I heard that they're not really recommended for street driving, because they make the car twitchy. I've also heard that there's no difference. Can anybody clear this up?

 

Modified how?

 

its screws up your ackerman, and makes the rack a lot faster. im sure with a proper alignment its fine, just have to get used to more sensitive steering.
the bad ackerman will screw up your handling tho (for grip)

 

So the steering arm is shorter. That shouldn't screw with the Ackerman, unless they straightened it out too.. It will mess with the toe curve and that will make the car twitchy.

GD

 

yah its messed up. if you do anything with steering pickup points, ackerman changes. that lincludes the length and angles of the tierods.

for zero ackerman, the distance from center of hub to tie rod should equal the distance from centerline of hub to rack, AND the tie rod end should be directly in front of steering axis. modded knuckles move the tie rod end inward as well as closer to the hub

 

So as long as the Toe is good it should be ok?

 

This isn't Wiki pedia. You shouldn't be giving definitions about something you're not sure about. Ackerman is toe out on turns. Look up the definition Zero Ackerman would be that the steering arm is exactly 90 deg from the spindle THROUGH the steering axis. As it is, it should be on a vector that intersects the lower ball joint the tie rod end and the centerline of the rear axle. Or a point in front of the car that is a mirror of that rear axle point.

For shorter steering arms, they should follow a line from the sternig axis through the tie rod end. Or it would be wrong. No Ackerman will not make it twitchy.

Sheeesh...

GD

 

Didn't mean to turn this into a huge debate just wanted to know if it's ok for everyday driving.

 

No debate at all. Just correcting bad info.

If you caught any of it at all, it is ok to drive every day , just don't turn a corner.

gd

 

lol you just repeated what i said, in very different words. ya i know what ackerman is, but i probably suck at explaining things..

either way, parts arent adjustable, so its not really important how/why to fix it. all that really matters here is that the ackerman will be jacked, and theres nothing you can do about it.

with modded knuckles on a front steer car, you induce negative ackerman. the outside tire turns more than the inside tire in a turn, and it'll kinda drag. probably not that big of a big deal, just less front grip (puuuuussh)

 

No. Impossible to create "Negative Ackerman" on THAT spindle. It would hit the rotor and you would run out of tie rod adjustment. There is LESS angle, but never negative.

I do think that you are mistaken on the function and uses of suspension geometry. Some NASCAR teams actually use negative ackerman on the bull ring tracks like Richmond and Martinsville to get the car to turn in faster. They'll also use different caster side to side, to oppose the lean and make the car neutral in a turn IF a track is more turn then straight. You have noticed the dramatic camber difference side to side. Left front highly positive camber, right front highly negative.

Seriously, if you want quicker steering, install a steering quickener or an aftermarket rack. Either will require a large amount of fabrication.

It is a huge intense subject that is hard to grasp.

GD.

 

the purpose of the modded knuckles is more steering angle for drifting. OP really doesnt care about grip or a faster rack, just wants to make sure its 'safe' to DD

 

Got it. Then the shorter steering arm will work fine and not modify the Ackerman angle. Only solution without welding, is to mill along the steel arm itself in the exact direction of the angle. Actually have done this for a rally car years ago.

You can drive anything on a daily basis. Just depends on how much you can tolerate.

DG