Toymods Car Club Inc: Tech & Conversions => increases in track width -good / bad?

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Toobs
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I Supported Toymods

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December 2002

Re: increases in track width -good / bad?	Sat, 30 April 2005 08:51

I wouldn't go changing the front track without first consulting an engineer. This is the problem as I see it. Before the diagram is of any use to illustrate you must remember that the manufacturers of all vehicles work very hard to ensure the suspension geometry is such that the "tyre contact patch" (i.e. where the tyre contacts the road) stays in the same place whether the car is going straight or turning a corner. Essentially the "tyre contact patch" is the pivot point for the whole setup. Now if you were to move the tyre contact patch out a few inches from where it is supposed to be (due to incorrect offset) your contact patch will vary in an arc around the original contact patch thus it will not be constant throughout its range of movement. As you now have a variable contact patch your steering is no longer linear as it should have been from factory. The resultant "feel" you will get through the steering wheel is similar to if you had major play in your steering rack. i.e. there will be a dead spot when you go to turn the steering wheel. Now you "may" be able to correct some of this by altering caster/camber/toe settings. If you change your front track by a large amount you may find that the problem can not be totally corrected in the limited range of alignment available from the factory setup. Now although a lot of people will refer to this "dead spot" as "bump steer" but I do not believe that is correct. Bump steer is usually caused by poor wheel alignment, usually major toe problems (toe in or toe out). What happens is that if one wheel loses grip from the road momentarily (e.g. because of a bump in the road) the car will start to turn by itself. Imagine that you have a toe out problem i.e. your front wheels look like this \ / If your left wheel loses contact from the road then the car will start moving towards the right. If the right wheel lost contact from the road the car will move to the left. The inverse will be true if you have a toe in problem. i.e. your front wheels look like this / \ If anyone knows the technical term for a "dead spot" caused by an altered front track please post up (/me looks towards norbie) Also I am not an alignment expert so I may have oversimplified the problem or even be totally misinformed, however, if I were considering changing my front track I would definately want to talk to a good engineer about the possible issue I have mentioned above. [Report message to a moderator]

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