Lunchbox Steering mod

[Country Mike]

Always hated the way it turned on the lads lunchbox so I did this. Joined the hubs and used a single rod to the closest front hub and et voila, it turns lovely and appears sharper. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcClcusD930/

[novicelad]

6 minutes ago, Country Mike said:

Always hated the way it turned on the lads lunchbox so I did this. Joined the hubs and used a single rod to the closest front hub and et voila, it turns lovely and appears sharper. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcClcusD930/

Simple idea might try that! 

[Wooders28]

Brilliant!! 🖒

Is there room for ball joints? Thread the ends of the bar to adjust the toe in.

[nowinaminute]

2 hours ago, Country Mike said:

Always hated the way it turned on the lads lunchbox so I did this. Joined the hubs and used a single rod to the closest front hub and et voila, it turns lovely and appears sharper. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcClcusD930/

It's a good idea ive seen done on a few models before. It should also eliminate the asymmetric wheel angle where one wheel isn't turned as much as the other on full lock.

I've done this on a couple of Nikko "Hawg" type monster trucks, they are virtually hobby grade with an electrics swap, durable and great bashers but there's a lot of slop in the original steering linkage. This technique adds precision and strength so that you get most benefit out of the upgrade to a hobby servo.

[nowinaminute]

17 minutes ago, Wooders28 said:

Brilliant!! 🖒

Is there room for ball joints? Thread the ends of the bar to adjust the toe in.

Not sure about the Lunchbox but I've used rod on other models to do the same mod.

[Country Mike]

I think you could easily. There's two sets of holes on the hubs and I just used a stainless coat hanger. I've seen some rock crawlers where they put a double ball joint on the hubs so anything is possible. I just got fed up of it going out of align. 

[Munchbox]

Love it! Could be applied to other cars with off center servos as well.

[smirk-racing]

Very clever. Given that the rod linking the two hubs connects via two different holes (inner hole on one side, outer hole on the other), do the wheels turn different amounts?

[markbt73]

Interesting. Most of the time, you see a solid link like that on a solid axle; it has been the standard setup for 100 years, and it works great, as long as both front wheels are attached to the same suspension member so they're always in the same relative position to each other. If the front wheels can move independently of one another, the geometry of a single steering link connecting them rarely works unless suspension travel is minimal. The steering link will always push back against the suspension movement, causing the wheels to turn to compensate (bump steer). But hey - it's a Lunchbox, so bump steer is already part of the, er, "fun."

I wonder if something like the old Ford twin I-beam setup would work (which was basically front swing arms that crossed over one another). A link would go from the servo horn to the left hub, and then another link would attach to that link somewhere in the middle and go to the right hub, at a point where the geometry worked out so that the steering link and the suspension arm moved in parallel, to eliminate the bump steer, as opposed to a direct drag link from one hub to the other... Now you have me thinking... I may have to mess around with that a bit...

[waterbok]

or just center the servo and then do the FX10 mod

[Country Mike]

1 hour ago, smirk-racing said:

Very clever. Given that the rod linking the two hubs connects via two different holes (inner hole on one side, outer hole on the other), do the wheels turn different amounts?

slightly but not noticeable as before.

[Country Mike]

I swapped holes for the steering rod and it's made what I can minimal difference to toe in etc.