Front steer steering arms

[tfeverfred]

Ron, do you think you could make these lower steering arms for 1937-1948 Ford spindles in plate with 5/8" holes?

LOWER STEERING ARMS - WINTEC Fabrication

 

[RPM]

No I can't make them, they are forged. Speedway might have them.

 

[tfeverfred]

No I can't make them, they are forged. Speedway might have them.

Yea, I know they're forged, but could you make the same shape in plate? Like the flat arms Speedway sells, but with that angle.

 

[2old2fast]

Unless you have your spindles/frt. brake pkg. & wheels for mockup , you'll not know if an outward angled steering arm will fit , no??
dave

 

[tfeverfred]

Unless you have your spindles/frt. brake pkg. & wheels for mockup , you'll not know if an outward angled steering arm will fit , no??
dave

I'm going to run my tie rod in front of the axle. For proper ackerman, arms in that shape are an automatic decision. My first T had the proper arms and the rebuild didn't. It was like night and day. For one, without those arms, my turning radius was about 30' and I'm being conservative. I never measured it, but I experienced it.

Thus:

 

[tfeverfred]

Unless you have your spindles/frt. brake pkg. & wheels for mockup , you'll not know if an outward angled steering arm will fit , no??
dave

I'm going with the same setup that I had before. So.......

 

[tfeverfred]

Next obvious question would be, Why do you want your tie rod in front?" Answer? Because that's where I like it and I could have designed my front end to put it behind the axle. I just don't want to.

 

[tfeverfred]

I found a source. Thanks guys.

 

[EX JUNK]

Here is a picture of my homemade steering arms for a front mounted tie rod. They allow me to have perfect Ackerman.



Jim

 

[tfeverfred]

That looks perfect, Jim.

 

[PotvinGuy]

Don't sweat Ackermann. I ran with bad Ackermann (it would have required a 40ft wheelbase!) for 20 years with no ill effects. Remember it only comes into play when turning, and then only wears the tire a little.

 

[tfeverfred]

Don't sweat Ackermann. I ran with bad Ackermann (it would have required a 40ft wheelbase!) for 20 years with no ill effects. Remember it only comes into play when turning, and then only wears the tire a little.

Seriously? Is there supposed to be a "smiley" after that?

 

[PotvinGuy]

Seriously? Is there supposed to be a "smiley" after that?

Ackermann is maybe the most over-discussed aspect of steering design. The only place that it has real significance is in racing, where they get obsessed about tire loading and cornering forces and such. See Ackermann steering geometry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia When I redid my front end a few years ago and set the Ackermann, I couldn't tell any difference in handling. I put 100,000 miles on my first set of tires and didn't see any odd wearing. The things I found to be really important to handling were getting a good alignment (harder than it sounds; the shops don't know what to make of us) and setting toe-in for best tracking.

 

[2old2fast]

It'a free county
dave

 

[Zandoz]

I've frequently seen the significance of correct Ackermann emphasized and deemphasized. Without doing an in-depth study of the geometry and engineering, it seems to me that where it would be most significant is in low traction situations. There are a lot of features of these cars that are not ideal but accepted...whether correct Ackermann is one of those accepted less than ideal features or not is up to the owner. To my personal way of thinking, if the steering arms are being chosen/replaced, there is likely little reason not to get the Ackermann right. But if I had a functioning vehicle that I was satisfied with, I'd not lose any sleep over the Ackermann.

 

[PotvinGuy]

I'd not lose any sleep over the Ackermann.

Actually, Zandoz, bad Ackermann is the leading cause of insomnia in bucket owners.

 

[tfeverfred]

Maybe it's just me, but a small car having a 40' turning radius really sucked. Taking 10 minutes and blocking traffic, just to make a u-turn is lame. I guess some folks get used to it or accept it, if that's all they know.

 

[Hackerbilt]

My car has reverse Ackerman (since the original builder put it together around 1978!) and in normal driving you can't tell.
It becomes a problem when taking a tight turn into a parking spot or reversing out of a spot and especially on gravel or grass.
Thats in "normal" driving.

The true issue I see is, how will the car react when I need to make a severe swerve to avoid something while "normal" driving?
How will the steering react? Will it give me a frontal traction loss at a desperate moment and cause a crash?
I have no idea! I don't want to find out!!!!

I started to build some rear mounted steering arms last winter but due to some clearance issues I decided to start over. Used the bad Ackerman arms again last summer and due to some crap life has tossed our way, couldn't get to them this past winter.
As of now, getting the Ackerman set up correctly is the biggest issue I have to take care of on the car.

Gonna have to wait till next winter though...as I'm gonna drive the car this summer again with the old setup...because the car drives SWEET!
Highway driving is a one hand deal if you like driving with one hand.

Having said that...I know the Ackerman is an issue and it has a potential to bite back.
I recommend anyone building a car do it correctly while in the build stage.
I can't think of a good reason not too...

 

[2old2fast]

I can put my shoes on the wrong feet , but why ??
lol
dave

 

[Gerry]

Do it right or dont do it at all. JMHO