Crossed tie rods to amend reverse Ackerman?

teigan1031

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My setup with leading link single bolt pitman has a strong reverse Ackerman angle going on.
It is a Carter Brothers two-seater that has been converted to live axle And generally refurbished. I did some messing about with tie rod positioning trying to get more steering angle, and also widened the front end by about 2 in on each side. I was able to get a lot more steering angle, but Leading tire gets no angle trailing tire gets almost all of it. Can anyone confirm that fabbing a Pittman with a hole for each tie rod(triangle shaped) and crossing + lengthening the tie rods (left rod bolted on top of the plate on the right hole, right rod bolted on bottom of the plate on left hole) will fix this and return a proper positive Ackerman setup?? There's very little confirmation of people doing this, but I have heard/ read a few things and have been planning it for a while but taking a break from the project. Just wondering if anyone had advice or experience. Also, I do want to mention that the current steering setup and seating/throttle positions make engineering A rear link setup pretty complicated, so that's not really a route that I've considered.
 

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Hellion

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Love your transportation solution!

Me too, it’s actually an elegant solution and with the tires directly on the roof, it’s no-mar and cushiony. Just strap ‘er down. And that can really only be done with classic go karts and not these monstrous chinese buggies.

Love the zip ties on the clevis pin clips. I do that too after finally realizing what a hassle they are without one.

Of course you are driving a live axle kart so it loves going straight and hates turning, that’s part of the problem. (y)
 

Hellion

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Love the handbrake, I bet that’s fun for wipeouts. Good photos and lots of them.

Back at you. 🫡
 

teigan1031

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Yes, your instincts are correct and ackerman can be improved with the triangle! It has been done here a few times before.
Awesome thank you so much!! Just needed some confidence boost before getting deep into it again. I've had a fresh set of knuckles and tie rods sitting to the side for a while to compensate for the extra tie rod length and Carnage that I caused to the original knuckles. Also have a torque converter waiting to be set up as well. Hoping to make it a drift machine on pvcs eventually, but it needs some type of usable counter steering for that to work.
 

teigan1031

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Love the handbrake, I bet that’s fun for wipeouts. Good photos and lots of them.

Back at you. 🫡
I really appreciate your inputs, And I think it's funny you guys are impressed with the Corolla strap situation rather than throwing shade haha. The handbrake is seriously Only braking mechanism, makes for a sketchy but definitely fun ride. Grabbed it online, but it's actually a GM part manufactured for an 80s square body. Zip ties and cleavage pins definitely go hand in handas well brother haha. And yes of course, it will never have very good overall handling, especially when compared to a race car style Chassis. My goal is honestly to build a drift mower that is able to achieve high angles at low speeds with lots of control. I figured with the longer chassis it would be easier to avoid spinouts and more possible to hit lines similar to ones you would hit with an actual drift car, but the steering limitations have put me up against the wall. All I can do once the PVC is on the rears is spin out. Was able to get a a few small angle corners linked in the snow without PVC, but the performance is just extremely frustrating with the PVC or in dirt/ low traction.
 

teigan1031

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I really appreciate your inputs, And I think it's funny you guys are impressed with the Corolla strap situation rather than throwing shade haha. The handbrake is seriously Only braking mechanism, makes for a sketchy but definitely fun ride. Grabbed it online, but it's actually a GM part manufactured for an 80s square body. Zip ties and cleavage pins definitely go hand in handas well brother haha. And yes of course, it will never have very good overall handling, especially when compared to a race car style Chassis. My goal is honestly to build a drift mower that is able to achieve high angles at low speeds with lots of control. I figured with the longer chassis it would be easier to avoid spinouts and more possible to hit lines similar to ones you would hit with an actual drift car, but the steering limitations have put me up against the wall. All I can do once the PVC is on the rears is spin out. Was able to get a a few small angle corners linked in the snow without PVC, but the performance is just extremely frustrating with the PVC or in dirt/ low traction.
Edit: Race kart style chassis**
 

teigan1031

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I really appreciate your inputs, And I think it's funny you guys are impressed with the Corolla strap situation rather than throwing shade haha. The handbrake is seriously Only braking mechanism, makes for a sketchy but definitely fun ride. Grabbed it online, but it's actually a GM part manufactured for an 80s square body. Zip ties and cleavage pins definitely go hand in handas well brother haha. And yes of course, it will never have very good overall handling, especially when compared to a race car style Chassis. My goal is honestly to build a drift mower that is able to achieve high angles at low speeds with lots of control. I figured with the longer chassis it would be easier to avoid spinouts and more possible to hit lines similar to ones you would hit with an actual drift car, but the steering limitations have put me up against the wall. All I can do once the PVC is on the rears is spin out. Was able to get a a few small angle corners linked in the snow without PVC, but the performance is just extremely frustrating with the PVC or in dirt/ low traction.
Anyone have experience with a custom drift build?
 

teigan1031

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Planning to set up and fab the new steering parts this weekend. Can anyone give some advice on how i should decide dimensions of the new pitman? It will be welded at the center point between the two original single connection stacked ones, but I'm unsure as to how far apart the holes should be from each other and unsure of whether they should just be the same length from the shaft as the connection holes in the steering arms to the kingpin bolts?
 

teigan1031

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Planning to set up and fab the new steering parts this weekend. Can anyone give some advice on how i should decide dimensions of the new pitman? It will be welded at the center point between the two original single connection stacked ones, but I'm unsure as to how far apart the holes should be from each other and unsure of whether they should just be the same length from the shaft as the connection holes in the steering arms to the kingpin bolts?
There is of course info on how to decide this for a normal rear link setup without the tie rod cross, I just would love to see if anyone with experience could tell me of any differences.
 

teigan1031

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It worked!!!! The build is more alive then ever, I am finally reinvigorated with ambition to finish it fully. Entire parking lot length drifts and donuts, fully under control with tons of angle and plenty of speed. Thank you guys so much!!!

Since last post I have-

Installed go power sports 30series CVT and finalized perfect chain length and alignment

Fabricated a custom boom trap blow thru header/muffler

Reinforced the entire steering rack

Reinforced the hood mount system

Reinforced the rear end with tons of bracing

Made plans for new seat, steering wheel, throttle and brake pedal(to be hooked up to a new disk brake in addition to the handbrake/band break), front wheels with bearings that match the rear, and a custom electrical setup with a battery headlights and tailights, a custom gas tank to help finalize close to ideal weight distribution, and then finally reinforcement on the middle section of the frame, a rear wing, front bumper, and rear end/fenders from an old school ride on mower. 1000006969.png
 

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