To be fair it's not just caster that affects steering self centering, king pin inclination (KPI) plays its part too. And its not just the front either, for example increasing rear toe in tends to ensure the car tries to straighten up. Steering geometry is a complex science, one adjustment element can influence what you're trying to achieve with another, this is why the car is going to Techniques.
I should also be clear that the lack of self centring isn't horrible by any means, I've only had Monty for 8 weeks now and Ive already covered over 2,000 miles in him including a run to the Le Mans Classic and back and lots of other trips where the car has been put through its paces to fully apraise Monty's handling and steering dynamics which has been enormous fun.
While steering geometry is indeed a complex science I like to start at the beginning with the basics, this has to start with the tyres, unsurprisingly the 11 year old original 195/60 Yokohamas were like wood so changing them for 185/65 Continentals made a huge difference. Its also likely the grease has gone hard in the upper and lower joints due to age and lack of use, a few pumps with a grease gun to purge out tge old grease and or a couple of new XJ6 ball joints/track rod ends may be all it needs.
I'm sure Techniques have a pair of tables so the general mechanical resistance in the steering and all the geometry settings can be assessed with the suspension loaded up with the weight of the car, so I'll let them review and report back.
Last edited by Montegue; 12/08/22 05:34 PM.
