[Kartbuilding] go kart steering question
Stephen Burke
sburke at burkesys.com
Mon Apr 27 20:17:22 IST 2009
Hi Rick,
The reason the steering is difficult is due to the live rear axle, to
which both rear wheels are attached.
In cars, smooth cornering is acheived by using a differential. See:
http://www.kartbuilding.net/drive/Differential.htm
On the kart you have, the reason for the problem in steering is due to:
Insufficient weight on the front wheels (as the engine is now further
towards the rear axle)
Were the new rear wheels you added wider?
On a typical kart with a solid live rear axle, when cornering, the inside
rear wheel MUST slip (read the above page). (imagine a runner on an oval
track. The distance on the inside is less.).
If you have more weight on the rear axle (as opposed to centrally based on
the kart) it will allow the front wheels to skip and hop.
It all depends on how bad the skipping and hopping of the front wheels
are. Typically on a racing track the kart is going quite fast, allowing
the rear axle to slip and slide (a little). At slow speeds it will be
difficult no matter what kart it is, with no differential. It would also
be fine on grass or gravel, as the inside rear wheel can spin more easily.
If you are on tarmac/concrete pavement then it will be very difficult to
achieve smooth cornering.
One possible solution is to change one rear wheel. Attach one of the rear
wheels to the rear axle using bearings. Essentially the kart will be one
wheel driven in this case. This will make for excellent cornering, but in
an off-road situation this would not be ideal.
How was the cornering ability of the kart before you made your changes? I
think its cornering might not have been much better at slow speeds.
I hope this information helps.
Best of luck,
-steve
On Sun, 26 Apr 2009, Rick Burger wrote:
> Steven,
>
> I just found your blog and would like to pick your brain if I could. I purchased a used go kart frame that was used for racing originally. I moved the engine from beside the seat to behind and put taller tires on. I have tried to adjust the toe to about 1/8" toe in. The cart pulls left pretty hard no matter what I do with the toe setting or centering the steering wheel. Also, when turning on pavement at slow speed, the front tires try to hop and skip. Any suggestions as to why these are happening and what I can try to fix it?
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> Rick Burger
> _________________________________________________________________
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