Thread: Last chance bucket list bucket/bobtail/modified/track-roadster

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I agree 100% on the bump steer. Designing for some "acceptable" level of bump steer is like your teenage daughter being a little bit pregnant. The Unisteer is a great product, but you can do a Vega box cross steer cheaper, and eliminate bumpsteer that way, too.

On your 4 lug/5 lug issue, lots of the speedsters in the mid to late teens had an option for TWO spares in that rear mount position. You could then carry one front, one rear and cover the bases. I still like the idea of having five lug all around, but it's not at all critical. With the size of the wheels & tires you're considering two spares might have you saying, "Does the butt look too big?"

Originally Posted by techinspector1

With all due respect, I think you'll find that ANY bumpsteer will be unacceptable unless you enjoy punishment. Been there, done that. To me, the biggest part of enjoying a car that you build yourself is having all the parts work in concert with each other in a fashion described by the OEM's designs and that includes ZERO bumpsteer.

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Originally Posted by rspears

I agree 100% on the bump steer. Designing for some "acceptable" level of bump steer is like your teenage daughter being a little bit pregnant. The Unisteer is a great product, but you can do a Vega box cross steer cheaper, and eliminate bumpsteer that way, too.

On your 4 lug/5 lug issue, lots of the speedsters in the mid to late teens had an option for TWO spares in that rear mount position. You could then carry one front, one rear and cover the bases. I still like the idea of having five lug all around, but it's not at all critical. With the size of the wheels & tires you're considering two spares might have you saying, "Does the butt look too big?"

To me, a minimal amount of dampened bump steer is like a car with understeer or oversteer...it's a trait that you learn to deal with. Very few if any production cars have ideal handling, and almost all require a learning curve to drive in less than ideal conditions. In this case I'm working with the guidance of a couple folks who combined have close to 2 decades of experience with R&P steering on solid axle cars...and myself quite a few years driving bump steering cars with insanely quick ratio steering and no dampers. Then there is the economics factor. This project is VERY low budget, and as much as possible I have to work with what I have...and I've had this R&P laying around since the mid 90s. If down the road it does not work out to my liking, I'll fall back to the DIY Unisteer configuration.

Originally Posted by Zandoz

To me, a minimal amount of dampened bump steer is like a car with understeer or oversteer...it's a trait that you learn to deal with. Very few if any production cars have ideal handling, and almost all require a learning curve to drive in less than ideal conditions. In this case I'm working with the guidance of a couple folks who combined have close to 2 decades of experience with R&P steering on solid axle cars...and myself quite a few years driving bump steering cars with insanely quick ratio steering and no dampers. Then there is the economics factor. This project is VERY low budget, and as much as possible I have to work with what I have...and I've had this R&P laying around since the mid 90s. If down the road it does not work out to my liking, I'll fall back to the DIY Unisteer configuration.

Not to beat a dead horse, but bump steer is nothing like understeer or oversteer, which are both predictable and repeatable characteristics which an accomplished driver can compensate for with power and braking in the right combination. One never knows when the bump will occur, and the amount of impact to the steering is not something one can allow for or correct, because it will change again with the rebound. Now perhaps your two "experts" will guide you to mount the rack solid to the axle like Tech pointed out, and all is OK other than it looking funny. Doing a project on a low budget is a good thing, but compromising safety is not.

Best of luck with your project.

Originally Posted by rspears

Not to beat a dead horse, but bump steer is nothing like understeer or oversteer, which are both predictable and repeatable characteristics which an accomplished driver can compensate for with power and braking in the right combination. One never knows when the bump will occur, and the amount of impact to the steering is not something one can allow for or correct, because it will change again with the rebound. Now perhaps your two "experts" will guide you to mount the rack solid to the axle like Tech pointed out, and all is OK other than it looking funny. Doing a project on a low budget is a good thing, but compromising safety is not.

Best of luck with your project.

Nope, the cars they built are all frame mount R&Ps.

If this works, I've gotten my steering for nothing. If it does not work, it will cost me a pair of steering arms and a tie rod to go DIY Unisteer...much less than it would cost to start over with either a Vega or genuine Unisteer set up.