are all "degrees" the same

Started messing with the dragster again,,and setting the front axle caster. Want to set it at about 15-17 degrees,now I found some online degree wheels
some are for timing others 360 degree wheels etc,,question is are they all the same or are the relative to what they are being used for ?

Can I use something like this to gauge the caster for my axle ?

 

Would it be easier to drop over to Sears and buy a common angle finder? That is a magnetized unit with a level sight and a degree wheel.

 

A degree is a measurment, it can't change. Even if you scaled it, I don't think it would change?

 

Well was my first thought but if I can get the same thing done with a simple cardboard wheel ( which I could just print out ) figured why waste the $$

I figured if its good enough for Camshaft timing then should be good enough for an axle angle

 

Yes, all degrees are the same, 360 in a full circle and 180 in a half.... as long as you are talking circles and not temperature.

 

You could use a degree wheel, just a protractor by a different name. You would however need to verify the difference between the planes you are trying to measure.

A level to set the wheel to horizontal (across the 90 degree marks) or a pumb-bob dropped from 0 to 180. Then some way to measure the angle of inclination.

It would be way easier to just go to your hardware store and get one of these.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/...ractor&origkw=protractor&searchId=45666088264

But $12 is a ton of money these days. I could see why you want to find alternatives

 

Degrees have existed a lot longer than cars. Larger wheels provide more accuracy when accuracy to a single degree is important, but that variability is all about setting and reading a pointer, and has nothing to do with the 360 degrees themselves.

Gonna print one off the net onto cardstock or something? (Edit- Doh- you beat me by a minute!)

 

Exactly, as long as you don't distort the scale the degrees will always match.

I have to agree though, go grab one of those magnetic angle finders, you can adjust the angle window on them to compensate for any slope your ride is sitting on and get an accurate measurement, plus they're super cheap, I think I have three of them and never paid more than $9.99 for one

 

You need something like this...

 

oh if thats all they are then yeah ,,I will grab one,,alwyas like to check basic things first though ,,ya know

thanks for the link

 

If you were in the Field Artillery or a Mortarman you could use Mils! 6 4 hundred of them bad boys in a circle!

 

No problem, after you have one you won't know how you got along without it.

 

Distributor and camshaft degrees are different than crankshaft degrees, in a strange and mysterious way.

Bachelor's and Master's degrees are different from each other, and from Associates and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.

But caster angle degrees are all the same.

 

MY adjustable angle finder is in mills! It was originally employed as part of the kit for a Browning, i think the 1919...helps keep my arithmetic brain cells alive.
If you cheap out and print one, make a bunch of measurements using different arcs of the wheel on the same several angles, as printers and scanners can distort. Actually, do that with any of them unless they sat "Starrett" or "Browne and Sharpe"...
I have a number of differently abled commercial angle tools, including a Moroso with really neat adjustable twin wheels but an unfortunate gap between "0" and "360" allowing for about a 362 degree circle. And...I recently purchased 2 cheap modern desk rulers and found when I set them down at home that their inches were different lengths!
We have finally reached an evolutionary point in which we can use CAD and CAM and digitally adjusted machine tools to produce results worse than lines penciled on a stick in poor light!!

 

I know what you mean Bruce, so I always check my measurements using the standard meter

 

Thanks for the laugh Bruce, so damned true anymore. The machine is only as good as its operator is still one fact we cannot regulate or replace today.

 

In astrology they use arc minutes which is 1/60th of a degree and a arc second which is 1/60th of a arc minute. But they still part of a circle.

 

In astrology they spew bullshit, but in astronomy they use arc minutes and arc seconds

 

oh ya good call

 

I got my magnetic angle finder @ True Value Hardware for under $10. If cam degreeing is off, you won't crash the car because of if, but.................

 

If you like math, you can set your caster degrees with a tape measure....but who likes math that much? There are some funny answers here tho.... By the way, if you have a harbor frieght store near you, they have instore specials a lot of the time you can buy that angle finder for $2.99.

 

GO GET'EM SQUIRREL!!! By the way, do you have a degree?

 

The blasted standard metre wouldn't fit in my toolbox, and the vacuum jar I kept my krypton-86 atom kept leaking, so I went to the modern standard. Now I just pick up my stopwatch, click on a light, and draw a line on the workbench at the point the light has reached in the required time. I know I really should be marking that off in a vacuum too, but I found the trivial difference to be not worth the trouble.
I'm now working on curved light so I can set a proper standard for my degree wheel.

 

Do they have bad water in NJ? or just lots of lead based paint?

 

My cesium beam wristwatch keeps pretty good time.

 

a degree is one 360th of a circle always no matter what unless you are talking about temperature

 

I prefer the "[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]eludium pu36 explosive space modulator", but that's just me...[/FONT]

 

WING...HOTROD told you like it IS, could, and SHOULD be. NUFF SAID!...POP.

 

I would mark it off in a vacuum... but it needs a new bag and filter....

And degrees are not all the same.... sometimes its a dry heat....

 

I possess a certain degree of insanity!

Edit: See; I'm different just like everyone else.