Steering System

Syllabus: Requirement and steering geometry;

castor action, camber and king pin angle, toe-in of
front wheels, Steering linkages and steering gears;
wheel alignment, Manual and Power Steering.

Functions of Steering System

Primary Function : To achieve angular motion of the front

wheels to negotiate a turn. This is done through linkage

and steering gear which converts the rotary motion of
the steering wheel into the angular motion of the front
wheels.
Secondary Functions :
To provide directional stability of the vehicle when going
straight ahead.
To provide perfect steering condition, i.e. perfect rolling
motion of the road wheels at all times.
To facilitate straight ahead recovery after completing a turn.
To minimize tyre wear.

Requirements of Steering System

The steering mechanism should be very accurate and

easy to handle.
The effort required to steer should be minimum and must
not be tiresome to the driver.
The steering mechanism should also provide directional
stability i.e. the vehicle should have a tendency to return
to its straight ahead position after turning.

Wheel Alignment
Positioning of the steered wheels to achieve the following is
termed Wheel Alignment:

Directional Stability during straight ahead position.

Perfect rolling condition on steering.
Recovery after completing the turn.
Rear wheels should follow the front wheels properly.
This would happen if all four wheels are parallel to the
frame. This is called Tracking.
.

Wheel Alignment
To have effective steering under all conditions and at all
loads, the factors to be considered are:

Factors pertaining to wheels.

Steering Geometry.
Steering linkages.
Suspension system.

Factors pertaining to Wheels

Balance of Wheels : If the wheels are not in dynamically
balance, there would be wheel wobble which influences
steering control.
Inflation of Tyres : The steering system is designed for

a particular rolling radius. Variation of air pressure

from the standard prescribed will change the rolling
radius.
Brake Adjustment : If the brake is not adjusted properly,
e.g. if it is dragging, it can pull the vehicle to one side
while braking.

Steering Geometry
Correct Steering Geometry Principle : The axis of all the
wheels of an automobile while taking a turn must intersect at
the common instantaneous centre of rotation point.
Steering Parameters :

Camber.
Castor.
Steering Axis Inclination.
Included Angle.
Steering Ratio.
Toe In/ Toe out.
Scrub Radius.
Thrust Angle.
Turning radius.
Tracking.

Camber
Camber is the tilt of the car wheels from the vertical when
viewed from the front of the vehicle.
Camber is positive if the tilt is outwards at the top and
negative if the tilt is inwards of the vertical at the top.
Camber is also called Wheel Rake.
A positive camber would have the tendency to make the wheel
to Toe Out. A negative camber would tend to Toe In.
In independent suspension usually the change of spring height
changes the camber.
When the camber is zero, slight irregularities on the road may
cause the wheel load to change from one bearing to another,
also changing the direction of the camber effect. This situation
may thus cause a phenomenon called Wander.

King Pin/ Steering Axis Inclination

Inclination of the King Pin from vertical is called King Pin

Inclination or King Pin Rake.

In modern vehicles where King Pin has been replaced by ball

joints, it is called Steering Axis Inclination.

KPI / SAI helps the straight ahead recovery, thus providing

directional stability. When the vehicle takes a turn, the

inclination of king pin causes the vehicle body to move up in
relation to the wheels. So when the steering is left after the
turn is completed, the weight of the vehicle tends to return the
wheels to the straight ahead position.

Included Angle(Combined Angle)

KPI when added to Camber angle gives the Included Angle
(Combined Angle).
KPI + positive camber = Included Angle > KPI.
KPI + negative camber = Included angle < KPI.
The Included Angle has to be the same on both the sides
even if the camber is different.
Scrub Radius : It is the distance between where the KPI axis
intersects the ground and the centre of the tyre.
It is positive when the tyre centre line lies outside the KPI axis
whereas it is negative when it lies inside the KPI axis. Front
wheel drives generally have negative scrub radius.
The amount of Scrub Radius depends upon the KPI/ SAI, the
wheel offset & suspension height.

Castor
Castor is the angle of the line passing through the
steering pivots KPI/ SAI axis with respect to the vertical,
when viewed from the side of the vehicle.
If king pin centre line meets the ground ahead of the
vertical centre line then it is Positive Castor while if it is
behind the vertical wheel centre line then it is negative
castor.
With positive castor the wheels tend to Toe-In and with
negative castor they tend to Toe-Out.
When vehicle is taking a turn, positive castor tends to
help the centrifugal force to roll-out the vehicle whereas
negative castor counteracts the centrifugal force and
tend to roll-in the vehicle.

Steering Ratio

Steering Ratio is the ratio of the angular movement of

steering wheel to the actual movement of the steered
wheels on the ground.

It is generally 17.5 : 1.

Toe In and Toe Out

Toe measurement is the difference in the distance
between the front of the tyres and rear of the tyres at the
spindle height.
Toe-In means that the front of the tyres are closer to
each other than the rear.
Toe-Out means that the rear of the tyres are closer to
each other than the front.
The purpose is to minimise tyre wear and reduce rolling
friction.

Thrust Angle
Thrust angle is the direction that the rear wheels are
pointing in relation to centre line of the vehicle.
If the thrust angle is not zero then the vehicle will Dog
Track and the steering wheel will not be centered.
Front Toe must be set to compensate for the thrust
angle, allowing for the steering to be centered.

Turning Radius

Turning Radius is the radius of the circle traced by the

centre point of any vehicle when the wheels are
completely steered towards one side.
It is an index of steering effectiveness.

Cornering Force
While taking a turn the centrifugal force acts on the vehicle which
produces a side thrust.
The angle through which the wheel has to turn to sustain the side
force is called the Slip Angle.
The force produced due to this (at right angles to the plane of the
wheel) which counters the side thrust, is known as the Cornering
Force.

Cornering Force
Value of slip angle depends upon the amount of side force, the
flexibility of tyre, load carried by the wheel, camber angle and
condition of the road surface.
The magnitude of slip angle is small at low speeds & less sharp
curves. It increases at high speeds & sharp turns.
For the same slip angle, positive camber increases cornering force
while negative camber decreases it. The alteration of cornering force,
due to camber is referred as Camber Force.
The ratio of Side force sustained to the slip angle is Cornering
Power.

Self Righting Torque

Cornering force acts at a distance x (pneumatic trail) from
the line of side thrust.
Self-Righting Torque (= cornering force x pneumatic trail) has
the tendency to bring back the wheel in the direction of
motion.
Value of castor angle affects the self-righting torque.
Total self righting torque = Cornering Force ( Pneumatic Trail
+/- Castor Trail ).

Understeer & Oversteer

When the slip angles of the front wheels are greater than
those of rear wheels, radius of turn is increased. This
means the vehicle will turn less sharply than it should for
a given rotation of a steering wheel. This is called
Understeer.
When the slip angles of the front wheels are less than
the slip angles of the rear wheels, radius of turn is
decreased. This means the vehicle will turn more sharply
than it should for a given rotation of the steering wheel.
This condition is called Oversteer.

Steering System
Mechanical Steering
Power Steering
Mechanical steering : With mechanical linkages.
Power steering : Mechanical steering assisted by power.
a) Hydraulic Power
b) Electrical power.

Steering System
STEERING GEOMETRY

Steering System
Mechanical steering : With mechanical linkages.
Components of Mechanical Steering:
a) Steering wheel
b) Steering Column
c) Steering Gear
d) Tie rod (Left and Right)
e) Relay rod
f) Idler arm
g) Steering arm
h) Steering Knuckle and spindle
This is called relay steering linkage.
Gears are mostly worm and roller type.

Steering System

Main Components
The manual steering system incorporates:
1.steering wheel and column,
2.a manual gearbox and pitman arm or a rack and
pinion assembly,
3.linkages; steering knuckles and ball joints;
4.the wheel spindle assemblies.

Steering System
It is the ratio of the angular movement of steering
wheel to the actual movement of the steered
wheels Generally it is
17.5 : 1

Steering System
Manual Worm and Sector Steering
The manual worm and sector steering gear
assembly uses a steering shaft with a three-turn
worm gear supported and straddled by ball
bearing assemblies. The worm meshes with a 14tooth sector attached to the top end of the
pitman arm shaft. In operation, a turn of the
steering wheel causes the worm gear to rotate
the sector and the pitman arm shaft. This
movement is transmitted to the pitman arm and
throughout the steering train to the wheel
spindles.

Steering System

Steering System
Worm & Sector Type Steering

Steering System

Steering System
Manual Rack and Pinion Steering
A typical rack and pinion steering gear assembly
consists of a pinion shaft and bearing assembly,
rack gear, gear housing, two tie rod assemblies,
an adjuster assembly, dust boots and boot
clamps, and grommet mountings and bolts. When
the steering wheel is turned, this manual
movement is relayed to the steering shaft and
shaft joint, and then to the pinion shaft. Since the
pinion teeth mesh with the teeth on the rack gear,
the rotary motion is changed to transverse
movement of the rack gear. The tie rods and tie
rod ends then transmit this movement to the
steering knuckles and wheels.

Steering System

Steering System

Steering System
Manual Recirculating Ball Steering
With the manual Recirculating ball steering gear,
turning forces are transmitted through ball bearings
from a "worm gear" on the steering shaft to a sector
gear on the pitman arm shaft. A ball nut assembly is
filled with ball bearings, which "roll" along grooves
between the worm teeth and grooves inside the ball
nut. When the steering wheel is turned, the worm gear
on the end of the steering shaft rotates, and movement
of there circulating balls causes the ball nut to move up
and down along the worm. Movement of the ball nut is
carried to the sector gear by teeth on the side of the
ball nut. The sector gear then moves with the ball nut
to rotate the pitman arm shaft and activate the
steering linkage. The balls recirculate from one end of
the ball nut to the other through ball return guides.

Steering System
Recirculating Ball Assembly

Steering System

Steering System
Recirculating Ball Steering System

Steering System

Steering System

Steering System
Hydraulic Power Steering

Steering System
Hydraulic Power Steering

Steering System
Electronic Power Steering

Steering System
Four Wheel Linkage Steering

Steering System

Four Wheel Hydraulic Power Steering

Steering System
Four Wheel Linkage Steering

Steering System

Steering System

Steering System