What is the best way to improve on-power steering?

[Diamond Dave]

Where in the corner are you lacking on-power steering, entry or exit?

Lacking on entry is usually a instant weight transfer issue, because of damping/caster/tire. But that's only the norm, not the only item.

If you aren't transferring (and keeping) enough weight on the front end during initial turn-in(damping), the front end will rebound somewhere in the corner, changing the weight and decreasing the effective cornering. Too little (caster) keeps the tire too flat in the corner to be effective @ speed when the top of the tire tips out from lateral weight transition and imbalances the front to rear. Wrong tire or compound of course is what it is-
On a side note, your truck/car should roll through the corner (off power) at the rate of speed you expect it too, if you add power before that point, you shift the weight and alter the corner-

Lacking on exit is usually ride height/caster/front toe issue, But again- there are other factors that can make a big difference.

When accelerating out of a corner the front end unloads and goes "static" where no spring or oil forces are acting upon chassis weight (theoretically) so if you have too much (ride height) in the front you can lose any effective contact weight on the front end. Decreasing the ride height and "locking down" the front end reduces this. (Caster) too much caster jacks the front wheel beyond the effective scrub point. (Toe) in decreases the drag arc of the inside tire, and increases the turn radius. Sometimes adding 1-2* toe out makes the corners come alive-

On the T3 (as I recall) you can move the on-center king-pin up and down via shims between it and the caster block, this helps the truck have more aggressive steering characteristics, as the on-center pin really pushed the top of the tires out on the truck. 25* caster is also prob your best bet, 30's should be aggressive in, and dull on exit. The T3 also had a very laid down front shock option, far outside lower- inside upper, if you try this you have to raise the rear oil weight and decrease the front to balance it out. Overall, without knowing the track-tires-conditions-driving style etc (sounds like you have a pretty good handle on all that) I would bet it is a front or rear ride height issue-

Now...back to Calculus

This has got to be the post of the year. Trying to wrap your head around some of (Not some, ALL) the factors is just amazing. To guys that race all the time, or have done it for years it may seem easy.

I thoroughly enjoyed that post, and I might have said it about some other post in the first few months of this year... But I take it back. That is some fantastic insight. And my vote for post of the year!

Now to put some of this knowledge to use. As soon as I read the bit about ride height, it all clicked. Great advice!

[RC10th]

I would try a little less rear toe to free up the rear, can't recall if the T3 has an antisquat adjustment but adding a degree or two will help with rotation. Also moving the rear hubs backwards will keep more weight forward.

I've also found moving the rear shocks in on the tower lets the truck dig into the corner, if the rear "roll" is too stiff it will keep the truck too flat to dig in and it will slide or push. More roll on the rear makes the truck turn better.

[dldiaz]

I would try a little less rear toe to free up the rear, can't recall if the T3 has an antisquat adjustment but adding a degree or two will help with rotation...

The rear arm mounts on a T3 determine the rear toe and anti-squat.
The "standard setup" is:
3 degrees of rear toe-in
3 degrees of anti-squat

[MayorRC]

Yes, I'd try adding limiters to the front shocks. (In between pistons and shock body) to keep more weight towards the front.

I've also found that adding weight to the car is pretty important, expecially with most newer cars being much, much heavier. I run a full ounce of weight in the front, as well as a full ounce on the rear, in both my B3 and T3.

[dldiaz]

Yes, I'd try adding limiters to the front shocks. (In between pistons and shock body) to keep more weight towards the front.

I've also found that adding weight to the car is pretty important, expecially with most newer cars being much, much heavier. I run a full ounce of weight in the front, as well as a full ounce on the rear, in both my B3 and T3.

I ordered some ASC 6466 spacers to install, I guess I'll try two black spacers in each front shock???

I may eventually try some weight up front;
- any chance you could show exactly what you used for weight and where you mounted it?


Thanks to everyone for the great info!

[teman]

I may eventually try some weight up front;
- any chance you could show exactly what you used for weight and where you mounted it?

I had the correct ballast weight but I missplaced it anyway you take the front kick plate off and mount it inside the front bulkhead (it's technically hollow) then reassemble the kick plate.

[jwscab]

someone had a picture of it before. they used a stick on 1:1 wheel weights, trimmed to fit up inside the bulkhead.

[slotcarrod]

someone had a picture of it before. they used a stick on 1:1 wheel weights, trimmed to fit up inside the bulkhead.

That was me on my B2, same bulkhead as B3 and T3. I think adding weight helped the most for me!

Great information as usual Reg!

[dldiaz]

someone had a picture of it before. they used a stick on 1:1 wheel weights, trimmed to fit up inside the bulkhead.

That was me on my B2, same bulkhead as B3 and T3. I think adding weight helped the most for me!

Great information as usual Reg!

slotcarrod, How much weight did you add?

Currently I have added travel-limiters inside the front shocks, stiffer rear springs, and dialed in a bit of toe-out.
With all that my T3 handles very good, but I think I will try some weight in the front bulkhead to further settle the front end.
(I have several 1/2 ounce weights, not sure how much to use though)

[Jay Dub]

Alot of good points have been covered here. A bit of basic setup theory tho. Firstly when attacking a problem (like the one described), you always look at the end of the car that has the weight transfered to it first. This will typicaly be the the area one would like to attack first, as that end will produce the biggest most noticeable change. Now this approach does assume a couple of things. These things are, proper weight distribution, tire selection, basic setup requirements to get in the ball park like ride height, static toe and camber front and rear. Small fine tuning types of adjustments can produce results, but rarely accurate, proper tuning if the vehicle is not close off the bench. One thing I did not see any resonses to was the use of a rear swaybar. ON the truck (or buggy for that maner) I would advise against the rear bar for on power steering issues. Sway bars are misunderstood by most racers. It is believed that they reduce chassis roll. True, but they do this by forcing the end of the car DOWN during cornering, allowing to move back up only once the chassis roll has stopped (e.g. going straight again). The use of a rear bar should keep weight on the REAR of the car for longer periods of time -magnifying your issue. A bar on the front however will work to keep the weight on the front during cornering AND exit, and should rise fully only once the vehicle is going straight. Once the basic setup criteria has been met, maybe try a front sway bar it just might put the finishing touches on the car. With all this said however, in all the years that I ran mod truck, I only once put a front sway bar on a truck. This was on a med/high bite outdoor track. It was a Losi truck, and the bar was recomended by Adam Drake. It really put the finishing touches on an otherwise very good setup.