Steering wheel angle while towing
Just picked up a 2007 Nash 27E. Noticed on the drive home the same steering wheel "problem" I had with a prior trailer. Wondering if anyone has ever seen this? It seems like with the trailer hooked...
Forum Discussion
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I'll stick to the idea that the problem is the soft P Range tires. Earlier, when I suggested that one might be able to see the belts both off-setting to one side or the other when stopped, I didn't think it entirely through. The tendency for the steering to "lay to one side, or the other" should only occur at highway speed because of increased tension of tractive effort to pull the TT against wind resistance. I think when moving slow, or stopping, the tire sidewalls would self-center and the steering wheel centering should improve also.
If one wanted to see this off-centering effect at slow speed, or stopped, one would have to drag the trailer brakes or park going uphill to provide enough tractive tension to off-set the tire sidewalls.
Perhaps a better explanation of the phenomenon at work, other than off-set muscle car axles, would be a design constraint of sling-shot dragsters. All such dragsters are usually built with a wide front axle wheel spacing and a narrow rear wheel spacing. The reason is that the configuration is more stable under hard acceleration, especially with wrinkle-wall drag slicks. Belted tires are not the only tires to have the tread assume a sideways set under tension. A wide rear axle causes the rear end to slide out easier as the forward thrust line from either single tire moves outside the same-side track from the corresponding front tire.
Another example of this "narrow-rear-axle" stability trick was Ford's (and GM's) past practice of having a narrower rear axle than the front. Many folks, not understanding the engineering behind this, objected to the difference in wheel track, including some of my hot-rodder buddies that should know better. It is possible that the OP's newer truck has equal width axles, contributing to his steering seeking non-center with squirmy tires plus increased traction requirements from towing.
One final modern configuration that exhibits the stability of narrow rear axles has been the debut of three wheeled motorcycles such as the Can-Am Spyder which uses two front steering tires and one rear drive tire. It represents the most stable handling motorcycle drive configuration as opposed to a single steer/dual drive tricycle setup that represents the worst handling.
My bet is that the OP's off-center steering will disappear with stiffer side-walled tires, and he is now experiencing a microcosm of the same phenomenon that causes rear axle power dragsters to want to move sideways under hard acceleration. It can be either side, but always to one side or the other.
Wes
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I'll stick to the idea that the problem is the soft P Range tires. Earlier, when I suggested that one might be able to see the belts both off-setting to one side or the other when stopped, I didn't think it entirely through. The tendency for the steering to "lay to one side, or the other" should only occur at highway speed because of increased tension of tractive effort to pull the TT against wind resistance. I think when moving slow, or stopping, the tire sidewalls would self-center and the steering wheel centering should improve also.
If one wanted to see this off-centering effect at slow speed, or stopped, one would have to drag the trailer brakes or park going uphill to provide enough tractive tension to off-set the tire sidewalls.
Perhaps a better explanation of the phenomenon at work, other than off-set muscle car axles, would be a design constraint of sling-shot dragsters. All such dragsters are usually built with a wide front axle wheel spacing and a narrow rear wheel spacing. The reason is that the configuration is more stable under hard acceleration, especially with wrinkle-wall drag slicks. Belted tires are not the only tires to have the tread assume a sideways set under tension. A wide rear axle causes the rear end to slide out easier as the forward thrust line from either single tire moves outside the same-side track from the corresponding front tire.
Another example of this "narrow-rear-axle" stability trick was Ford's (and GM's) past practice of having a narrower rear axle than the front. Many folks, not understanding the engineering behind this, objected to the difference in wheel track, including some of my hot-rodder buddies that should know better. It is possible that the OP's newer truck has equal width axles, contributing to his steering seeking non-center with squirmy tires plus increased traction requirements from towing.
One final modern configuration that exhibits the stability of narrow rear axles has been the debut of three wheeled motorcycles such as the Can-Am Spyder which uses two front steering tires and one rear drive tire. It represents the most stable handling motorcycle drive configuration as opposed to a single steer/dual drive tricycle setup that represents the worst handling.
My bet is that the OP's off-center steering will disappear with stiffer side-walled tires, and he is now experiencing a microcosm of the same phenomenon that causes rear axle power dragsters to want to move sideways under hard acceleration. It can be either side, but always to one side or the other.
Wes
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