Quote:
Originally Posted by ram It is true that they are raised up. That is a side-effect. |
When was it ever claimed that this was not a side-effect. Read my original post, It was simply being asked if people have observed the lifting effect. Quote:
Originally Posted by ram That part is not correct. The wheels center themselves because of caster (castor:Brit).
Even were the wheels to be thin discs, they would still center themselves because of caster!
Do you realize, you are dismissing the classic caster explanation.
We are not discussing why the vehicle turns. We are discussing why it returns to straight-ahead after the turn.
The reason is "caster". The whole purpose of why automobile engineering builds caster into the steering-geometry at all is missing in your reasoning! |
I think the whole lot of the posts above was based on "caster" (castor:Brit) itself. (I dont guess we were discussing Camber by any chance) So where is the confusion. What was being discussed was how caster goes about adding to the centering effect, castor gives rise to lifting which gives rise to "tendency" to center. (However this "tendency" is not dictated by caster alone). Quote:
Originally Posted by ram Aside: I learned about these concepts by playing with different amounts of steer, different caster angles, different camber angles and different toe-in/toe-out angles as a kid. When I was a kid, my father got me from Russia, a tractor model construction kit. It had re-usable painted steel parts, plates, angle girders, wheels, tires, axles and gears, with nuts and bolts to connect the pieces. You could build a front-engined tractor and a rear engined tractor, with working steering gear.
Ram |
Wow, you're one of the lucky few in this country. Quote:
Originally Posted by ram Before people bring up the camber angle issue, protesting that I don't understand steering geometry, let me state this! |
No body will protest as we are all trying to understand something or the other, if we understood everything we did not need to be on the forum. Quote:
Originally Posted by ram Suspension geometry works in three-dimensions. Caster, Camber and Toe all work in mutual conjunction.
I have exaggerated my drawings to illustrate a point.
My kingpin inclination is at right angles to the vertical.
Actual displacements will be proportional to the cosine of the kingpin inclination from the vertical, and therefore smaller than those illustrated. The diagrams nevertheless illustrate the effects of positive caster.
Camber significantly reduces the lifing effect of the distance between the kingpin axis and the outer edge of the tire contact patch. The downward extension of the kingpin axis should ideally pass through the centroid of the tire contact patch to lighten steering effort.
Ram |
Agree to this. However my discussion on posts above was trying to explain the lifting effect caused by Caster (castor:Brit). I did not discuss the Camber. I assume you already know, but still stating this, that the purpose of "camber" is not only to reduce the lifting effects of caster but also to enhance grip/handling while cornering.
But this thread is becoming a great Steering geometry discussion and I guess should not be limited to the confines of the 1973 President.
Last edited by 1100D : 19th July 2007 at 20:00.
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