I decided to call it quits this year as I had two terrible weekends and no points as a result of my flywheel bolts failing twice. I’m pretty sure those problems are now fixed and I have decided to concentrate on the front suspension geometry and front under tray design for next year.

So I’ve stripped the front end of the car and after analysing the bump steer using this model it confirmed that I did indeed have a problem to cure. I noticed the bump steer most of all at Silverstone mid way through Stowe. The car would always push wide I believe due to the suspension movement straightening the steering just a little. Whether this will make a change remains to be seen but any bump steer is too much bump steer when it comes to suspension.

Within the SGC I adjusted the model using the parameters I knew I could change. For example I can’t change the rack width without buying a new rack, which I don’t want to do. I eventually worked out that if I moved the upright/steering arm joint inline with the kingpin and lowered it, bump steer would be greatly reduced as this model displays.

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If the above isn’t bad enough check out what I found when inspecting the existing uprights… The red line shows the inclination of the upright/steering arm joint on the right hand side of the car, the green the left. Yikes! That’s a 5 – 10mm difference. I really must work on my quality assurance. The new upright/steering arm joints don’t have this problem.

When it comes to aligning the steering rack, it’s worth taking your time and doing it properly…

This is what the new upright steering arms look like – pre-drilled, 1 spare.

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