turning radius

[tmurph]

Hey guys,
Ive got a std fm.( 99 )

It seems to have the same steering box that Moses sells.

I have such a large turning radius ( lock to lock) that I was the only car that had to do a three point turn to get to the start line at my first event.
The travel is 1 3/8's inch in each direction.

I fear that I might " miss " the tight turns at my next event ( Weatherly Hillclimb ) .

I knew somthing was up when I missed the driveway when I brought it home 5 months ago.

Is there a stop inside the box?

Converting a road race car into a hillclimber. ( gears are done)

[brownslane]

I am not sure about rack travel as my chassis is apart, but you will find most racks are a little slow and not tight enough for hill climbing. Many folks have either changed the rack ratio or an easy way to "quicken" the steering is to shorten the outer steering arm (ie shorten the distance between the outer tie rod pivot and the pivot point on the upright)

Best,

[MosesSmithRacing]

Many of the cars have rack stops. It is easy to figure out if your car has them or not. Look on the rack bar itself. The stops are 1" black neoprene "Collars". Many competitors added them to keep the misalignment spacers from contacting the inner race of the 5/8 Rocker hime.

Removing them is very easy and quick. Simply remove the Steering Clevis thats threaded into the end of the rack bar by loosening the Jam nut and spinning the clevis out CCW. Once the clevis is off, the rack stop will slide right off.

Quick note, measure the clevis location before loosening the jam and removing, so you can thread it back in to the same spot. This way you dont have to redo your bump steer (assuming it is already correct).

Is the Hill climb you are doing paved? or are there dirt sections as well. A number of years back we did a lot of work on an FM that did hill climbs. We used the stock rack, but we made different ackerman plates for the different courses the car ran. Unfortunately because of the geometry, and the budget, the driver was never able to do the big, super impressive "Ken Block" style slides through the corners, but was still fast. Remember unless you up the horse power, the big slides many hurt you more than help...especially at altitude. Todd Cook may be a good resource, he is VERY familiar with FMs, and is heavily active in Hill Climbs with his car.

Have fun, and send pics of you and the car at the Hill climb.

Moses

[Dave Cutchins]

Thanks for the response Moses. I emailed Tmurph earlier in the week and suggested to look for the stops and remove them. Even though my car was the factory renesis prototype, I am almost sure we have the same suspension and steering rack. I do not seem to have the severe problem that Tmurph is expierencing. We both hillclimb our cars and will be at the same event this weekend in Weatherly, PA. We will compare both cars. I'm sure removing the stops will get him running around in tight circles.

[tmurph]

O .M .G . what an easy fix.
THANK YOU All! We cut the hard rubber stops off and it turns on a dime.

Such a simple thing and we never saw it, or knew where to look.

We had to trim the wing for a little more clearance,due to the new and improved turning radius.

This car is going to be a GREAT hillclimber once the driver gets sorted out.
We will post some video when we get a good one.

It was a little scary at the jump, ( I think it was the speed I was not used to carrying before the crest) but well behaved overall.