Mayf, what if there was no steering at all. I
mean in the traditional sense. Both wheeled and
tracked tractors have split brakes, and a few
years ago dune buggies had split brakes to make
them turn sharper. It would seem that at higher
speeds, very slight brake input to one side or
the other should be sufficient to steer the car.
Dick J
--- "Lawrence E. & Cathy R. Mayfield"
<lemay@hiwaay.net> wrote:
> Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 16:21:14
> To: land-speed@auox.team.net
> From: "Lawrence E. & Cathy R. Mayfield"
> <lemay@hiwaay.net>
> Subject: Front and Rear Steering Thoughts...
>
> Wow, what an interesting thread! I sat down a
> few moments ago to think
> about all that I had read on the thread and to
> see if what I had read I
> understood. First, there were many thoughts
> about why do a rear steer if it
> is not needed? What are the benefits. Well I
> assumed that rear steer was
> being used (thought about) because the wheels
> in front are pulling the car
> instead of pushing it. Being able to steer from
> the rear wheels would seem
> to reduce the complexity at the front by
> reducing the steering knuckle set
> ups, CV joints or u joints, etc. Putting the
> steering at the back wheels
> seems so logical in this case because we would
> then just be running the car
> backwards so to speak. And we all have had some
> sort of experience in
> backing up..most of the time we make mistakes
> (you ought to see my driveway
> - car tracks over the lawn on both sides). I
> attribute this to looking over
> my shoulder while going backwards. But in a
> purpose designed car I would
> hope to be facing forward! So what is it that
> makes this so difficult.
> There was some thoughts about the facts that
> the drive wheels arrive at the
> corner first and we have to think ahead to make
> it work right. For sure!
> However, I don't think this is the reason
> straight line cars experience
> difficulty.
>
> Danger Warning Will Robinson...read at your
> own peril....outlandish
> thoughts from here on...
>
> Ok, now that the disclaimer is out of the way,
> here is what I think. We
> all grew up being taught that in a skid we need
> to turn the front whel into
> the skid to regain contro. And why is that,
> well after drawing a small free
> body diagram, I see that when the front
> steering wheels are turned in the
> direction of skid the rear drive wheels tend to
> drive the car into that
> direction giving directional control back to
> the driver. Thia is all pretty
> straight forward.
>
> Now what happens when a front drive rear steer
> goes into a skid. Our
> training says to turn into the skid. Right? So
> if we turn into the skid,
> the drive wheels pull the car even farther off
> into the skid. This most
> obviously causes consternation and a lot of
> over correction. The truth is,
> that in a rear steer car the steering wheels
> must be turned away from the
> skid not into it. That way the drive wheels
> will pull the rear of the car
> around and back into directional control.
>
> One list member correctly, I believe, hit the
> nail on the head. It is all
> what we grew up with. Had we been driving rear
> steer all along, we would be
> having this discussion about front steer! I
> think that a well designed car
> with the driver brainwashed into the correct
> manuevers to get out of spins
> and skids would fare just as well as any other
> car.
>
> Would there be any interest into building a
> small go kart size test
> vehicle? Heck even a go hart would work. Just
> need to put the driver and
> control in so that the driver faces the "front"
> drive wheels and rig the
> steering. The get out on the skid pad with some
> wet skids and see how to
> control? Heck, maybe this is my "barstool" pit
> machine...
>
> Control is now returned to the reader.
>
> mayf (with migraine so thoughts may be fuzzy)
>
>
>
> L.E. Mayfield
> 124 Maximillion Drive
> Madison, Al. 35758-8171
> ph: 1-256-837-1051
>
> http://home.hiwaay.net/~lemay
>
> lemay@hiwaay.net
>
> Sunbeam Tiger, B9471136
> Sunbeam Alpine Bonneville Land Speed Racer,
> '66 Hydroplane Drag Boat (390 FE)
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