Front Axle & Steering

Geometry

Introduction
Primary function of the steering
system is to achieve angular motion
of the front wheels to take a turn.
This is done through linkage and
steering gear which convert the
rotary motion of the steering wheel
into angular motion of the front road
wheels.

Secondary functions
To provide directional stability of the
vehicle when going straight ahead.
2. To provide perfect steering condition
i.e perfect rolling motion of the road
wheels at all times .
3. To facilitate straight a head recovery
after completing a turn.
4. To minimize tyre wear.
1.

Requirements of a good
steering system

The steering mechanism should be

very accurate and easy to handle.
The effort required to steer should
be minimal and must not be
tiresome to the driver.
The steering mechanism should also
provide directional stability. This
implies that the vehicle should have
a tendency to return to its straight
ahead position after turning.

Front Axle
Conventionally front axle is a
dead axle. But its true for only
heavy vehicles now a days.
For four wheel drive vehicles and
most of the cars, it is a live axle.
In case of a dead axle the front
axle beam is usually a drop
forging of steel.

Material : steels used for this are 0.4%

carbon steel or 0.3% nickel steel.
Loads Acting : it has to take bending
loads due to weight of the vehicle and
also torque loads due to braking of
the wheels.
Hence it is made of I- section in the
central portion, while the ends are
made either circular or elliptical.
A downward sweep is given to the
centre portion to keep a low chassis
height.

Stub Axle
The

main axle beam is connected to

the stub axle by means of king pins
and front road wheels are mounted
on these stub axles.
Stub axle can have any of the four
types of shapes:
1.Elliot
2.Reversed Elliot
3.Lamoine
4.Reversed lamoine

Wheel Alignment
Positioning of the steered
wheels to achieve the following
is termed as wheel alignment:
1.Directional stability during
straight a head position.
2.Perfect rolling condition on
steering.
3.Recovery after completing the
turn.

Toe in & Toe out

Toe In: in the event if the front
wheels of a vehicle are pointing
inward when the vehicle is
moving on a straight road, they
are said to toe in.
Toe Out: in the event if the front
wheels of a vehicle are pointing
outward when the vehicle is
moving on a straight road, they
are said to toe out.

Set back distance and

Thrust angle

It is a condition in which one wheel

on an axle is infront of or behind the
other wheel in relaton to the chassis
frame.
A set back of less than 6mm is
considered normal tolerance by some
manufacturers.

Thrust Angle: it is the

angle made by the thrust
line with the longitudinal
centre line of the vehicle.
It should be zero.
If the thrust angle is not
zero, the vehicle will dog
track and steering wheel
will not be centred.

Factors influencing the stability

and control of vehicle.
The factors are as follows:
1. Factors pertaining to wheels
2. Steering geometry
3. Steering linkage
4. Suspension system

Factors Pertaining to wheels

Balance of wheels: if the wheels are not in
dynamic balance, the wheel wobble may
result, which influences steering control.
Inflation of tyres: the steering system is
designed for a particular rolling radius.
Variation of air pressure from the standard
prescribed will change the rolling radius.
Brake Adjustment: if the brake is not
adjusted properly, i.e if it is draging, it can
pull the vehicle to one side while braking.

Steering Geometry
Camber: Camber is the tilt of the car
wheels from the vertical. Camber is
positive if the tilt is outward at the top.
It is also called wheel rake.
A positive camber causes the wheels to
toe out and the negative camber causes
it to toe in.
However initial positive camber is
provided to the wheels so that when the
vehicle is loaded, they automatically
come to a vertical position.

 Camber should not

generally exceed 2,
however the exact
amount of camber is
specified taking into
account the king pin
inclination.
Castor: The angle
between the king
pin centre line (SAI)
and the vertical, in
the plane of the
wheel is called the
castor angle.

King Pin Inclination

Inclination of the king pin from vertical is
called the king pin inclination or king pin
rake.
In modern cars where the king pin has
been replaced by the ball joints, this
term has also been renamed as steering
axis inclination.
It is defined as the inclination of the ball
joint axis from the vertical.
Steering axis is an imaginary line drawn
through the lower and upper steering
pivot points.

King pin inclination: Inclination of king pin from

vertical is called the king pin inclination or king
pin rake.
Pin replaced by Ball joints
Renamed as Steering Axis Inclination defined as
ball joint axis from the vertical.
SAI is an imaginary line drawn through the lower
and upper steering pivot points.
It is non adjustable, since it would change only if
the wheel spindle or steering knuckle are bent.
Effect: helps the straight ahead recovery, thus
providing directional stability.
Amount: about 7 to 8 degrees. However exact
amount is decided considering the wheel rake
value.

 Effect: king pin inclination helps the

straight ahead recovery, thus
providing directional stability.
When the vehicle takes a turn, the
inclination of king pin causes the
vehicle body to move up, in relation
to the wheels. As soon as the
steering wheel is left after the turn
is completed, the weight of the
vehicle tends to return the wheels
to the straight a head position.
Amount : about 7 to 8.

Combined angle & scrub

Radius
Combined angle or included angle is the
angle formed in the vertical plane between
the wheel centre line and the king pin centre
line (steering axis)
It is equal to camber plus king pin inclination.
The forward tractive force acts at the point
on the road where the steering axis or the
king pin axis meets when projected, the road
resistance acts at the wheel contact point on
the road.
The distance between the two points is called
scrub radius.

Effects: the point of intersection of

the wheel and the king pin centre
lines
Above the ground (negative scrub
radius) causes to toe in.
Just at the ground (zero scrub
radius) no effect.
Below the ground ( positive scrub
radius) causes to toe out.
Combined angle may be 9-10 sand
the scrub radius

Castor
The angle between the king pin
centreline (or steering axis) and the
vertical, in the plane of the wheel is
called the castor angle.
If the the king pin centre line meets the
ground at a point a head of the
vertical wheel center line, it is called
positive castor while if it is behind
the vertical wheel centre line, it is
called negative castor.

Castor
Effect: in rear wheel drive vehicles, the
steering axis pulls the front tyres, whereas
the tyre drag on account of the vehicle is on
the vertical line at the centre of the footprint.
Since in positive castor steering axis would
meet the ground ahead of the centre of tyre
print, the later would always follow the
former.
Thus positive castor on the car wheels
provides directional stability, i.e straight line
trackings is improved.
How ever positive castor increases the effort
required to turn the steering wheel.

Castor
In case of negative castor steering
would be unstable i.e there would be
poor directional control, as the centre
of the tyre print leads the steering
axis.
Extremely negative castor would
cause
wheel
shimmy
and
consequently cupped wear of front
tyres.
About 3 of castor gives good results.

Steering System
components
The manual steering system consists of
Steering
Steering
Steering
Steering
Steering

wheel
column
shaft
gear
linkages and wheels.
Rotation of steering wheel is transmitted
via the steering gear to the arms or
rods of the steering linkage.
The steering linkage turn the steerable
wheels.

Steering linkage

Pit man arm or drop arm

Ball joints
Drag link
Steering arm
Spindle
Tie rod
King pin assembly

Pit man Arm: Converts the out put torque

from the steering gear into a force to
the drag link.
Attached to secondary shaft of steering
gear by a split joint.
End of pit man which connects the drag
link has a tapered hole in it.
Ball joint: used on both ends of drag link
and tie rod.
These take care of angular displacement
and rotational movement of drag link &
tie rod, which are caused by the front
wheel rotation and suspension
articulation.

Left spindle & king pin: the torque from the

steering arm rotates the left spindle, wheel and
tyre about the king pin.
Left tie rod arm: converts the torque available to
turn the right wheel into a force in the tie rod.
Tie rod: The tie rod is a tubular member which
connects the left and right tie rod arms.
Tie rod ends have female threads and these are
in mating with male threads of ball joint shafts.
Right tie rod arm, spindle and king pin: it is
mirror of left.
Converts the force from the tie rod into a
moment to turn through the knuckle arm, right
spindle wheel and the tyre about the king pin.

Steering Stops: used to limit the angular

deflections of the front wheels.
Purpose of these stops is to avoid rubbing of
tyres against the frame which would cause
wear and tear of tyres.
Placed in path of motion of the steering arm or
drop arm.
Placed in path of motion of steering knuckle.
Steering Wheel: made of armature comprised of
a screw machined hub with metal spokes and
rim.
Armature surrounded by a moulded rubber or
plastic material.
Wheel of large dia helps to convert the available
driver rim pull into max input torque.

Rack-and-pinion Steering

Rack-and-pinion
steering is quickly
becoming the most
common
type
of
steering on cars, small
trucks and SUVs.
A
rack-and-pinion
gearset is enclosed in a
metal tube, with each
end
of
the
rack
protruding from the
tube. A rod, called a
tie rod, connects to
each end of the rack.

The pinion gear is attached to the steering

shaft. When you turn the steering wheel, the
gear spins, moving the rack. The tie rod at each
end of the rack connects to the steering arm on
the spindle.
The rack-and-pinion gearset does two things:
It converts the rotational motion of the steering
wheel into the linear motion needed to turn the
wheels.
It provides a gear reduction, making it easier to
turn the wheels.
On most cars, it takes three to four complete
revolutions of the steering wheel to make the
wheels turn from lock to lock (from far left to far
right).

The steering ratio is the ratio of how far you

turn the steering wheel to how far the wheels
turn or (turning angles of the stub axle.)
For instance, if one complete revolution (360
degrees) of the steering wheel results in the
wheels of the car turning 20 degrees, then the
steering ratio is 360 divided by 20, or 18:1.
A higher ratio means that you have to turn the
steering wheel more to get the wheels to turn
a given distance. However, less effort is
required because of the higher gear ratio.
The steering ratios generally used with the
present day steering gears vary from about
12:1 for cars to about 35:1 for heavy vehicles.

 Generally, lighter, sportier cars have

lower steering ratios than larger cars and
trucks.
The lower ratio gives the steering a
quicker response -- you don't have to turn
the steering wheel as much to get the
wheels to turn a given distance which is
a desirable trait in sports cars.

Power rack and Pinion

When the rackand-pinion is in
a
powersteering
system,
the
rack
has
a
slightly
different
design.

Part of the rack contains a cylinder with a

piston in the middle.
The piston is connected to the rack.
There are two fluid ports, one on either side
of the piston. Supplying higher-pressure
fluid to one side of the piston forces the
piston to move, which in turn moves the
rack, providing the power assist.

Recirculating-ball Steering
Recirculatingball steering
is
used
on
many
trucks
and SUVs today.
The linkage that
turns
the
wheels
is
slightly different
than on a rackand-pinion
system.

The recirculating-ball steering gear contains a

worm gear. we can image the gear in two
parts.
The first part is a block of metal with a threaded
hole in it. This block has gear teeth cut into
the outside of it, which engage a gear that
moves the pitman arm (see diagram above).
The steering wheel connects to a threaded rod,
similar to a bolt, that sticks into the hole in the
block.
When the steering wheel turns, it turns the bolt.
Instead of twisting further into the block the
way a regular bolt would, this bolt is held fixed
so that when it spins, it moves the block,
which moves the gear that turns the wheels.

 Instead of the bolt directly engaging the

threads in the block, all of the threads are
filled with ball bearings that recirculate
through the gear as it turns.
The balls actually serve two purposes:
First, they reduce friction and wear in the
gear; second, they reduce slop in the
gear.
Slop would be felt when you change the
direction of the steering wheel -- without
the balls in the steering gear, the teeth
would come out of contact with each other
for a moment, making the steering wheel
feel loose.

Power steering in a recirculating-ball

system works similarly to a rack-andpinion system. Assist is provided by
supplying higher-pressure fluid to one
side of the block.

Power Steering
There are a couple
of
key
components
in
power steering
in addition to the
rack-and-pinion
or recirculatingball mechanism.
In
addition
it
consists of a
pump and rotary
valve

PUMP

Pump
The hydraulic power for the steering is
provided by a rotary-vane pump (see
diagram in previous slide). This pump is
driven by the car's engine via a belt and
pulley. It contains a set of retractable
vanes that spin inside an oval chamber.
As the vanes spin, they pull hydraulic fluid
from the return line at low pressure and
force it into the outlet at high pressure.
The amount of flow provided by the pump
depends on the car's engine speed.

 The pump must be designed to

provide adequate flow when the
engine is idling. As a result, the pump
moves
much
more
fluid
than
necessary when the engine is running
at faster speeds.
The pump contains a pressure-relief
valve to make sure that the pressure
does not get too high, especially at
high engine speeds when so much
fluid is being pumped.

Rotary Valve
A

power-steering system should assist

the driver only when he is exerting force
on the steering wheel (such as when
starting a turn).
When the driver is not exerting force
(such as when driving in a straight line),
the system shouldn't provide any assist.
The device that senses the force on the
steering wheel is called the rotary
valve.

 The key to the rotary valve is a torsion

bar. The torsion bar is a thin rod of metal
that twists when torque is applied to it.
The top of the bar is connected to the
steering wheel, and the bottom of the bar
is connected to the pinion or worm gear
(which turns the wheels), so the amount
of torque in the torsion bar is equal to the
amount of torque the driver is using to
turn the wheels.
The more torque the driver uses to turn
the wheels, the more the bar twists.

 The input from the steering shaft forms

the inner part of a spool-valve
assembly.
It also connects to the top end of the
torsion bar. The bottom of the torsion
bar connects to the outer part of the
spool valve.
The torsion bar also turns the output of
the steering gear, connecting to either
the pinion gear or the worm gear
depending on which type of steering the
car has.

 As the bar twists, it rotates the inside of the

spool valve relative to the outside. Since the
inner part of the spool valve is also connected
to the steering shaft (and therefore to the
steering wheel), the amount of rotation
between the inner and outer parts of the spool
valve depends on how much torque the driver
applies to the steering wheel.
When the steering wheel is not being turned,
both hydraulic lines provide the same amount
of pressure to the steering gear. But if the
spool valve is turned one way or the other,
ports open up to provide high-pressure fluid to
the appropriate line.

The Future of Power

Steering

Since the power-steering pump on most

cars today runs constantly, pumping fluid
all the time, it wastes horsepower. This
wasted power translates into wasted fuel.
One of the coolest ideas on the drawing
board is the "steer-by-wire" or "drive-bywire" system. These systems would
completely
eliminate
the
mechanical
connection between the steering wheel and
the steering, replacing it with a purely
electronic control system.

 General Motors has introduced a

concept car, the Hy-wire, that
features this type of driving system.
One of the most exciting things
about the drive-by-wire system in the
GM Hy-wire is that you can fine-tune
vehicle handling without changing
anything in the car's mechanical
components -- all it takes to adjust
the steering is some new computer
software.