Thread: "dead spring perch"

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Brian, I appreciate your comments. I was really trying to make a comparison between cross-steering and side-steering.

Let's think about what happens with a cross-steer front end when you get "shackle rock". For instance, when you turn to the left, the centrifugal force will cause the shackles to swing, and the chassis will move to the right on the shackles. As the chassis moves to the right, the drag link will push on the passenger side steering arm, since the steering gear box is mounted to the frame. This will result in "oversteer", so you'll have to correct for this unplanned movement of the steering arm.

On a side-steer car, this movement of the chassis to the right during a left turn does not cause any unexpected movement of the steering arms, since the drag link is perpendicular to the movement of the frame.

In addition, at low speeds with a cross-steer car, as you turn the steering wheel to the left, the drag link pushes the passenger side steering arm to the right, and this pressure will push the frame to the left. All of these unpredictable movements in a cross-steer car can be prevented with a good panhard bar.

Side steer cars have different problems, since it is difficult to get the vertical swing arc of the drag link link to match the vertical swing arc of the front suspension. If these two arcs don't match, the difference between these arcs will cause the front end to be steered by this difference as the suspension moves up and down, or the dreaded "bump-steer". A panhard bar won't have any affect on this problem.

I have a question! Are there any of you guys out there in the Hot Rod Forum world that have a suicide front end with cross-steering? Let's hear your comments!!