Front wheel turning angle question

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Oldphart

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 31, 2010
Messages
63
Location
Mira Loma, CA
So I angled my steering arms inward to point at the pinion which created some interference between it and the axle when the wheels are turned all the way. I ground some of it away to get about a 30 degree angle on each side. I'm using a harmonic balancer degree wheel to measure the angles so there's some room for error I suppose.

I compared that to the wife's GTO which happened to be parked in my shop and it has a little less so I think I'm good to go.

Anybody have a recommendation on how far I need the wheels to turn? The car's only about 12' long.
 
Many vehicles (especially short wheelbase vehicles) have far from ideal Ackerman. The tighter the wheels turn, the worse it'll get and push/drag/scrub the tires.

Drive it.

.
 
Many vehicles (especially short wheelbase vehicles) have far from ideal Ackerman. The tighter the wheels turn, the worse it'll get and push/drag/scrub the tires.

Drive it.

.

I think I've got the Ackerman covered. I read that of all the steering issues you can have that's the least important and that sounds right to me.

I tried to calculate my turning radius and just got a headache. There were too many variables I didn't understand or know yet since I'm still just using roller wheels and tires. I think I'll be fine.
 
I'm with Crank
Akerman is needed to get a vehicle to turn without scrubbing outside tread off the tire.
In short, the longer the vehicle the less akerman it needs due to the longer turn radius.
On a straight axle, if you have a line running from the kingpin thru the steering arms to the rear end pinion then drive it :)
 

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