511 Steering Geometry

[djmcnz]

So I'm doing a screw-by-screw rebuild of my 511 at the moment out of necessity rather than desire and in doing so I got to playing with the steering and wondered about options.

I'm not a geometry whiz so don't really know what maths is involved here but look at the pic below, wouldn't the left side (of the pic) labeled "Mod" be more efficient?

I think the Ackerman would remain the same (no change in pivot points) only the steering rods would get shorter.

Wouldn't this provide more 'direct' steering with less throw required for full lock? May require adjustments to steering Arc/Expo but that's easy enough.

Can anyone far smarter than me tell me why one is better than the other? The 'mod' certainly looks more elegant...



Thoughts?

[pugs]

Originally Posted by djmcnz

So I'm doing a screw-by-screw rebuild of my 511 at the moment out of necessity rather than desire and in doing so I got to playing with the steering and wondered about options.

I'm not a geometry whiz so don't really know what maths is involved here but look at the pic below, wouldn't the left side (of the pic) labeled "Mod" be more efficient?

I think the Ackerman would remain the same (no change in pivot points) only the steering rods would get shorter.

Wouldn't this provide more 'direct' steering with less throw required for full lock? May require adjustments to steering Arc/Expo but that's easy enough.

Can anyone far smarter than me tell me why one is better than the other? The 'mod' certainly looks more elegant...



Thoughts?

Just a quick thought, the mod you have done gives it a very simlar geometry to the original steering on the trf502x and tamiya modified it to give more low speed and a sharper steering response I think.........

[djmcnz]

Originally Posted by pugs

Just a quick thought, the mod you have done gives it a very simlar geometry to the original steering on the trf502x and tamiya modified it to give more low speed and a sharper steering response I think.........

That's worth looking into, thanks.

I'll try and sort out some measurements, I'm just not sure of exactly what to measure... lol!

[Northy]

Take some more pictures at both left and right full lock then it might become clear

G

[94eg!]

That makes for a HUGE ackerman change.

[djmcnz]

Originally Posted by 94eg!

That makes for a HUGE ackerman change.

I'm no engineer but I don't see how.

Ackerman, as I understand it, is the angle of the line drawn from the front knuckle pivot, through the front outer steering pivot to the rear axle line. This configuration does not change when moving the steering rod as I have.



I do however stand to be corrected and educated!