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the only thing that i can think of that would be affecting your caster would be the strut not flushly bolted to the strut tower or some suspension component installed so that its pushing the strut in a manner you have different caster on different sides…
typically if you are having issues with caster the only issue i really know of to cause this issue would if the vehicle had been in a accedent and the strut sort of got shoved in… but as you stated your vehicle has not been in a accident.
I am not a honda expert, but there are some things you can do to fix caster, they have shims you can install i believe… but you cannot directly adjust your caster to my knoladge without shims or something, i could be wrong…
Thanks. I’m mainly concerned cause I want to get the alignment in perfect spec if possible. I have adjustable control arms on the rear and now I’m being told my camber is off and caster is off on the front. I have to install camber bolts on the front but the shops seem insane. Some want 300.00 to install those cheap camber bolts. Body shop today said that they don’t see anything out of alignment. They are thinking I should try different strut plates when I get a chance. I’ll just have to see how the tires hold up and if nothing happens quickly then I can deal with alignment not being in factory specs.
The nut size difference is probably due to a different parts manufacturer or different production run. That should not affect caster.
Is there a reason why you think the caster is off other than the nut size on the strut mounts?
The alignment chart shows that both caster settings are different. I’ll try to find the chart so you can see what I’m talking about. If needed.
I’m also wondering if I torqued the strut mounts down when it was in the air or will weight of vehicle on it. I’ll undo everything then go back. Have lifetime alignment so it’s free lol.
A moderate deviation in Caster will not affect tire wear but may affect tracking. If the Camber and Toe-In are properly adjusted then tire wear should be normal. Personally, I am 67 years old and have never had a professional alignment other than the ones done in the school I attended. Only adjusted Toe-In as required.
It could depend upon how much difference there is in the caster from side to side. A little won’t hurt anything.
Actually, it’s a good idea to have a bit more positive caster on the right front as compared to the left front. The same principle applies to camber also but in reverse. A bit more negative camber on the right front is preferred as compared to the left front.
Either or both of those can help prevent a pull to the right caused by road crown.
Caster can cause tire wear if it’s off quite a bit. That’s because excessive caster affects camber at some point which then in turn affects the toe setting.
caster can cause tire wear to the outsides of the tire if you have excessive positive caster… but it needs to be a lot!
From what i have read i think the camber adjustment can also make adjustments to caster but still not 100% sure…
Severe caster misalignment indirectly affects tire wear on camber roll. Camber roll is basically the front tires leaning on turns. That’s the only way caster can affect tire wear. The tire has to lean on a turn no matter what. If you tried to leave a tire perfectly vertical while turning, the understeer would be murderous. As mentioned, caster affects road manners more than anything else. Too much positive caster causes vibrations at higher speeds while too much negative caster causes some horrible wandering. Caster can cause pulling, but it’s by far and large the least likely to do so.
Caster is not adjustable on your Pilot. I’ve never tried it on a Pilot, but if there’s potential to make it adjustable, you’d have to pull the struts out of the towers and grind slots out using the mounting holes. You’d need to make the slots to adjust the struts forward or backward. That changes the angle of the steering axis, which is changing your caster. If you’re well acclimated to what’s normal for it’s handling and happy with the steering and handling characteristics, don’t waste your time on that effort to make the caster adjustable. You’re not going to really feel a difference anyway since you don’t have any accident damage to your steering and suspension parts. Get the camber, toe, and tire pressures all in spec, and it should drive just fine.
These are the specs. Maybe I’m just crazy. I keep thinking it all has to be in the middle of the range.
I just took measurements. Either spring is weak or one is not torqued down. I hope this is the issue. I measured from edge of strut mount to point you see on both sides.
I don’t see much in the alignment specs that should cause a problem. The negative camber is a bit much on the right front but I don’t think that is the cause of the problem.
There’s definitely an issue with the struts. An inch off from one to the other is huge.
Going to just get a complete kit if possible. I keep seeing them but they only seem to fit the 4wd model. Don’t see what the difference would be. Seems odd that the 4wd and 2wd front struts match. When looking for 2wd complete strut it i’m not finding a set for it lol.
Thanks for all the help. If it matters, lol I’ll post my results once I get the complete strut sets. Having new springs might be nice.
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