Steering Arm Angles

[Trialboy]

Hello all,

I have been looking at the front steering & suspension on my Jago and noticed that the front steering arms are at a very severe angle between the rack and hubs as they enter the steering arm from the underside.
I decided to swap the steering arms over from side to side (Mk1 escort hubs are bolt on) so that the track rod ends enter the arm from the top and not the bottom.
Excellent idea I thought as the rack arms are now straight from the rack to the hub.
I have re-tracked the front but the steering is now awful, bump steers all over the road. Does anyone have an explination for this? What have I cocked up by doing this?.
I dont really want to convert it back as there would seem to be alot of pressure on the rack ends because of the angle so I hope someone will have an explanation or remedy.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Steve.

oops!!

I have just read the Jago tech page and have set my tracking wrong to 3mm toe in & not out as the tech page suggests also I am on 15" rims so this may not be helping me either.
I will adjust the tracking but still would like to know if reversing the steering arms & fitting the track rod ends in the top is a good or bad thing.

Thanks.

>> Edited by Trialboy on Thursday 28th July 16:08

[swizz...club sec]

Mines on 14's but i'll check later which way round they are.
I think the severe angle follows the angle of the lower wishbones & is correct. Moving the steering trackrods out of this angle has probably upset the geometry (the arc of the trackrod out of sync with the arc of the wishbone) causing your bumpsteer.
Swizz...

[drseg]

the lower arms are at a steep angle to lift suspension up and so as swizz says the track rods should follow suit
sorry but you gotta put em back

[swizz...club sec]

Jago suspension yesterday.

Heres ours. As you can see the trackrod moves through the same arc as the wishbone - suspension movement therefore has little effect on the steering.

But yeah, definitely keep your tracking in check and bear in mind that as with any car - bigger & wider wheels will increase any inherent bumpsteer, as your 15's have - easy to live with though once your aware of it.

Swizz...

[Trialboy]

On well.....
Looks like I am spending Friday evening putting it all back to how it was.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.....!!!!!!!!!!!

You live and learn.

Thanks very much for your help guys,

Steve.

[techsec]

Hi Steve
Yes it is a case of putting everything back to how it was otherwise you will continue to have problems. As already mentioned both the lower suspension arm and the track rod have to follow the same arch to maintain correct geometry otherwise it gets weird.

If your arms and track rods are showing a steep angle downwards from the vehicle to the wheel it could well be you have got decent springs on the front which if you are on 15's is a good thing.