John: Following a business trip, I spent the better part of an
afternoon with Neil Revington over in Somerset. He is probably the
foremost authority on TR suspensions in the UK (and by extension...the
world?). If you look at how the front wheels track in a turn, the outer
wheel is actually pointed inwards more than the inner wheel, which is
completely backwards and causes the outer wheel to lose traction. This
occurs because of how tie rod levers are shaped. To get proper tracking,
he swaps the left and right tie rod lever and furthermore, re-bends them
such that even more angle is given them, so the outer wheel now carves
out a greater diamer circle thru a turn. Now whether this corrects the
understeer or oversteer I don't know, but I do know it has made a heck
of a big difference in the steering in my 3A. (He also sells
phosphor-bronze tie rod bushes insead of the poopy rubber ones that we
can get, as well as an improved steering box cover, and lots more.) I
can't speak more highly of his operation and products. He does ship
from the UK over here, too. Neil owns Revington TR at
011-44-1823-698-437, or e-mail at 106361.3343@compuserve.com. Check him
out. I'm glad I did.
Standard disclaimer...just a statisfied customer...
Jim Stevens, TR-3A # TS-44743
John Cowan wrote:
>
> Would anyone like to take a stab at characterizing the typical steering
> behavior of the sidescreen Triumphs? My sense is that they
> characteristically understeer - until they begin to slide. To my mind, a
> predisposition to slide is their defining handling characteristic.
> A car spinning out as the result of a slide is in a massive oversteer
> situation, but that is not what has happened with my TR-3A. Rather, it
> seems to drift sideways "controllably". (I'm running Michelin X 165s -
> more on the radial/bias ply issue in a later post).
> What would your characterization of the TR2,3,A,B steering
> characteristics say about how to drive them safely, effectively and enjoyably?
> I have other questions, observations and lore on suspensions, handling
> and driving. Would others enjoy a thread on these topics?
> John Cowan
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