Steering Tune-in

[Tweak]

Ok, again with the new car talk- I figured it would be nice to get some help with fine tuning the steering on my on-road HPI. It runs pretty good while turning and in short sprints.
The problem I am having is the long straight aways. It seems to want to pull (usually to the right) and I have to turn the wheel to straighten it out, Usually overcompensating and sending it into a spin or sacrificing speed for control.
The servos seem to be in good shape and the wheels are in pretty straight allignment to the chasis. Is there any decent way to get it to run in a straight line and maybe even adjust the sensitivity so it does not turn so sharply? I have tried extending the arm attached to the wheels (they have a small extension bolt that can be adjusted) to longer AND shorter lenghts, all to no avail. Anything else I might try is deffinately not obvious, But I was thinking I might try placing the extender arm into one of the other receptacles along the servo, but I don't think that would work either. Once again any help is great. Thanks for showing a newb support. :shrug:

 

[Diver6127]

It can be adjusted with your steering trim. That's a bandaid for the cut though. I would go out and buy an RPM Gauge ($12 approx) so you can set and measure the camber and toe angle.

I am suspecting it can be that your car is "toed out" more on one side than the other.

 

[Tweak]

Thats what I was thinking as well. i don't know if we have the same thing in mind tho. On mine, the wheels are kinda angled outwards from the body/chasis. almost like a pidgen foot? I don't know the trem for it, but they are angled. they also do not sit squarley on the ground, they are tilted so as to put more wheight on the outer rim of the tire. It's playing hell on the plstic rims, but I don't want to get metal ones 'till I know if I want to put more cash in it.

 

[Bouzouki]

Make sure your steering trim is set to zero or nuetral.

Your front toe-in/toe-out is probably screwed up.

 

[MustangMan]

The front tires should be toed IN a little for high speed stability. Check all your alignment settings and adjust if you have adjustable arms.

You may also have a steering "dual rate" on your controller and if it is turned up too high you will spin out easily at high speeds. Turn the dual rate down. It will make for wider turns at low speeds but for better tractability at high speeds when you need to make a minor steering adjustment.

 

[Tweak]

Well, I have a fine tune knob on the controller itself, Witch I just adjusted to make the wheels maintain basic allignment. Other than that I tried all the odd and ends with the wheels, arms, and other parts. Stange thing tho. I was running the car in a parking lot next to my house, An old abandoned Ice Skating Rink., Any how, there were some busted bails of hay laying around, and I was tearing ass around the lot. This is the first time I actually opened the throttle all the way, since two days ago when I got the car. I was ripping around this lot, when I made a wrong turn and plunged head first into a broken bail of hay. It got all mussed up in the front and rear right tire, as well as the servo and exhaust pipe. I killed it and ran it back home for a quick fix. I took both the wheels and the arms off- It seems there was an extender brace modded onto the arm of the car. Weird, but I took it off and it seems to be controlling a lot better now. Thanks for the posts guys!

 

[Bouzouki]

The front tires should be toed IN a little for high speed stability. Check all your alignment settings and adjust if you have adjustable arms.

You may also have a steering "dual rate" on your controller and if it is turned up too high you will spin out easily at high speeds. Turn the dual rate down. It will make for wider turns at low speeds but for better tractability at high speeds when you need to make a minor steering adjustment.

Your thinking of the rear tires.

Toe-in/out is almost never used in the front.

 

[MustangMan]

Damn, you're right. I was thinking of the rears but had "front" stuck in my head from his post. Thanks for correcting the post...