what i have is a 34 ford pickup with 41 front axle .i would like to know if there is any issues wdriving down the streetith putting the drag link out front by switching the spindles side to side. i have read about the ackerman princple and understand it has to do with turning radius .what effect will it have driving down the road if any ? thanks in advance.
Not much real noticeable effect in normal down the road driving. BUT once you start turning the wheels for a corner one tire will be drug around the corner rather than rolling. NOT Recomended period!! And yes I know a lot of T Bucket guys do it,still don't make it right.
LOL..that was the point. I was poking fun... Read some of my posts on the Death Wobble thread...you'll see I don't care much for the steering dampner band aid fix.
Ya and who the fuck are you????????? Rocket scientist ????? they dont even have wheels They do work and can cure some problems.. Ive used em to cure the problem and used em just because .....so back to my question ............. Oh ya you can swap the spindles side to side although ive never run a system like that ive swapped spindles with bolt on steering arms just to hide the grease fittings well kinda.. it puts em to the rear.. ........... Dave
I'll be your best friend when I'm moppin your sawry, can't steer fer sh--t butt off the highway beeotch! LOL... What doesn't have wheels? I say, make sense thar junior beforin I can skool ya on how wrong you are bout sumpin. And just when I was thinking everyone here had their head squarely on their shoulders. Rat rod crap has no place on this site...right?
Well SIR i dont build fucking rat rods and I ask you a question figuring you were gonna tell me how come your so fucking smart.. I also stated that ive used the dampners before.. Now that was another post but id suggest if your that fucking smart show it by first contacting the guy on the dampner thread and helping him fix his car and not by computer go to his house and fix the fucking thing... Dont worry I wont reply to your reply cause i really hate fucking experts... Oh by the way other than maybe the steering begin out of wack by placing the steering arms to the front and im not versed in this the spindles are the same side to side and the camber is built into the axle so they can be swapped.. I guess id like to know about the tire scrubbing cause im missing something here ??? Did they put the king pin holes off center on the spindles?? so when you move em left to right they turn off center ??? I think not Have a nice day............. Dave
Might I suggest decaf? Go ahead, flame me...I figure you must be the local yokal around here famous for these antics...I'll go look at some of your old posts just to be sure. JUST so I cover all bases...be sure you get your click of buddies to start flaming me too, just so you do it up right...I wouldn't expect anything less than the red carpet treatment from a classy guy like you. Good day Dave...
Well DAVE ill try to clear up your confusion about "the tire scrubbing thing" the ackerman dictates that one tire must turn sharper than the other in order to turn properly. If you look at a front end whilst its turning you will be able to see this. So to answer your question about the kingpin holes, no they are drilled on center and caster is built into the axle along with camber, but both can be adjusted on straight axle setups. As far as steering dampners go they work great for what they were intended to fix, but in no way shape or form should they be used to try and fix the previously discussed topic. To the man who had the question in the first place i hope you have come to the conclusion that the steering arm out front is just not the way to go and im sure if you sit down and ponder for a bit you will come up with a way to make it look great AND be safe and correct.
Early Ford tie rods belong on back,like the factory intended. The Ackerman effect makes the inside tire turn tighter in a corner. Essentially,the wheels Toe Out in a corner. Putting it together backwards,makes the wheels Toe In during cornering. Which creates interesting problems. Lots of people have "gotten away with it",but that doesn't make it right.
Geez, a little thin-skinned, aren't we? Take a fuckin' Valium! The spindles can be swapped, but it works much better if you heat the steering arms and bend them out as far as practical without hitting the wheels. That way you get some Ackermann effect. By rights, a straight line from the kingpin center to the tie rod end should hit the rear axle dead center. That way the inside wheel turns sharper than the outside one. If you don't bend the arms, the outside wheel turns sharper, causing scrubbing. Try to get the tie rod end at least straight ahead of the kingpin, for zero Ackermann. Race cars and sporty jobs often are set up this way, 'cause they are always sliding corners, and Ackermann works against you in a powerslide.
Ok thanks for the info. No ive never put em out front and my first car was a t bucket with vega cross steering ! Ill have to work that out some day when ive got more time.. Actually its interesting but shit if im never gonna build a car that way then do i really need to satisfy my mind ????? Maybe maybe not... Gotta run got rat rods to build wait a minute ..Im gonna assume though that the front mounted steering arms can be done if made properly for proper ackerman ? Just not stock rear mounted arms placed in a front mounted situation ? Who really cares if they are front mounted or rear mounted if its done right ? oh ya the king pin holes was supposed to be a joke.. I do know they are on center and like ive said ive swapped the spindles side to side with bolt on arms just to get the grease fittings to the rear, Just an appearance thing with me Dave ok while i was typing i got my answer .. makes sense and thanks guys.. Im a little smarter now...
WOW! Seems like NOBODY can ask a question anymore without getting blasted. It would be nice to get an answer based on knowlege and experience,NOT SARCASIM!!!! Just because something will bolt on backwards,doesn't mean it will work correctly! I wouldn't take a chance with something as important as my steering! I have bought cars that some dumbass thought he could "engineer" it himself. It's your dice...you roll 'em! But ,I wouldn't experiment with it.
A lot of later model GM cars have the steering arms on front, BUT the whole steering system is designed to create the necessary Ackerman effect.Much easier with an IFS. Definitely possible,with a solid axle,not always easy.You would have to get the outer Tie Rod Ends spaced further apart than the King Pins.Without running into the brakes.
I know it's not right, to reverse them. But if you really have to do it, them by all means look at some of the later day GM stuff, and see how they worked out the problem. In a car with the axle sitting in front, you really don't want something that could bend that tie rod while you are rolling on down the road. At least in the original configuration, the tie rod is somewhat protected by the axle itself.
I have run the tie rod out front. It will scrubb a little when making u turns. The fix is to heat up steering arms and bend them out as close to the rim as possible. The Ackerman problem should be cured.
I have tried to put ackerman angles on graph paper and then run the tierod in front. It seems to work in either possition exactly the same!
Does this apply to Model A set ups as well ?? Was thinking of just unbolting teh steering arms flipping it around and attaching out front ,,as the cross rod is a thing fit in the back would leave spindles where they are
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