TheSteeringSystem

Steering:essentialtodriving
Elsewhereonthissiteyoucanlearnaboutalltheotherstuffthatmakesacargoandstop,sothispageiswhereyou'lllearnabouthowit
goesaroundcorners.Morespecifically,howthevarioussteeringmechanismswork.
Likemostthingsinacar,theconceptofsteeringissimpleyouturnthesteeringwheel,thefrontwheelsturnaccordingly,andthecar
changesdirection.Howthathappensthoughisnotquitesosimple.Wellitusedtobebackinthedayswhencarswerecalledhorseless
carriages,butnowadays,notsomuch.

Basicsteeringcomponents

99%oftheworld'scarsteeringsystemsaremadeupofthesamethreeorfourcomponents.Thesteeringwheel,whichconnectstothe
steeringsystem,whichconnectstothetrackrod,whichconnectstothetierods,whichconnecttothesteeringarms.Thesteering
systemcanbeoneofseveraldesigns,whichwe'llgointofurtherdownthepage,butallthedesignsessentiallymovethetrackrodleft
torightacrossthecar.Thetierodsconnecttotheendsofthetrackrodwithballandsocketjoints,andthentotheendsofthesteering
arms,alsowithballandsocketjoints.Thepurposeofthetierodsistoallowsuspensionmovementaswellasanelementof
adjustabilityinthesteeringgeometry.Thetierodlengthscannormallybechangedtoachievethesedifferentgeometries.

TheAckermannAngle
(orwhyyourwheelsdon'tpointthesamedirection)

Inthesimplestformofsteering,boththefrontwheelsalwayspointinthesamedirection.Youturnthewheel,theybothpointthesame
wayandaroundthecorneryougo.Exceptthatbydoingthis,youendupwithtyresscrubbing,lossofgripandavehiclethat'crabs'
aroundthecorner.Sowhyisthis?Well,it'sthesamethingyouneedtotakeintoconsiderationwhenlookingattransmissions.Whena
cargoesaroundacorner,theoutsidewheelstravelfurtherthantheinsidewheels.Inthecaseofatransmission,it'swhyyouneeda
differential(seetheTransmissionBible),butinthecaseofsteering,it'swhyyouneedthefrontwheelstoactuallypointindifferent
directions.OntheleftisthediagramfromtheTransmissionBible.Youcanseetheinsidewheelstravelaroundacirclewithasmaller
radius(r2)thantheoutsidewheels(r1).

Inorderforthattohappenwithoutcausingunduestresstothefrontwheelsandtyres,theymustpointatslightlydifferentanglestothe
centrelineofthecar.Thediagramtotheleftshowsthesamethingonlyzoomedintoshowtherelativeanglesofthetyrestothecar.It's

alltodowiththegeometryofcircles.Thisdifferenceofangleisachievedwitharelativelysimplearrangementofsteeringcomponents
tocreateatrapezoidgeometry(aparallelogramwithoneoftheparallelsidesshorterthantheother).Oncethisisachieved,thewheels
pointatdifferentanglesasthesteeringgeometryismoved.Mostvehiclesnowdon'tuse'pure'Ackermannsteeringgeometrybecauseit
doesn'ttakesomeofthedynamicandcomplianteffectsofsteeringandsuspensionintoaccount,butsomederivativeofthisisusedin
almostallsteeringsystems(right).

Why'Ackermann'?
Thisparticulartechnologywasfirstintroducedin1758byErasmusDarwin,fatherofCharlesDarwin,inapaperentitled"Erasmus
Darwin'simproveddesignforsteeringcarriagesandcars".Itwasneverpatentedthoughuntil1817whenRudolphAckermann
patenteditinLondon,andthat'sthenamethatstuck.

Steeringratios
Everyvehiclehasasteeringratioinherentinthedesign.Ifitdidn'tyou'dneverbeabletoturnthewheels.Steeringratiogives
mechanicaladvantagetothedriver,allowingyoutoturnthetyreswiththeweightofthewholecarsittingonthem,butmore
importantly,itmeansyoudon'thavetoturnthesteeringwheelaridiculousnumberoftimestogetthewheelstomove.Steeringratiois
theratioofthenumberofdegreesturnedatthesteeringwheelvs.thenumberofdegreesthefrontwheelsaredeflected.Soforexample,
ifyouturnthesteeringwheel20andthefrontwheelsonlyturn1,thatgivesasteeringratioof20:1.Formostmoderncars,the
steeringratioisbetween12:1and20:1.This,coupledwiththemaximumangleofdeflectionofthewheelsgivesthelocktolockturns
forthesteeringwheel.Forexample,ifacarhasasteeringratioof18:1andthefrontwheelshaveamaximumdeflectionof25,thenat
25,thesteeringwheelhasturned25x18,whichis450.That'sonlytooneside,sotheentiresteeringgoesfrom25toplus25
givingalocktolockangleatthesteeringwheelof900,or2.5turns(900/360).
Thisworkstheotherwayaroundtooofcourse.Ifyouknowthelocktolockturnsandthesteeringratio,youcanfigureoutthewheel
deflection.Forexampleifacarisadvertisedashavinga16:1steeringratioand3turnslocktolock,thenthesteeringwheelcanturn
1.5x360(540)eachway.Ataratioof16:1thatmeansthefrontwheelsdeflectby33.75eachway.
Forracingcars,thesteeringratioisnormallymuchsmallerthanforpassengercarsie.closerto1:1astheracingdriversneedtoget
fullerdeflectionintothesteeringasquicklyaspossible.

Turningcircles
Theturningcircleofacaristhediameterofthecircledescribedbytheoutsidewheelswhenturningonfulllock.Thereisnohardand
fastforumlatocalculatetheturningcirclebutyoucangetclosebyusingthis:
turningcircleradius=(track/2)+(wheelbase/sin(averagesteerangle))
ThenumbersrequiredtocalculatetheturningcircleexplainwhyaclassicblackLondontaxihasatiny8mturningcircletoallowitto
doUturnsinthenarrowLondonstreets.Inthiscase,thewheelbaseandtrackaren'tradicallydifferenttoanyothercar,buttheaverage
steeringangleishuge.Forcomparison,atypicalpassengercarturningcircleisnormallybetween11mand13mwithSUVturning
circlesgoingoutasmuchas15mto17m.
Likethesite?Thepageyou'rereadingisfree,butifyoulikewhatyouseeandfeelyou'velearnedsomething,asmalldonationtohelp
paydownmycarloanwouldbeappreciated.Thankyou.

SteeringSystemdesigns:Pitmanarmtypes
Therereallyareonlytwobasiccategoriesofsteeringsystemtodaythosethathavepitmanarmswithasteering'box'andthosethat
don't.Oldercarsandsomecurrenttrucksusepitmanarms,soforthesakeofcompleteness,I'vedocumentedsomecommontypes.
Newercarsandunibodylightdutytruckstypicallyallusesomederivativeofrackandpinionsteering.

Pitmanarmmechanismshaveasteering'box'wheretheshaftfromthesteeringwheelcomesinandaleverarmcomesoutthepitman
arm.Thispitmanarmislinkedtothetrackrodorcentrelink,whichissupportedbyidlerarms.Thetierodsconnecttothetrackrod.
Therearealargenumberofvariationsoftheactualmechanicallinkagefromdirectlinkwherethepitmanarmisconnecteddirectlyto
thetrackrod,tocompoundlinkageswhereitisconnectedtooneendofthesteeringsystemorthetrackrodviaotherrods.Theexample
hereshowsacompoundlink(left).
Mostofthesteeringboxmechanismsthatdrivethepitmanarmhavea'deadspot'inthecentreofthesteeringwhereyoucanturnthe
steeringwheelaslightamountbeforethefrontwheelsstarttoturn.Thisslackcannormallybeadjustedwithascrewmechanismbutit
can'teverbeeliminated.Thetraditionaladvantageofthesesystemsisthattheygivebiggermechanicaladvantageandthusworkwell
onheaviervehicles.Withtheadventofpowersteering,thathasbecomeamootpointandthesteeringsystemdesignisnowmoretodo
withmechanicaldesign,priceandweight.Thefollowingarethefourbasictypesofsteeringboxusedinpitmanarmsystems.

Wormandsector

Inthistypeofsteeringbox,theendoftheshaftfromthesteeringwheelhasawormgearattachedtoit.Itmeshesdirectlywithasector
gear(socalledbecauseit'sasectionofafullgearwheel).Whenthesteeringwheelisturned,theshaftturnsthewormgear,andthe
sectorgearpivotsarounditsaxisasitsteetharemovedalongthewormgear.Thesectorgearismountedonthecrossshaftwhich
passesthroughthesteeringboxandoutthebottomwhereitissplined,andthethepitmanarmisattachedtothesplines.Whenthe
sectorgearturns,itturnsthecrossshaft,whichturnsthepitmanarm,givingtheoutputmotionthatisfedintothemechanicallinkage
onthetrackrod.Thefollowingdiagramshowstheactivecomponentsthatarepresentinsidethewormandsectorsteeringbox.Thebox
itselfissealedandfilledwithgrease.

Wormandroller

Thewormandrollersteeringboxissimilarindesigntothewormandsectorbox.Thedifferencehereisthatinsteadofhavingasector
gearthatmesheswiththewormgear,thereisarollerinstead.Therollerismountedonarollerbearingshaftandisheldcaptiveonthe
endofthecrossshaft.Asthewormgearturns,therollerisforcedtomovealongitbutbecauseitisheldcaptiveonthecrossshaft,it
twiststhecrossshaft.Typicallyinthesedesigns,thewormgearisactuallyanhourglassshapesothatitiswiderattheends.Without
thehourglassshape,therollermightdisengagefromitattheextentsofitstravel.

Wormandnutorrecirculatingball

Thisisbyfarthemostcommontypeofsteeringboxforpitmanarmsystems.Inarecirculatingballsteeringbox,thewormdrivehas
manymoreturnsonitwithafinerpitch.Aboxornutisclampedoverthewormdrivethatcontainsdozensofballbearings.Theseloop
aroundthewormdriveandthenoutintoarecirculatingchannelwithinthenutwheretheyarefedbackintothewormdriveagain.
Hencerecirculating.Asthesteeringwheelisturned,thewormdriveturnsandforcestheballbearingstopressagainstthechannel
insidethenut.Thisforcesthenuttomovealongthewormdrive.Thenutitselfhasacoupleofgearteethcastintotheoutsideofitand
thesemeshwiththeteethonasectorgearwhichisattachedtothecrossshaftjustlikeinthewormandsectormechanism.Thissystem
hasmuchlessfreeplayorslackinitthantheotherdesigns,hencewhyit'susedthemost.Theexamplebelowshowsarecirculatingball
mechanismwiththenutshownincutawaysoyoucanseetheballbearingsandtherecirculationchannel.

Camandlever

Camandleversteeringboxesareverysimilartowormandsectorsteeringboxes.Thewormdriveisknownasacamandhasamuch
shallowerpitchandthesectorgearisreplacedwithtwostudsthatsitinthecamchannels.Asthewormgearisturned,thestudsslide
alongthecamchannelswhichforcesthecrossshafttorotate,turningthepitmanarm.Oneofthedesignfeaturesofthisstyleisthatit
turnsthecrossshaft90tothenormalsoitexitsthroughthesideofthesteeringboxinsteadofthebottom.Thiscanresultinavery
compactdesignwhennecessary.

SteeringSystemdesigns:Rackandpinion

Thisisbyfarthemostcommontypeofsteeringyou'llfindinanycartodayduetoit'srelativesimplicityandlowcost.Rackandpinion
systemsgiveamuchbetterfeelforthedriver,andthereisn'tthesloporslackassociatedwithsteeringboxpitmanarmtypesystems.
Thedownsideisthatunlikethosesystems,rackandpiniondesignshavenoadjustabilityinthem,sooncetheywearbeyondacertain
mechanicaltolerance,theyneedreplacingcompletely.Thisisrarethough.
Inarackandpinionsystem,thetrackrodisreplacedwiththesteeringrackwhichisalong,toothedbarwiththetierodsattachedto
eachend.Ontheendofthesteeringshaftthereisasimplepiniongearthatmesheswiththerack.Whenyouturnthesteeringwheel,the
piniongearturns,andmovestherackfromlefttoright.Changingthesizeofthepiniongearaltersthesteeringratio.Itreallyisthat
simple.Thediagramshereshowanexamplerackandpinionsystem(left)aswellasacloseupcutawayofthesteeringrackitself
(right).

Variableratiorackandpinionsteering
Thisisasimplevariationontheabovedesign.Allthecomponentsarethesame,anditallworksthesameexceptthatthespacingofthe
teethontherackvariesdependingonhowclosetothecentreoftheracktheyare.Inthemiddle,theteetharespacedclosetogetherto
giveslightsteeringforthefirstpartoftheturngoodfornotoversteeringatspeed.Astheteethgetfurtherawayfromthecentre,they
increaseinspacingslightlysothatthewheelsturnmoreforthesameturnofthesteeringwheeltowardsfulllock.Simple.

Vehicledynamicsandsteeringhowitcanallgoverywrong
Generallyspeaking,whenyouturnthesteeringwheelinyourcar,youtypicallyexpectittogowhereyou'repointingit.Atslowspeed,
thiswillalmostalwaysbethecasebutonceyougetsomemomentumbehindyou,youareatthemercyofthechassisandsuspension
designers.Inracing,theaerodynamicwings,airsplittersandundertrayshelptomaintainanevenbalanceofthevehicleincorners
alongwiththepositionoftheweightinthevehicleandthesupensionsetup.Thetwomostcommonproblemsyou'llrunintoare
understeerandoversteer.

Understeer

Understeerissocalledbecausethecarsteerslessthanyouwantitto.Understeercanbebroughtonbyallmannerofchassis,
suspensionandspeedissuesbutessentiallyitmeansthatthecarislosinggriponthefrontwheels.Typicallyithappensasyoubrake
andtheweightistransferredtothefrontofthecar.Atthispointthemechanicalgripofthefronttyrescansimplybeoverpoweredand
theystarttolosegrip(forexampleonawetorgreasyroadsurface).Theendresultisthatthecarwillstarttotakethecornerverywide.
Inracing,thatnormallyinvolvesgoingofftheoutsideofthecornerintoacatchareaorontothegrass.Innormalyouandmedriving,
itmeanscrashingattheoutsideofthecorner.Gettingoutofundersteercaninvolvelettingoffthethrottleinfrontwheeldrivevehicles
(totrytogivethetyreschancetogrip)orgettingonthethrottleinrearwheeldrivevehicles(totrytobringthebackendaround).It'sa
complextopicmoresuitedtoracingdrivingforumsbutsufficetosaythatifyou'retryingtogetoutofundersteerandyoucockitup,
youget.....

Oversteer

Thebrightonesamongstyouwillprobablyalreadyhaveguessedthatoversteeristheoppositeofundersteer.Withoversteer,thecar
goeswhereit'spointedfartooefficientlyandyouendupdivingintothecornermuchmorequicklythanyouhadexpected.Oversteeris
broughtonbythecarlosinggripontherearwheelsastheweightistransferredoffthemunderbraking,resultingintherearkickingout
inthecorner.Withoutcountersteering(seebelow)theendresultinracingisthatthecarwillspinandendupgoingofftheinsideof
thecornerbackwards.Innormalyouandmedriving,itmeansspinningthecarandendinguppointingbackthewayyoucame.

Countersteering