markocosic
03-18-2008, 07:14 PM
Hello!
I'm lashing up an aero testing rig (for kitesurfing kites if its of interest)
20 foot long affair, weighing in at ~1500kg (500kg + ballast as the kites can generate a terrifying amount of lift) that is hinged (hinge runs across the bumper) to the front of a pickup truck and pushed up and down the nearest strip of tarmac at speed (<60mph) on a still day.
I need a pair of wheels on the front that are self-centering and will steer themselves if I steer the truck (just to correct for slight deviations from straight-ahead)
I've pulled a Volvo 240 frontend to use - a macphearson strut indepentently sprung frontend. Nice beam with lower a-arms/wishbones & rack a mounted to it, and two strut upper mountings and you're done.
I can tweak the caster and kingpin on this by moving the strut upper mountings. Was thinking for this application of throwing in a bunch more caster and kpi by pulling the top mounts inboard and backward slightly relative to the lower beam as it is in the car.
How far would you go for self-centering, self-steering? Caster = kpi = 15 degrees sound reasonable?
I'm lashing up an aero testing rig (for kitesurfing kites if its of interest)
20 foot long affair, weighing in at ~1500kg (500kg + ballast as the kites can generate a terrifying amount of lift) that is hinged (hinge runs across the bumper) to the front of a pickup truck and pushed up and down the nearest strip of tarmac at speed (<60mph) on a still day.
I need a pair of wheels on the front that are self-centering and will steer themselves if I steer the truck (just to correct for slight deviations from straight-ahead)
I've pulled a Volvo 240 frontend to use - a macphearson strut indepentently sprung frontend. Nice beam with lower a-arms/wishbones & rack a mounted to it, and two strut upper mountings and you're done.
I can tweak the caster and kingpin on this by moving the strut upper mountings. Was thinking for this application of throwing in a bunch more caster and kpi by pulling the top mounts inboard and backward slightly relative to the lower beam as it is in the car.
How far would you go for self-centering, self-steering? Caster = kpi = 15 degrees sound reasonable?