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View Full Version : Help? Steering angles.



JRouche
08-10-2009, 06:46 PM
Ok guys.. I ran into a lil problem rebuilding my front end. I have all the control arms done and everything fits.

Im looking at putting in an anti roll bar now. I have some real problems. When I turn the wheel to full lock the front of my tire comes within an inch of the frame rail. Thats the area where I need the arms for the bar to fit through. Just too tight, not enough room.

Now if I limit the steering angle to 20 degrees I have enough room. But Im not sure if 20* is gonna limit my turning radius too much. Why did I look at 20*? Well thats just a number I used for setting up the caster angle. And it gives me the needed room. I get another 10* of steering till the steering rack bottoms out.

What is a "decent" steering angle in degrees for a street driven car? I know, kinda an open ended question. I dont know if there are some published numbers for various cars or if someone here has some numbers or ideas. Ideas are ALWAYS highly appreciated from me!!!

The car is a 62 nova with a MII front and rack/pinion steering.

Id just feel better about limiting the steering angle if some of you guys piped up and said its fine.

So if anyone has any ideas or some common angles used in production cars I would love to hear it. Anything??? Thanks :) JR

David Pozzi
08-10-2009, 10:34 PM
I think 25 degrees on a first gen camaro is about max turn angle. Due to Ackerman steering correction, the outer wheel turns 20 deg, the inner wheel will turn 25 degrees, so one wheel can limit the amount the other wheel turns. Turn radius for the outer wheel at 20 deg is 21ft using a 108" wheelbase.

JRouche
08-11-2009, 05:50 PM
Thanks abunch David. Just the type of info I was looking for. 21ft turning radius at 20* of outside tire turn in. Seems pretty tight. Most of my regular cars can just barely turn in my 40 foot wide street. Am I missing something? Thanks, JR

b-man
08-11-2009, 05:59 PM
21 ft. turning radius = 42 ft. turning circle.

You were only missing half of the circle. :)

JRouche
08-11-2009, 07:07 PM
21 ft. turning radius = 42 ft. turning circle.

You were only missing half of the circle. :)

Ok, I just kicked myself in the nutts for the lack of thinking. Damm!!! And Im supposed to be able to machine stuff. Been a tough week. Thanks for the schooling. I KNEW I was missing something. Seems to be some brain cells. Thanks for the wake up call :) Thanks alot guys!!!!! I love this place!!! JR