Go kart tie rods clarification

[IKE323]

Hey guys i spoke to someone about my go kart and he gave me advice about the tie rods, I am using quad bike a arms for suspension and it is going to be on the out side of the frame leaving a much larger gap in between the tie rods than it was on the quad, would it affect my steering if i had to lengthen them .

 

[landuse]

Post some pics for us

 

[IKE323]

Post some pics for us

here you go

 

[OzFab]

As long as they follow the same path, you should be ok... At least, I hope so as that's exactly what I've done

 

[IKE323]

As long as they follow the same path, you should be ok... At least, I hope so as that's exactly what I've done

ok thanks

 

[IKE323]

If you placed the control arms wider apart than the factory did, you will have issues with the rack and what is called bump steer. This is caused by the tie rod and control arms traveling on different arcs. You will need to do a couple things to lessen this issue, first, the inner tie rod ends(pivot) will need to be at the same point the control arm pivot is, width wise. Second, the tie rod must rest at the same angle as the control arms. This will keep the wheel relatively straight when the suspension travels up and down when going over bumps and uneven terrain.

so what you saying is i must keep the tie rods factory(so a link that connects the two red rods in the above images) and insert a metal bar that connects the two factory tie rods together and that will minimise the bump steer?(the brown bit is the so called linkage)

 

[IKE323]

Looking at your pics, I don't think you will see much bump steer with the small suspension travel you have, but if you were going full suspension, you might have some issues with bump steer and stability.

the height between the top of the shock and the where the a arm is attached is at least 300mm so i think i will have to consider redesigning my steering for the bump steer issue.