corrected steering for Tamiya COE trucks, Mercedes,Volvo,Scania,MAN

[CustomRCmodels]

my MB 3850 was way overdue for a overhaul
( chewed up rear axles , sloppy steering )
and since I never liked the stupid steering setup
( with these linkages , and servo mounted on the side of the frame ) ,
I mounted the steering servo as close to the front axle as possible
( see 1st photo below )
( yeah , I know , " what's with the wire-tie's ? " = that is the temporary setup for testing )

and I correct the original wrong steering setup !
Yes , wrong !
all the Tamiya stub-nose semi's , COE , and to my surprise a lot of other R/C models have this wrong front steering setup ,
with the connecting rod for both steering hubs in front of the axle instead behind the axle where it should be .
You see that a lot especially on all-wheel-drive vehicles ,
rock-crawlers and such
and I see it also a lot on these self-build all-wheel-drive semi's ,
especially if the TLT-1 axles are used .
Of course it's also the question of available space for the steering servo
and the lack of available steering knuckles with 2 different options for connecting the steering linkages .
With the release of the F-350
( which some guys use for there all-wheel-drive-projects )
Tamiya correct this steering issue ( vs TLT-1 ).

the reason why I call this original steering setup of the stub-nose Tamiya , COE , semi's wrong :
with the connecting rod for both steering knuckles in front of the axle ,
the inner-turn wheel will make a larger radius and the outer-turn wheel will do a smaller radius ,
and it should be just the opposite !
( see 2nd , 3rd and 4th photo )

with a corrected steering setup
you will have a smaller turning radius of your truck !

my corrected and more direct steering on the MB 3850 made a big change in the handling too !
( not only for the smaller turning radius )
much more precise , no more waving all over the road at higher speeds !

now I just have to make some nice new servo-brackets
( even thought the wire-ties do the trick at the moment, Lol )

Willy
CustomRCmodels

[fhhhstix]

That is some good info Willy thanks for sharing it.

[CorbettTrailers]

Very good. I'll keep that in mind after Indy.

[CustomRCmodels]

I gone do that also for the all-wheel-drive-trucks , using TLT-1 or F-350 axles …
That just gone take a little more work to get it done right.
I also did a drive-shaft / suspension modification for the dual-rear axles ,
to get rid of that dog-bone setup .
Instead of having a movable drive-shaft , ( variable length ) ,
I made parts of the rear suspension movable , so a solid drive-shaft can be used .
But that will be a separate post .
Here a sneak-preview ( did this one already almost 2 years ago ,
and so far worked very good without any issues )




I will have 2 trucks with that setup in Indy . The newest one I did a little different .
It’s for a stock truck , not for an off-road truck with lifted suspension like in that photo.

Willy
CustomRCmodels

[Juganought]

Can we see the newest one, Willy.... I have one based on this setup.

[Bob From Downunder]

Top marks here Willy, I'm building my first King but I did not place the tie rod in front of the axle because I have never seen it in the front before, so your explaination is top of the class.

The front king pin and stub axle is a sloppy affair for sure and I intend to place some shim between the stub and the axle to try and take some of the sloop out. I don't know for sure but I would think it would wonder all over the road like an old woman.

Bob

[Blueshirt]

We had a nice discussion about this at Indy, it it all makes a lot of sense, and that suspension mod is easy and has tons of articulation.