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Re: Akerman Geometry and Chateau Elan

To: Steve Laifman <laifman@flash.net>, Chris.S.Mottram@ecc.com
Subject: Re: Akerman Geometry and Chateau Elan
From: Bob Palmer <rpalmer@ames.ucsd.edu>
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 11:43:04 -0700
Steve, Chris, et Listers,

Not sure how much, if any of this post is "tongue-in-cheek", but Rick 
McCleod sells the same part number for both Alpine S-IV &V and Tiger and I 
personally have never heard of any different specifications between Tigers 
and Alpines in this regard. It is true, however, that Tiger lower ball 
joints have a habit of breaking, "exploding" if you will, when backing up 
because of (I believe) the bad Ackerman geometry peculiar to the Tiger. At 
full lock, the Tiger front wheels toe in about 3"!! This puts quite a lot 
of stress on the suspension parts and causes the squealing you hear when 
navigating tight corners on a smooth surface. Aparently, the stresses are 
even greater when backing up, because this seems to be when they usually break.

With regard to Chris's question about the "longer" MGB steering arms, I use 
them and recommend them highly, having mentioned them several times 
previously on the List. They work primarily because they are angled out 
instead of straight ahead like the stock Tiger arms. Being longer (ca. 
0.5") helps a little too. Moving the rack back 0.5" helps a little bit 
more. Having done all these things, I can tell you that the squealing in 
turns has gone away and my cars rolls freely in tight turns, even going 
backwards. I use a quick ratio rack, but still have a standard diameter 
steering wheel. I believe a Midget rack is a quicker ratio than the stock 
Tiger rack and is also better built and generally steers easier, so perhaps 
this compensates for the quicker ratio in terms of steering effort. I 
personally favor a quicker ratio because it keeps you from having to cross 
your arms when doing fast, tight maneuvering; e.g., when autocrossing. Ever 
watch those in-car movies of the Tiger rallye car and notice all the wild 
arm movements of the driver? Bet he would have loved a quicker ration rack.

TTFN,

Bob

At 08:30 AM 6/2/99 -0700, Steve Laifman wrote:
> > Chris
>
>Ahh, the "Exploding Ball Joints".  I keep wondering if some of these aren't
>the Alpine ball joints, rather than the Tiger ones, that the manufacturer
>states are "unsuitable", but doesn't make a Tiger version.
>
>Steve


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