Dave and Shaun. I did the conversion, and here are the results.
First, I have 15" Panasports, with 195-50 tires, and am using a 14" steering
wheel. The front end has been completely rebuilt, and the car have been
aligned. See my article in the Tiger United site.
I measured the ackerman angle after I did the conversion on turntables, and it
brings the ackerman angle back to about zero. I don't have my shop manual
handy, but the ackerman angle was in the wrong direction, by about 3 degrees,
resulting in problems discussed many times before.
Any way, this is a vast improvement, but will not make up for a suspension
system that is not in good condition. Just rebuild it, so that you know what
you are dealing with as a base line. After all the car is over 35 years old.
As far as steering, at rest, the steering wheel is hard to turn. Once moving,
there is no problem at all. Sort of like a pickup, before power steering.
The MG Midget R&P is a much quicker ratio. My memory is that the Tiger is a
3.7:1 lock to lock, and the Midget is 2.7:1. I fitted my R&P with a grease
fitting, and of course new boots. I use Mobil 1 in the R&P for a lubricant,
and can add to it at any time.
On the road, the car and the steering is not twitchy, tracks well, and at 80
mph, you could take your hands off the wheel and it will not move on you.
This is first really due to a good alignment, and a suspension that is good,
and then no inherent problems with the kit and set up.
Bottom line, I would do it again. But first, get your stock suspension in good
shape. Rebuild everything, install the kit, and get it aligned properly, and
that is with you, the driver sitting in the car, as the caster and camber will
change.
The ackerman kit significantly corrects an inherent design problem, but it will
not solve a bad suspension.
Larry
Shaun Laughy wrote:
> Actually, I'd also really like to hear about this from someone who has done
> it. What is the end result? Dale has kindly given me some information
> about the mod and has said that Ackerman is largely addressed by the change.
> He has also said that the resulting steering ratio is much quicker. I'm
> just wondering if someone can give some post-project driving impressions
> regarding improvements in handling and impact on steering effort. Thanks
> for any info.
>
> Shaun
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-tigers@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-tigers@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of sosnaenergyconsulting@cox.net
> Sent: February 17, 2002 8:44 PM
> To: Tiger Mailing List
> Subject: Assistance
>
> Hi:
> Anybody out there who has done Dale A.'s Ackerman fix with the MGB
> steering arms and STOCK 13" diameter rims?
> If so, I'd appreciate it if you'd contact me off list--I could use some
> input.
>
> Regards
>
> David Sosna
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