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Old 07-02-2009, 06:39 AM   #11 (permalink)
Gene

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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Vancouver, WA
Posts: 5,278



Default Re: ironing out the details

Stand in front of your car. Notice that if you draw a line through the top spindle mount through the bottom spindle mount that it lands more or less in the contact patch of the tire. That's good inclination.

Bad inclination is anything else.

In simple terms, Ackerman means that the outside tire turns tighter than the inside tire. That's because the outside tire must follow a different arc than the inside tire.

Use your daily driver as the example. Turn the tires fully to the right and then stand in front of the car and look at each tire. The tire to the right is turning more into the turn than the tire on the left. Now turn the wheels to the left and observe the opposite.

As the car makes a corner one wheel has a shorter distance to travel and the other wheel makes up for that with a tighter turning radius.

That's Ackerman.

If each tire turns equally then one tire is going to fight the other. You feel this as "PUSH". The car does not want to turn as easily as it would with Ackerman.

Add a live axle and PUSH is exacerbated.

Google Ackerman.
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