F/R Track Width

[Section 8]

What is the reason for the difference in track width front vs rear in buggies?

Sometimes I see that the frnt is wider than the rear

The front track is the same as the rear track (this is rare, the middleof the front tire is in line with the middle of the rear tire, making the overall width more in the rear, but the actual wheel mounting faces are narrower in the rear to compensate for the MUCH wider tires, I hope this makes sense )

Then the rear is just wider than the front, usually because the wheel mounting faces are equal front to rear, or just plain wider in the rear.

Of course wheel offset has something to do with this, but only a little bit.

Why so many different paths to the same end? Does it even matter that much?

[K-fab]

Good question!

I may be very, very wrong (and someone will come along and slap my silly arse because of it), but as I recall, when you start getting a rear track width that's close(r) to the front, the car tends to become squirrelly as the speeds increase.

Why? I have no clue.

I did have a ride that had very close track widths (and the wheelbase wasn't very much longer than the OAL of the car) and it was a handful at higher speeds. Slower, tight, twisty stuff it was killer and handled like it was a slot car, but the faster it went, the whiter my knuckles would tend to get.

[standfast]

I like the rear just a bit more narrow than the front. Seems to turn much better. The toe in in the rear should stabilize the high speed stuff.

[Bugpac]

My car is wider in the rear and i could literally let go off the wheel at 50-60mph in the mud...I think there is a lot of other factors to go with it...It also turns very well imo on the track etc, it does have a rather high caster number as well...

[tooltime]

I like to have front wider than rear in tight woods. If I can get front thru without hitting trees rear will follow. I had problem with car set up opposite. Tim

[nutnbolt2002]

I think that a wider front end would be more stable at high speeds.

[nutz4sand]

For what its worth I have seen a lot of RC setup pages that say a wider front end makes a unit steer better. It may be a leverage thing. The longer the lever (suspension arm) the more force it tends to be able to exert on the chassis.

I have seen a lot thats says thats why drag racers are narrow in the tail end. With the rear tires close to the center if one gets more traction for some reason then it will tend not to push the machine to one side as bad as a setup with a wider rear end. Once gain its a leverage thing.

(I also here that a shorted rear end make for less axle twist which helps draggers in several ways) Bill

[trojan]

From a design perspective, all other things being equal, there are two effects: manoeuvrability (handling) and stability (speed).
Handling: with a wider front the vehicle will have a tendency for over-steer while a narrower front it will tend toward under-steer.
Speed: a narrower front will give more stability at higher speeds over a wider front.
Generally the two effects work against each other and the trick is to get the sweet spot that suits the application.

[weasel]

I noticed on my full size erector-set model for my frontend, that I'm losing about 8" of trac width at full droop. Either I need a re-design of the model or make her a little wider up'dere.

[Section 8]

Why are you concerned about your full droop width? You wouldn't be loseing all that at ride height.