corrected steering for Tamiya COE trucks, Mercedes,Volvo,Scania,MAN

[CustomRCmodels]

my MB 3850 was way overdue for a overhaul
( chewed up rear axles , sloppy steering )
and since I never liked the stupid steering setup
( with these linkages , and servo mounted on the side of the frame ) ,
I mounted the steering servo as close to the front axle as possible
( see 1st photo below )
( yeah , I know , " what's with the wire-tie's ? " = that is the temporary setup for testing )

and I correct the original wrong steering setup !
Yes , wrong !
all the Tamiya stub-nose semi's , COE , and to my surprise a lot of other R/C models have this wrong front steering setup ,
with the connecting rod for both steering hubs in front of the axle instead behind the axle where it should be .
You see that a lot especially on all-wheel-drive vehicles ,
rock-crawlers and such
and I see it also a lot on these self-build all-wheel-drive semi's ,
especially if the TLT-1 axles are used .
Of course it's also the question of available space for the steering servo
and the lack of available steering knuckles with 2 different options for connecting the steering linkages .
With the release of the F-350
( which some guys use for there all-wheel-drive-projects )
Tamiya correct this steering issue ( vs TLT-1 ).

the reason why I call this original steering setup of the stub-nose Tamiya , COE , semi's wrong :
with the connecting rod for both steering knuckles in front of the axle ,
the inner-turn wheel will make a larger radius and the outer-turn wheel will do a smaller radius ,
and it should be just the opposite !
( see 2nd , 3rd and 4th photo )

with a corrected steering setup
you will have a smaller turning radius of your truck !

my corrected and more direct steering on the MB 3850 made a big change in the handling too !
( not only for the smaller turning radius )
much more precise , no more waving all over the road at higher speeds !

now I just have to make some nice new servo-brackets
( even thought the wire-ties do the trick at the moment, Lol )

Willy
CustomRCmodels