Very fast Craftsman Build Steering issue..

Hello all, I was just wondering what you thought of my steering section on my fastman (Craftsman) build? Video link below. I am really looking for opinions. I want to have enough room under my hood to toss a nice engine so is this a good steering set up? Thanks for watching guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA9Hu2DLIGg

I took a quick glance (gotta watch my bandwidth right now), and although it has the potential to work, why reinvent the wheel? With your intended setup, it may be harder to dial in the Ackermann effect, amongst other things. Why not go with the conventional "race" setup, being a crossover system? One drag link, one tie rod. What are your thoughts?

I was thinking the 1 tie rod and drag link would be a VERY loose steering set up. I am a noobie when it comes to steering setups so a few questions.
What is the Ackerman effect?
What is the traditional race set up? with the cross overs?
You are going to laugh but I got this set up because I thought it was a dual tie rod set up and forgot the "Go Karts" have the engine in the back.. LOL

I also had a race Dynamark with a stock front axle and the wobble was VERY bad at around 15-20mph.. I am also planing on this to go over 40mph and with a stock steering the corrections are to big. With an aftermarket steering I can make small corrections at high speeds and not roll the mower..

Basically, the common race set up is as follows-

The pitman arm (at the bottom of your steering column) points at about a 45* angle forward, and to the right. The drag link, is the arm that goes form there, across (underneath) the machine to the LEFT front spindle, attaching to a steering arm on the spindle that either points straight to the right and or slightly forward. Now, you connect your regular steering arms (the existing tabs on your spindles) to each other- side to side with a single tie rod.

Set up correctly, it is quite stable and predictable, and allows full control of the steering geometry, including the Ackermann principle. Stock steering sucks, period. Partially due to the quality of the components. If you're building for more than 10MPH, re-do the whole thing, and use decent joints.

Ackermann's principle- Think this one out. When a vehicle steers around a curve, the inside tires are turning a tighter radius curve than the outside tires. Don't believe me? Drive around in a circle on pavement with wet tires and watch the tracks.

Now- If both front tires turn to the same degree, one will be fighting for supremacy. This causes scrub and kills performance (and handling). You need the inner tire to steer a bit more than the outer tire.

Look in the Steering forum, there should be a thread stickied with pics of common race setups.

Looks like you have the tools and materials to get it done. You can look at our build threads in my signature, we have the same frames, and have custom steering/axles.

I have checked out some of the projects and they look great. I was worried because on my Dynamark's speed build the steering was unstable most of the time with the on tie rod. I was looking to run 2 tie rods one to each wheel and a drag link between. I was just wondering if anyone has tried it before. I still have not found a good engine. I am going to try a dual tie rod set up do some tests and if I don't like it I will transfer it over to a normal tractor set up. Has anyone tried a steering stabolizer shock on a garden tractor before? When I lifted my jeep I tossed a new one on.

I thought about using a hood shock off a Jeep as a stabilizer for a while. Dunno how it would work though, since I dont run power assisted rack and pinion.