Ackerman Steering Theory

Ackerman Steering and Racing Oval Tracks

Many racers are becoming aware of Ackerman Steering geometry and are concerned with how it influences their race cars. Conventional Ackerman Steering was developed
around 1800 AD. Yes, 1800, not 1900. The Ackerman concept is to have all four wheels rolling around a common point during a turn.

The example above shows that the inside front tire must turn a larger number of degrees
than the outside front tire for this principle to work.
The theory was originally developed for wagon designs to keep them from skidding
crushed stone driveways.
Modern race cars will use this as a baseline and then adjust the closeness to true
Ackerman in order to maximize traction. For best efficiency, keep it as close to true
Ackerman as possible. See next 4 slides to help with the geometry.

Ackerman Linkage Set Up

Top View
Rear Mounted Rack with 4 Wheels

Ackerman Linkage Set Up

Top View
Front Mounted Rack with 4 Wheels

Ackerman Linkage Set Up

Top View
Front Mounted Rack with 3 Wheels

Ackerman Linkage Set Up

Top View
Rear Mounted Rack with 3 Wheels

Top View of Toe-in

Zero Toe
a

Positive Toe
Toe-in angle a is the angle of how much the wheels point in. Negative toe is
when the wheels point out. Rear wheel production cars have 5-20 of toe in and
front wheel drive cars have up to -20 degrees of toe out to compensate for drive
forces and bushing compliance. For maximum efficiency with a rigid suspension,
toe should be kept to near 0 with slight toe-in if the vehicle steering feels darty.

Front view of camber.

Zero Camber
c

Front View

Negative Camber
Camber angle c helps keep the flat part of the tire in contact with the
road during hard cornering. Production cars are generally -3..0 degrees.
For max efficiency keep this as close to 0 as possible.

Caster and Caster Angle

Positive Caster is the distance that the contact patch of the tire follows with
regard to the point at which the steering axis contacts the ground. Caster
determines straight line stability as well as self-centering feel. The caster
distance for an has less to do with efficiency but has a lot to do with steering
feel. Try to set caster at 1 in front of the contact patch. Negative Caster can
lead to steering instability.

Front View of
Kingpin
Angle
k

r
Kingpin angle k is the angle from the front view that goes through the steering
axis. Kingpin angle influences on center feel and straight line stability. r is the
kingpin offset or steering offset. r influences steering feel and dictates forces
applied to the steering during braking. For maximum efficiency, minimize r, but
do not have k above 7 or so degrees. Large values for k create high steering
effort.