Checking front axle caster ?

Well my" A " pickup gets wandery at speeds about say 48-60. Checked tierods,drag link, and have adjusted the steering box. Is there a way for a guy at home to get an idea of what the caster is ?
Or is this just the way life is with an "A"
My dad had a NEW A108 V8 1970 widow van. We pulled a 19ft camper, and had a V bottom 12ft alum fishing boat on top of the van. I don't remember that thing dancing around..but it was new also.

Caster is the way the front axle leans back like motorcycle forks,,,there are wedge shims on the springs that make the axle do that,,,,,,,Camber is the way the front tires stand straight up,,,,,if the axle is bent, it changes the Camber,,,,,now Toe in makes the tires point straight going down the road,,,,you want the front of the tires like about 1/16" closer in the front than in the back and you adjust the center link at the tie rods to make it right,,,,,,,,,,,so check the toe-in and switch the tires from the rear and see if things get better , and get an alignment check to see if the Camber and Caster are around 1 1/2 degrees,,,,,,

I have not checked the toe in adjustment yet. Cant put the rears on the front (there way to big)

My van was set up with negative caster, it steered quite well, although positive caster is what most vehicles come with. You should have tapered shims under each spring pad up front, that sets the basic caster, an alignment shop can verify if those are enough or if they are gone set the front alignment correctly.

busman78 wrote:How about Lean Forward not back, these vans as most vehicles need positive caster, more stable at highway speeds and better cornering although makes it a little harder in the turning of the steering wheel. You should have a tapered shim under each spring pad up front, that sets the basic caster, an alignment shop can verify if those are enough.

So all of these vehicles HAD a wedge from the factory when the caster was set ? I did not know if it was a preset thing in the axle design, then you could add more if needed.

Just corrected part of my post, always get the caster thing turned around till the visual picture comes to mind.

Not sure if they are factory wedges or not, but they create negative angle. Rebuilding the front suspension now, plan on putting them back in, once at an alignment shop they can determine whether they are needed or not.

When I removed my axle to have the king pins installed, I noticed I only had one axle shim on the drivers side. Nothing on the passenger. When this thing is all said and done and I take this down to for an alignment, can they installs shim(s) as needed?
I was just planning on putting the single shim back in. Ya'll think I should just leave it up to a professional shop? thanks

Put it back in, that way they will know what has been done, at least that is what I plan on doing, who knows it may be spot on.

After reading this post it sounds too me as if the factory shims are installed on the front of the axle pad, therefore setting the caster to a positive 1 1/2 degree tilt back?
Am I reading this correctly?

If shims were/ are installed. They will need the thickest part of the shim toward the back of the vehicle.  the thinnest portion will face the front of the vehicle.  That will improve positive Caster. I used a 4 degree shim (from summit racing/ came with bolts and spacers $17.97). By adding the 4 degree shims, my pickup NOW will go down the road MUCH BETTER at 65 mph. Before 45 mph was about as fast as you felt safe. The shims are listed as pinion shims. The bolts that came with the kit were 3/8". My 64 pickup needed 5/16". got those at NAPA.

Thanks for your prompt reply. My shims are installed correctly. When you added the 4 degree shims di you remove the stock shims or add the new shims on top of the old shims?

My 64 pickup did NOT have any shims. The factory caster angle was about 1 1/2 degrees from 1964 to 1966...then in 1967 to 1970 Dodge changed the caster to 6 degrees.
I added the shims to increase my caster to the 1967-1970 spec. helped my pickup SOOO Much.

,,,so what do you think changed from the 66 to the 67,,,,,,,,,its the spindles that need to be tilted back,,,,,,,,so was it different spindles,,,,,springs,,,,,axle,,,,,shackles,,,,,,,frame.........rear riding height changes caster,,,,,,,

Most auto manufactures are CHEAP !. The easiest, cheapest , thing to do, to change the caster angle is....install a shim. That's what I believe Dodge did. That's what I would do. Why change an axle forging, or a spindle forging, when you could just stick a shim between the spring and the axle...and get the same out come?

I would say the axles are built  level,,,,,but you need positive caster for better handling,,,,,,now to go from 1 to 6 degrees is a big jump,,,,,,,something must of changed,,,,,or they figured out something new,,,,,you cant easily adjust  camber on a solid I beam front axle,,,,, you overload it or hit a curb and you can easily bend it and then you are in trouble,,,,,,,seems like as the springs sag,,,,,,that tilts the spindle forward and you lose caster,,,,so its something that you need to have checked,,,,,,,,the correct caster makes a big difference on how a van drives and handles,,,,,,,,