STEERING SYSTEM

Steering is the term applied to the collection of components,

linkages, etc. which will allow a vehicle to follow the desired
course.

MAIN PARTS OF STEERING SYSTEM:

Steering gears

Linkages

Steering wheel pads

Steering shaft

Steering box

Steering arm and stabilizers

Functions of a steering
system

swinging the wheels to the left or right.

converts the rotary movement of the steering wheel into an angular turn of the
front wheels.

multiplies the effort of the driver by leverage in order to make it fairly easy to
turn the wheels.

absorbs a major part of the road shocks thereby preventing them to get
transmitted to the hands of the driver.

in turning the vehicle at the will of the driver.

provides directional stability.

helps in controlling wear and tear of tyres.

helps in achieving the self-righting effect

Linkage Steering System

Steering Wheel used by the driver to rotate a
steering shaft that passes through the steering
column.

Steering Shaft transfers turning motion from

the steering wheel to the steering gearbox.

Steering Column supports the steering column

and steering shaft.

STEERING GEARS

The steering gear is a device for converting the rotary motion of the steering wheel into
straight line motion of the linkage with a mechanical advantage.

The steering gears are enclosed in a box, called the steering gear box.

TYPES OF STEARING GEARS:

Worm and wheel steering gear

Worm and sector steering gear

Cam and lever / peg steering gear

Cam and roller or worm and roller steering gear

Worm and nut or screw and nut steering gear

Recirculating ball steering gear

Rack and pinion steering gear.

Manual Steering

Basic Rack-and-Pinion Steering

Rack-and-pinion Steering
Rack-and-pinion steeringis the most common
type of steering on cars, small trucks. It consists
of a rack and a pinion.
The steering ratio is defined by the ratio of
pinion revolutions to rack travel.
Thepinion gearis attached to the steering shaft.
When you turn the steering wheel, the gear
spins, moving the rack.

RACK-AND-PINION STEERING

Some cars have variable-ratio steering, which

uses a rack-and-pinion gear set that has a different
tooth pitch (number of teeth per inch) in the
center than it has on the outside.

Variable ratio steering makes the car respond

quickly when starting a turn (the rack is near the
center), and also reduces effort near the wheel's
turning limits

Manual rack and pinion steering

Recirculating-ball steering

The forces generated between steering worm

and steering nut are transmitted via a lowfriction recirculating row of balls.

The steering nut acts on the steering shaft via

gear teeth. A variable ratio is possible with this
steering box.

It consists of a worm at the end of steering rod

A nut is mounted on the worm with two sets of

balls is the grooves of the worm, in between
the nut and, the worm.

The balls reduce the friction during the

movement of the nut on the worm.

WORM AND WHEEL STEERING GEAR

The system consists of worm wheel which is

carried in bearings in a cast iron case.

The worm which is keyed on to a steering shaft

have a mesh with the worm wheel.

When driver rotates the steering wheel then

drop arm moves either backward or forward
direction. This motion results in motion of the
stub axles.

WORM AND SECTOR STEERING GEAR

In this type of steering box, the end of

the shaft from the steering wheel has a
worm gear attached to it. It meshes
directly with a sector gear.

When the sector gear turns, it turns the

cross shaft, which turns the pitman arm,
giving the output motion that is fed into
the mechanical linkage on the track rod.

WORM AND ROLLER STEERING GEAR

Here a two toothed roller is fastened to the crossshaft so that it meshes with the threads of the worm
gear.

Worm is fastened between the two ball bearings in

the casing.

When the worm gear is turned by the steering

wheel shaft, it causes the roller to move in an arc
so as to rotate the cross-shaft and at the same time
turn on the roller pin connecting it to the crossshaft.

CAM AND LEVER/ PEG STEERING GEAR

Here a helical groove is formed at the

bottom end of the steering wheel shaft.

The helical groove engages the projected

pin of the drop arm spindle lever.

The to and fro motion is obtained at the

drop-arm when the steering wheel shaft is
turned.

The projected pin may be one or two in

number, accordingly they are referred as
cam and single lever or double lever
steering gear mechanism

STEERING GEOMETRY

Steering geometry is the angular Relationship between suspension and steering

parts, front wheels, and the road surface.

Alignment deals with angles and affects steering, the method of describing
alignment measurements is called steering geometry.

There are five steering geometry angles :*Camber

*Caster
*Toe (in or out)
*Steering axis inclination
*Kingpin angle

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Camber
Front View tilt of the tire.
Leaning the top of the tire
inboard adds negative camber

Caster Angle:
Side view tilt of the steering
axis.
Creates camber change with
steering input
Creates a restoring force for
centering steering wheel

Toe

Top view angle of the tire in a

static situation
Turning the front of the tire in
is referred to as adding toe in
Important for both front and
rear tires
Toe in wears out the outside
edge

Excessive
Toe in

Steering Axis
Axis about which the
wheel/Tire rotate about
during steering inputs
Also known as King Pin Axis

Bump Steer
As the front wheels move up and down, we want the front wheels to
maintain a particular direction. It's most important for the wheels to
have minimal bump when we are negotiating the turns. There are
certain elements of the construction of the front end components that
will make this happen.
The length of the tie rod must be equal to the distance formed by
1) a line extending through the centers of rotation
of the tie-rod ends, and
2) the tie-rod line intersection with
a) lines extending through both the upper and lower ball joints, and
b) the plane that passes through the inner chassis mounts.

ACKERMANN STEERING GEOMETRY

Ackermann steering geometry is a geometric

arrangement of linkages in the steering of a
car or other vehicle designed to solve the
problem of wheels on the inside and outside
of a turn needing to trace out circles of
different radii.

Some race cars use reverse Ackermann

geometry

The geometrical solution to this is for all

wheels to have their axles arranged as radii
of a circle with a common centre point.

Percent Ackermann:If the point of

intersection of the projected
lines of the steering arms meet
at the rear axle, then the
vehicle is said to have 100%
Ackermann.

ACKERMANN PRINCIPLE

STEERING GEOMETRY

THE SINGLE PIVOT

STEERING

THE DOUBLE PIVOT

STEERING

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THE TRAPEZIUM EFFECT

ACKERMANN PRINCIPLE

STEERING GEOMETRY

NEED : TO ACHIEVE TOE OUT ON TURNS IN ORDER TO ENSURE

PURE ROLLING OF TYRES AROUND CORNERS
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ACKERMANN PRINCIPLE

STEERING GEOMETRY

STRAIGHT AHEAD

CORNERING

ACKERMAN
ANGLE

THE PRINCIPLE:
IN A FOUR BAR CHAIN , FORMING A TRAPEZIUM ,
IF THE TWO NON PARALLEL SIDES ARE EXTENDED ,
THEY MEET AT A POINT.
THE LOCUS OF THIS POINT IS A STRAIGHT LINE
- ON THE REAR AXLE

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Steering Ratio

Steering ratiorefers to the ratio between the turn of

thesteering wheel(in degrees) or handlebars and the
turn of the wheels (in degrees).

Steering Ratio = Steering wheel angle (deg) / Road

wheel angle (deg)

Steering ratio for cars = 15 to 20

Steering ratio for trucks = 20 to 40

Generally, lighter, sportier cars have lower steering

ratios than larger cars and trucks.

A higher steering ratio means that you have to turn the

steering wheel more, to get the wheels turning, but it
will be easier to turn the steering wheel.

FSAE cars use quick ratio steering racks with ratios of

about 5:1 for a quick steering response

Tie rod

A tie rod end is attached to the tie-rod shaft. These

pivot as the rack is extended or retracted when the
vehicle is negotiating turns.

Some tie-rods and tie-rod ends are left or right hand

threaded to allow toe-in or toe-out to be adjusted to
the manufacturer's specifications.

Rack-and-pinion outer tie-rod end is similar to the

regular tie-rod end, but the inner tie-rod end sits
inside the rack assembly.

Steering Arm

Tie-rods attach to front wheels at steering arms

Steering arm is attached to steering knuckle

Includes spindle

Pitman Arm
Pitman Arm transfers gearbox motion to
the steering linkage.
Attached to the steering gear
Pitman arm is splined to the gearbox.
Connects the steering gear to the steering
linkage

Pitman

Idler Arm
Idler Arm supports the end of the center link on
the passenger side of the vehicle.
Bolts to the vehicles frame.
If worn, will cause excessive steering play.

Center link
Center Link (Relay Rod) steel bar connects
the right and left side of the steering linkage.
Connects to Pitman arm, Tie rod ends, and
Idler arm.

Power Steering Box

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Power Steering
Power steeringhelps drivers steer vehicles by
increasing steering effort of the steering wheel.
Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy
to the steering mechanism, so the driver needs to
provide only slight effort regardless of conditions.
Three major types of power steering systems:
Integral-piston linkage system.
External power steering system.
Rack-and-pinion system
Integral power piston.
External power piston.
Integral Rack-and-pinion system is the most
common.

Rotary Valve

Hydraulic power-assisted steering

HYDRAULIC POWER STEERING (HPS)

is a hydraulic system for reducing the
steering effort on vehicles by using
hydraulic pressure to assist in turning the
wheels.
The working liquid, also called "hydraulic
fluid" or "oil", is the medium by which
pressure is transmitted.
For pressure restriction in the pump there
is a restrictive valve, which is adjusted on
different cars in a range from 7 to 13 MPa.

A power-steering system should assist the driver only

when he is exerting force on the steering wheel (such
as when starting a turn). When the driver is not
exerting force (such as when driving in a straight line),
the system shouldn't provide any assist. The device
that senses the force on the steering wheel is called
the rotary valve.

Control valve

All power steering pumps have a flow-control

valve to vary fluid flow and power steering system
pressures.

The outlet fluid pressure is slightly lower than the

internal high pressure coming from the pump.

Pump
The hydraulic power for the steering is provided by

a rotary-vane pump
Power steering pump types: roller, vane, and slipper
Operation:
Pump develops more flow at higher speeds
Flow control valve is almost always working
Requires considerable horsepower to operate

FOUR WHEEL STEERING SYSTEM

Four-wheel steering is a system

employed by some vehicles to improve
steering response, increase vehicle
stability while maneuvering at high
speed, or to decrease turning radius at
low speed.

slow speeds
rear wheels are turned
in oppositedirection
of front wheels

The "Snaking effect" experienced during

motorway drives while towing a travel
trailer is thus largely nullified.
fast speeds
all four wheels
are turned in
same direction