|
Ascot Roadster |
Steering and Steering Rack |
The Ascot Roadster uses a front steer, rack and pinion system. It is a lightweight, alloy unit. The ratio used is consistent with a short wheelbase, high horsepower vehicle.
The steering rack is mounted in rubber shock mounts to isolate road shock, but still offer the necessary confidence building steering feedback.
The rack mounting location is dictated by the overall front suspension geometry and is placed to eliminate bump steer of the loaded wheel. The system is designed to induce a small amount of toe out of the loaded wheel in chassis roll. This is used to require to driver to input more steering into a corner, when the car is being driven at the limits. The designer has found that this system is extremely comfortable to drivers pressing the chassis for full performance.
|
|
Steering rack mounting positions on chassis. Front chassis rail is non load bearing and is cut out and boxed to allow the rack to mount in the proper geometry. Note the motor mount plate and vibration isolation mounts at the top of the picture. |
|
|
Alloy steering rack mounted to the chassis. Rubber cushions surround the rack to provide vibration isolation without the loss of steering feel. Motor mounts are visible in the top of the picture. |
|
|
Suspension geometry design required additional length be added to the commercial tie rod ends. This is accomplished economically by fabricating a threaded extension and TIG welding in place on the tie rod. Tie rod end is placed under water for this operation. See below. |
|
|
Tie rod extension pieces necessary to accomplish the desired steering geometry, using off the shelf GM tie rods and steering rack. The tie rod extension is internally threaded and welded to the tie rod. Threading is done as an alignment and safety measure. Welding is done by TIG and is accomplished with the tie rod partially submerged in water to prevent damage to the heat treating. |
|
|
Completed tie rod assembly with proper extension. This allowed a GM off the shelf rack and pinion and tie rod assembly to be used. The necessary modification is simple, safe, repeatable and very cost effective. |
Home Concept Body Frame Chassis Steering Motor Trans Mount Dash Color Study
