Looking for some help regarding the turning of the front wheels of vehicles. I have searched the sight as well as the web and no luck. If some one could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. Lets face it cars and trucks don't just drive in a straight line now do they.

Randy

Randy,

I wish the manufactures would provide the ability to pose the front wheels. Some will go in and do some surgery, cutting near the ball joint, shortening and lengthen the steering as needed. I would suggest posting this question in the Armour area as you will probably get a great response.

Darryl

Articulating the steering or suspension of any vehicle is a case of studying photos of the real thing, verifying that the model has the right features represented in the kit and then cutting and repositioning the kit parts, lengthening and shortening as required.

Now, this sounds simple enough, but lengthening shocks & springs can be a real pain in the arse. The biggest problem with articulating suspensions is that the kits seldom accurately represent the real parts. If you take an inaccurate suspension and even cut it correctly, you frequently find that the bloody thing still doesn't sit right because the basic suspension components in the kit are naf (useless) from an accuracy point of view. As a mechanical engineer, I can tell you that unless the geometry of the components (whether in the kit or scratchbuilt) are pretty close to the right geometry, then the wheels will never look right when turned.

So, if you are up to some scratchbuilding and have photos of the real thing, study where the real thing articulates, separate the parts along those interface planes, reposition, measure and adjust the lengths of various rods, shocks & springs and reattach the wheel hubs. Make sure your reattached joints are strong as there's nothing worse than spending a huge amount of time geting the finicky parts just right to have the whole thing collapse because it was "weak in the knees". If need be, use a support post under the vehicle to make sure you don't overbear the plastic parts especially if it's a heavy resin kit!

Remember, the suspension is the most complex thing in a car other than the engine, you can't just lop off the existing axle, turn it 10 degrees and glue it back on with out it looking like crap.

Paul