Niva Resource: Camber/Caster Adjustment

Front suspension & steering adjustment.

Camber and Castor

It's not difficult to alter the castor/camber angles (within reason). All the action takes place at the two bolts on each side that hold the upper arm pivots in place. There are washers/spacers on each bolt and these are removed/increased as required.

If the exisring camber angle is at 0deg, to increase negative camber (ie the top of the tyre leaning inwards) remove washers from the bolts, the same quantity/thickness from each bolt. To increase positive camber (ie the top of the tyre leaning outwards) put washers/spacers in, same quantity/thickness on each bolt.

Caster is the amount that the upper ball joint leans forward in relation to the bottom one, and is what causes the self centering action of the steering. The further forward it leans, the greater that action is. Think supernarket trolleys! To lean it further forward, remove washers from the front bolt, or add washers to the rear bolt, or combine the two actions. This will make the steering much heavier on the move.

To lean it further backwards, remove washers from the rear bolt, or add washers to the front bolt, or combine the two actions. This will lighten the steering when on the move. Be careful with the caster adjustment - if you overdo it you could end up with steering that has very little self centering, and that's a recipe for disaster!

Whatever you do on one side of the vehicle MUST be exactly reproduced on the other side. Might be worth getting these values checked professionally in the first instance, in case any adjustments have been made in the past?

Set your tracking (aka steering alignment) to 2 degrees toe in.

Hoodoo

Steering tracking / alignment

Here's the Autodata Alignment specs for the Niva

Note: The settings in the mannual are for the Niva with weigh in it (about 3 people iirc), ignoring this will mean the settings are wrong.

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