Why front steer not rear steer?

[billium]

All the builds I see have front steer, tie rod and steering arm in the front of the wheel center line.
Is there an advantage? I would think rear steer would be better because the tie rods are within the a-arms for protection.
I will have front steer in my car but that is only for foot room.

[f1prerun]

If you are runing powersteering or hydralic you can run both; all you have to do is swap the lines. If you run a "normal" rack in the rear, it would turn the opposite; you turn left car goes right etc.. I guess it could be fun watching your passengers reaction.

[nutnbolt2002]

You can mount your rack upside down.

Ted

[diirk]

IMO, I think that front steer would be stronger. If you hit something with your front tire with rear-steer, the tie rod bends in a heartbeat. With front steer, it would be a lot harder to bend.

My RR has rear steer, mainly due to limited space, but I've bent my tie rods a number of times. I will be replacing them with something stronger, but then I'll have to worry about where the stress is being transfered.

[Greg@desertkarts]

Originally Posted by diirk

IMO, I think that front steer would be stronger. If you hit something with your front tire with rear-steer, the tie rod bends in a heartbeat. With front steer, it would be a lot harder to bend.

My RR has rear steer, mainly due to limited space, but I've bent my tie rods a number of times. I will be replacing them with something stronger, but then I'll have to worry about where the stress is being transfered.

That is correct. The tie rod under tension lasts longer than one under load. Some racks can be flipped, some are designed to push from the rear others only work in the front. Having it in front also gives you more room.

[dirtguy]

I was under the impression that rack and pinion steering boxes are like straight cut gears only flat. So, they shouldn't know if they're pulling or pushing.

In road racing there is a following for each type of steering. Some front steer guys say the 'turn in' is sharper. Rear steer guys sy that it's more accurate on speedways.

But nobody ever said anything about directional racks.

I heard it was strictly for packaging.

DG

[Greg@desertkarts]

[quote="dirtguy"]I was under the impression that rack and pinion steering boxes are like straight cut gears only flat. So, they shouldn't know if they're pulling or pushing.

The rack does not care either way. When you hit something big with the tire, the tie rod in a rear steer will some times fold. Pretty common in Baja Bugs on the long side. If the tie rod runs along the front the rod will not stretch, it just pulls the wheel out of your hands. I'm not saying they never fail, just the rear steer tie rods are more likely to fold.

There are many racks. Baja Bug rear center, not a good candidate for conversion. Some front steer racks are best not converted either.

[dirtguy]

Greg,
With all due respect, all equal length racks can be flipped and run on either side. They're not particular. Even the powered ones.

Just have to makes the mounts to do it!

DG

[Greg@desertkarts]

Originally Posted by dirtguy

Greg,
With all due respect, all equal length racks can be flipped and run on either side. They're not particular. Even the powered ones.

Just have to makes the mounts to do it!

DG

"Equal length" must be the qualifier because I have two racks here in the shop that are clearly for a specific application. Both are center load.

[dirtguy]

Most road race asphalt racks are biased for one side or the other. For some reason, they're not too popular for sand stuff. Maybe they're just too wide for our suspension mounts. Or not durable enuff.


DG