steering speed for going fast?

Neal3000 · Mar 21, 2011

how many steering wheel turns lock to lock are preferable for eastcoast KOH style racing? i've got 2.7 turns now which was fawking great for crawling but is terrifying over about 35 mph....i'm looking at doing a reduction box before the orbital valve and trying to decide if i should go with a 1:1.5 which would put me at 4.05 turns or 1:2 which would be 5.4???

BamaTJ · Mar 21, 2011

Mine is about 2.5 turns and I like it a lot. I would not go much slower than what you have. I was about 5 before and it sucked in the rocks and at speed. To turn it at all you had to give it a turn or more and it was just too slow. If you are having problems at speed check your toe and any other wear items like king pins/ball joints that could be bad.

blacksheep10 · Mar 21, 2011

yeah, 3 minus is about perfect ???

Neal3000 · Mar 21, 2011

guess i just need to get used to it and spend more time driving it faster than i'm used to :driving:

i think i'll just put my factory steering wheel back on, it's about the size of one off a school bus :****:

Neal3000 · Mar 22, 2011

does having a reactive vs. non-reactive orbital valve make a big difference? i have the non-reactive type

also, what kind of castor do yall run? when i cut and turned my knuckle balls i set it at zero

kennyWayne · Mar 22, 2011

what are ya useing to get 2.5 to 3 turns , mine really sucks .is there somthing to change in the orbital.

Cole · Mar 22, 2011

Neal3000 said:
does having a reactive vs. non-reactive orbital valve make a big difference? i have the non-reactive type

also, what kind of castor do yall run? when i cut and turned my knuckle balls i set it at zero

When I first built my buggy I had a non reactive orbital and it was like 3 turns lock to lock. I switched to a load reactive orbital and it is around 2 turns lock to lock. Its quick and I like it a lot, especially riding in the woods.
I got my orbital from EOR, call up Matlock or Jimmy and they can hook you up.

BamaTJ · Mar 22, 2011

Yeah load-reactive is good for speed, non-reactive is good in a technical crawler. Basically the while stays where you turn it and does not try to come back to center on its own. If your steering is really slow you need a faster orbital more than likely. There are a lot of variables that effect speed. Pump, orbital, ram size/bore, etc. I would start with the orbital though

blacksheep10 · Mar 22, 2011

load reactive
I like a pos. 5 plus caster. will work with neutral, but you won't get the return to center feel. Moot with non load reactive

Neal3000 · Mar 22, 2011

Cole said:
When I first built my buggy I had a non reactive orbital and it was like 3 turns lock to lock. I switched to a load reactive orbital and it is around 2 turns lock to lock. Its quick and I like it a lot, especially riding in the woods.

they must have given you a orbital with a higher volume pump, i don't think load vs. non-load would have any effect on your no. of turns

Neal3000 · Mar 22, 2011

kennyWayne said:
what are ya useing to get 2.5 to 3 turns , mine really sucks .is there somthing to change in the orbital.

you can change the pump on your orbital to a higher volume one but they are hard to find from what i understand, it would be easier to just sell the one you've got and get a higher volume orbital........you could also change your ram to a smaller diameter. if you know the volume of your ram and the output volume of your orbital then just divide the orbital vol. into the vol of the ram and it gives you the number of turns lock to lock.

Indy Will · Mar 22, 2011

Neal3000 said:
they must have given you a orbital with a higher volume pump, i don't think load vs. non-load would have any effect on your no. of turns

This.

Fast steering is where it's at. I've been running about 2-ish turns lock to lock on a 10" ram with 50 degree steering for 2 seasons and am getting ready to do it again on the new one. That on an 8" ram is about 1.6-ish lock to lock....pretty freakin' fast...but I like it.

I've only driven on load reactive so I can't give input on the other.

During my pursuit of fast steering I found that if you don't have a steering system that will react as fact as you can physically turn your arms you're asking for trouble though. Just cause you add a higher volume orbital doesn't mean it's gonna be quick. You'll quickly outrun your pump capacity. I almost wadded up the old single seater a few times because I couldn't get back around fast enough with the old pump system.

Gotta keep the hands and arms loose and relaxed at speed though...

And when you get in the tow rig to go home you'll almost put it in the ditch a few times before you realize you actually have to turn the wheel some.

Cole · Mar 22, 2011

Neal3000 said:
they must have given you a orbital with a higher volume pump, i don't think load vs. non-load would have any effect on your no. of turns

I didn't mean that the load reactive made it turn quicker, just that I also switched to load from non load.

Neal3000 · Mar 23, 2011

Cole said:
I didn't mean that the load reactive made it turn quicker, just that I also switched to load from non load.

i got you....so what IS the difference aside from the return to center feature?

i drove it some more yesterday and on payment in 2wd it just feels gawdawful. But i can go way faster on dirt roads in 4-high it's actually not bad at all

blacksheep10 · Mar 27, 2011

to change steering speed there are options.
Smaller bore cylinder. It takes less cubic inches of fluid to fully fill a 2" cylinder than a 2.5. by a lot. Granted you will lose power, but gain speed.
larger cu/in per rev orbital.
If you have a large cylinder (like will is talking about, 2.5 x 10 ) and a larger orbital, the pump will need to be warmed up to keep up with teh volume.
if you have a 2" cylinder, or an 8" ram, you will probably be fine.
If the wheel feels hard to turn with your crazy fast steering, you probably need more pump.

IOf any of this seemed rambly, I'm kind of drunk and headed back out to burn some more plate, but stopped in to warm up. Hope it was helpful. :flipoff1:

BamaTJ · Mar 27, 2011

Be careful with droping the bore on the ram. It may speed things up but you will lose turning power at slow speeds. Depending on tire size and your system that may be an issue. PSC generally tells people that run 39's and up to run a 2.25 to 2.5" ram, anything smaller will fight you in the rocks. When I first got my buggy it had an AG ram that was 2" bore, it flat out sucked