Steering

mbalbritton

mbalbritton

#@$%!
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Lakeland, FL
I have a '72 Commando as well as a '98 XJ. Both are almost the same wheel base, but the XJs turning radius is half that of the damn C104. (That's not to say I attribute turning radius to wheel base).

Both are Dana30 front axles, granted they're 26 years apart. What is it that's giving me a tighter radius on the XJ? The gear box, the geometry, something about the knuckles? There has to be something I can do to the Commando so I don't have to look for the nearest empty WalMart parking lot to turn around.
 
scrub radius? steering stop bolts?
 
Scrub radius, caster, track width, steer angle, Ackermann, all have an affect for a given wheelbase. Basically it's all the things that modify how a change in wheel angle actually translates to the ground. There are equations, but you'd need to know measurements of everything to actually make use of them.

And yes, turning radius is directly related to wheelbase. That's really the biggest factor for any given steer angle.
 
On my yj, with a 60 front.

I removed steering stops and jacked up front end to see how far axle u joints would turn before bind. I then put stops back to just before steering bind.

Then to achieve this, I needed to change the mounting location of the drag link to steering arm.

Then I ended up making a custom length Pittman arm.

This got me max steering for my setup with very little cost. To get any more, I have to have the shafts machined, and then change the ram, the tie rod and drag link mount locations, and now pittman arm.

Anywho, maximize your steering angle is a good start for what your axle will handle.
 
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