Ackerman Angle

Posted by jdemaris on April 11, 2007 at 06:38:54 from (66.218.12.122):

In Reply to: Re: OT: Front tire wear on '86 chev 4x4 posted by John17 on April 11, 2007 at 06:11:24:

I have no way of knowing what is worn or "out of whack" - if anything on this guy's truck. But . . . I've got over a dozen Chevy 4WD trucks - spanning years 1979 up to 1990. If I put oversize deep-lug tires on any of them, they will get the same sort of wear unless I rotate the tires once in awhile. The bigger and wider the tires and/or the deeper the lugs, the worse it does it. And - at least with my trucks - they are all kept in perfect mechancial condition - good shocks, no wear in the ball-joints or "king-pins", tow-in set correctly, no dog-tracking from front to rear axles, and pinion angle is correct.
I've checked, and on most if not all solid-front-axle GM 4WD trucks - the Ackerman Angle is not perfect and cannot be adjusted. The said Ackerman Angle is what puts the two front tires into separate turning circles whenever making a turn - and keeps them NOT parallel to each other - unless going straight.
E.g., if you are making a left turn - the left tire has to be travelling on a smaller turning circle than the right. Making turns on bumpy rods can cause a lot of tire wear - and the wider the tire - the worse it can be.
If there are also parts worn - than it's safe to assume that will make things worse. But - even when not worn - they do it - and it seems many of not most light truck owners use oversize tires.
I used to own a couple of 60s cars that were designed by Carol Shelby - and he basically - said the heck with the Ackerman Angle when he stuck a small-block Ford V-8 into a Britsh sports-car. 1964-1966 Sunbeam Tigers with 260 and 289 V-8s. With them, even slow-speed turns would screech the front tires and they'd burn off pretty fast. This has nothing much to do with Chevy trucks - but did make me pay attention to the Ackerman Angle effect 40 years ago.

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