-thrust will cause the car to make a sharper turn, pushing the car inwards. Resulting
better cornering

That's why car-designers try to keep about 0.5 degree negative camber while cornering
with the suspension being compressed. That means that the negative-camber at ride height will
become more negative when suspension compresses, at the same time the body roll will eat up
negative camber. Hopefully leaving a bit of negative for Cornering-grip and better steering and
even heating of the tires as well as even tire-wear.

2.4 Toe

In automotive engineering, toe, also known

as tracking, is the symmetric angle that each wheel makes
with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, as a function of
static geometry, and kinematic and compliant effects. This
can be contrasted with steer, which is the antisymmetric
angle, i.e. both wheels point to the left or right, in parallel
(roughly). Negative toe, or toe out, is the front of the wheel
pointing away from the centerline of the vehicle. Positive
toe, or toe in, is the front of the wheel pointing towards the
centerline of the vehicle. Toe can be measured in linear
Figure 3Image of front toe angle 5 degrees (toe in) units, at the front of the tire, or as an angular deflection.

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 In a rear wheel drive vehicle, increased front toe in provides greater straight-line stability
at the cost of some sluggishness of turning response. The wear on the tires is marginally increased
as the tires are under slight side slip conditions. On front wheel drive vehicles, the situation is more
complex.

Toe is usually adjustable in production automobiles, even though caster angle and camber
angle are often not adjustable. Maintenance of front end alignment, which used to involve all three
adjustments, currently involves only setting the toe; in most cases, even for a car in which caster
or camber are adjustable, only the toe will need adjustment. One related concept is that the proper
toe for straight line travel of a vehicle will not be correct while turning, since the inside wheel must
travel around a smaller radius than the outside wheel; to compensate for this, the steering
linkage typically conforms more or less to Ackermann steering geometry, modified to suit the
characteristics of the individual vehicle.

2.4.1 Influence of toe on car behavior

Affects 3 major areas; Tire wear, straight-line stability and corner entry handling.

For minimum tire-wear it would be ideal to have the wheels parallel / 0 degrees while
riding. This can be accomplished to give a bit static toe-out to a front wheel-drive car, or toe-in to
a rear wheel-driver. Excessive toe-in will cause the tire to scrub on the outboards and so will
shorten the tire-life. Too much toe-out will cause the inboard edges to wear out.

A front wheel-drive car has the tendency to understeer. Toe-out will induce a bit of
oversteer, so it could compensate the front wheel-driver's understeer. Steering response will be
improved with toe-out. Straight line stability will be improved with toe-in.

Sometimes toe-in or toe-out is used for another effect; Tire-temperature. For racing-tires
it's very important to reach a certain temperature in order to deliver maximum performance/grip.
If the tires stay too cool than toe can be used for the "scrubbing" effect, The scrubbing also has
another positive effect; It will scrub the tires clean providing extra grip for braking and cornering.
Street cars often are set up with toe-in; For good straight-line stability cornering is sacrificed. Race
cars are often set up with toe-out; Straight-line stability is sacrificed for good cornering.

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 References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_alignment retrieved 06/12/2017 11:01 pm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_angle retrieved 06/12/2017 11:07 pm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camber_angle retrieved 06/12/2017 11:18 pm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_(automotive) retrieved 06/12/2017 11:34 pm

http://en.intraxracing.nl/techniek/camber,-caster,-toe-intoe-out/ retrieved 06/12/2017 12:03 am