Date:         Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:53:53 +1300
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject:      Re: Turning Circles in your mind. ;)
In-Reply-To:  <b45a982b0711161121x550ee693x898ae3c9b9b82a2@mail.gmail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed

>Obviously no one owns a Fiat 850 in your neighborhood.


Coupe? I had one of those. I never knew whether it was going to
understeer (actually sliding the tires) or oversteer. Rustbuckets,
but a neat little car, and a good base for a repowering project (Type
4  or, heck, Suberu, engine & trans etc), possibly midengined.

When we met my wife had a KE20 Corolla which had a real alignment
problem. The turning-circle to the left was huge. That to the
right... about 20 feet. As we are RHD here, it didn't pull badly to
one side and the tires weren't wearing badly, needless to say, we
didn't have it fixed!

I know that my unassisted 84 Caravelle has a notably small TC. I
can't see how changing the rack rods could alter the TC, unless the
PS rack is effectively wider and so can't pull the ends of the
(longer) steering rods in as close to the van's centerline as the MS
rack can. I guess it's the extra length of the rods that does it.

The larger the steeringwheel fitted, the greater the leverage and the
ease of turning the steering at lower speeds. The stock MS setup is
just too heavy with 205 car radials.

I have a PS rack to fit to my van, and intend to change the wheel to
a smaller diameter. I have tried to get 86-or-later front suspension
& steering parts, and the guy in SC had crated them up for me, but
then stopped responding to e-mails. Maybe I should stick with the
short MS rods and put up with the resulting extra turns lock-to-lock?
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut
‚ Opinions stated are mine, not of the University of Otago
"There is water at the bottom of the ocean"  - Talking Heads