Radius ball washer and caster

[Ian in Mississauga]

My high school geometry was too long ago to figure this out. How much will the special cupped washer increase the caster?
TIA, Ian

[1931 flamingo]

I doubt enough to make any real difference. JMO
Paul in CT

[Corley]

And, without using math, the answer is, a neglegable amount. You need to drop the ball at least an inch to get any real improvement in tracking. With about a 4 foot arm, it takes quite a bit to affect things. Dropped mine 2 inches, and it made a huge difference in handling. Tracks nice and true now at any speed, hands off the wheel. Not much down side in reverse either.

I did this as an experiment, but I like it so all that I plan on making a better mount than the double but setup I'm using now. Of course, bending the axle, or modifying the time mounts at the axle would also work well.

[Patrick L.]

It would depend on which side of the ball its installed. Just kidding. That washer would hardly make any difference as mentioned. These monsters come with 5º of caster which is more than enough for these critters.

[Kurt in NJ]

Replacing a sagging front spring does much more, I doubt that washer top. --- bottom would even be 0.1 degree

[Synchro909]

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I calculated that a while ago. You need to drop the ball by 5/8" to get one degree. That said, if you're are putting the washer in there to compensate for wear on the ball, it will make virtually no difference because the washer is only replacing what has been worn away. That is, as the ball wears, the caster reduces.

[Corley]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

I calculated that a while ago. You need to drop the ball by 5/8" to get one degree. That said, if you're are putting the washer in there to compensate for wear on the ball, it will make virtually no difference because the washer is only replacing what has been worn away. That is, as the ball wears, the caster reduces.

This matches my rough guestamate, that my two inch ball drop have me about 3 degrees additional caster. Since I only measured about 2 degrees to start with, this brought me back to pretty close to the stock 5 degrees like it should be.