Dr. StrangeAckerman, or how I learned to stop worrying and make my own steering arms.

Not sure this is tech or not, but I figured it's worth sharing.

I am running an underslung suspension setup, and to get everything to sit the way I wanted it, I had to flip the steering arms to the front. When you do this, your Ackerman gets all screwed up. As a certified dork I could not live with that. I decided to just bite the bullet and make a new set of steering arms to get everything sitting proper.

First, I had a local metal place take my templates and cut the shape out of 1" plate.

Next, I went to a friend's house and cut the area for the tie rod hole, because it was way too thick. I also cut some really rough steps in order to get it closer to the shape I wanted.

Then, I went over to another friend's house and he helped me drill all of the holes and taper ream the tie rod hole. Actually, he did most of the work while I talked about something trivial like unicorns or shoes. Thanks for the help Paul.

All that was left was a crapload of grinding. I had to grind alot to get the clearances right, and to make it pretty, but I think it turned out nicely. It sure is alot beefier than some flimsy arm you get from Speedway, plus my handling should be better and my tires will last longer. It wasn't really hard to do, I think anyone could do it if they have a couple cool friends.

 

WOW, Very nice!

 

Nice sculpture!
Pure art all the way!

 

good work man.

nice to see someone else apart from me who thinks about problems like this and adresses them accordingly, instead of ignoring them and saying 'it rides just fine' like most do.....

 

john

you and your steering arms are so dreamy..

nick's got nothin on you..

 

Wow!! Lots of grinding there.You're not just another pretty face .

 

Nice work. I might be forced to run frontward pointed steering arms on my T and was thinking about extending and turning them around the outside of the drums. I don't think I'd have quite enough wheel clearance to get the Akerman right...but a little better would be good.

What are you going to run for wheels that'll clear that? I don't think a 16" will?

 

I think Nick and I are neck and neck, really.

It took a few hours to do it, but you know the ladies like a guy that can grind.

Not sure if a 16" will clear. I'm running some 19" wheels that don't have much offset. I'll take a closer look tomorrow.

 

Cool, I like thinking about unicorns and shoes too.

 

are you talking about me? you must be talking about me. I dont see anyone else named nick posting in this thread so you must be talking about me.

Thats fucking awesome. I should start calling you "lil jon"

you are gonna be in detroit, right?

 

Hay,nice job,those look real cool and will work great .
More them a few years back,had made some of my own kindcof shorter arms for front steer, so, I made a pocket into the backing plate,the rims were smaller then yours,so no room out side .
Just a nother way to skin that cat.



I'm still hunting left side rear 28 roadster rear quarter,don't mianed bad rust at base,& or body top of wheel well & beside trunk lid,

 

Yeah, I'm going to cut out of work around noon Friday and head up there.

Damn, that's a great idea.

 

I am not a fan of front steering because so many people just do it the easy way which is also the wrong way. When someone does it the right way PLUS makes a pair of really outstanding steering arms it is great to see. Really nice job!!!!

Rex

 

How much clearence do you have to wheel and tire comming that far out? I did something close to that on our race car and I really should have extended my arms. But it doe's work.{ Nice arms}.--TV

 

The end of the steering arm isn't gonna hit your tire, is it?

 

Only problem I can see is you now need to make a matching steering arm to replace that hairpin now! Looking kinda puny beside your artwork.

 

wow

you need an "Ain't Skeerd" sticker for sure.

good job.

 

Great work. I hate seeing front tie rods become the front bumper.

 

Hijack...Can someone explain how front facing tierod screws up the ackerman. I think ackerman is ...the inside tire turning farther than the outside because the radius of the circle is smaller on the inside. Why would it affect it?

 

I wish you hadn't said that. That's going to bug the hell out of me now. Bastard.

 

vey nice. it proves there really is talent in indiana.

 

YOU! HED!
GET IN THERE AND FIX YER WEE HAIRRRRPIN!

seriously,though. it looks killer. and the hairpin is fine.

 

Hahahaha! Sorry. But you know I'm right....

Still what do I know. I run a spring in front on my T. And that "never looks right" or so I've heard?!

 

That´s not all, there's more. Steerings arms should point to the correct direction. Makes your car driveable.




Inkorekt: That's pretty clever and looks good!

 

So, If I didnt swap spindles (I have bolt on arms) and all I did waspoint the arms to the front, I didnt sacrifice ackerman. The spindles are going to pivot on the axis they were designed to pivot on, the tierod just connects the two?? I don't understand the lines drawn through the rear end c/l. Thanks, rich

 

There's alot of work in building those arms and looks great. One stupid question, Can you bolt up any tires and rims using this setup? Looks like the arms are reaching beyond the backing plates, most rims and side walls will be hitting the arms you built. Will work great with a ridiculous offset rim. Not trying to bust your bubble, just curious how the finished product will be assembled.

 

This site explains it pretty well.
http://www.nationaltbucketalliance.com/tech_info/chassis/ackerman/Ackerman.asp

 

Nice piece on steering arms but this will only work with rims that are offset sufficiently to clear the arm or with rims that have a diameter larger than 2 times the radius measurement of the steering arm.

You should point out that if are running special wheels this will work fine but what could be considered normal 14-16" wheels, there is a potential interference problem. Simply spacing the wheels out to attain necessary rim clearance will produce a steering offset measurement that usually has a negative effect on the steering dynamics of the vehicle. You seem to imply in your follow up that you have special wheels made up so this should work really well.

 

AWESOME.

I sure dig it.


I made a steering arm for my '63, but I only used 1/2" steel. Now mine seems puny.

1".....DAMN!!!! That's what I like to see. Beefy = no worries.

Beautiful too.

 

When the steering arms are in back of the spindles the tie rod end of them is aimed at the center of the third member for proper Ackermann. When they are changed to the front the tie rod end of them is aimed forward and inward.
For proper Ackermann the line drawn through the centerlines of the kingpins and the steering arm tie rod ends should intersect at the centerline of the third member, so a forward mounted steering arm must be angled to the outside to do this. The "problem" arises in wheel/tire clearance so it is either right or as close to right as possible.