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You might have heard the phrase “bump steer” before – but do you really know what it is, or why it’s bad for your vehicle?  Tune in to Episode 54 of Lincoln “Tech Tips” as Tony explains how you can make some adjustments on your car that will virtually eliminate the issue and help give you a smoother ride while extending the life of your vehicle.

Tony: Welcome back to another Lincoln Tech Tip. Today we're going to talk about bump steer and why it is so bad. Bump steer is when your wheels turn in and out or tow in and out, as your car moves up and down as if it were going over bumps. Now you can imagine that, at the very least, a car that turns and steers without you turning the wheel is a very bad idea, but on the racetrack, it can be downright dangerous. The main factors that contribute to bump steer are your upper and lower control arm, ball joint, and pivot points, and where they are in relationship to where your steering rack is mounted – as well as rack length and tie rod length.

There is one more important point you'll need to know and that is the instant center. Instant center is an imaginary point where straight lines drawn along your upper and lower control arms intersect. To achieve zero bump steer, you'll need to position your steering rack so that the outer tie rod end will intersect with line one. The inner tie rod must intersect line two and the tie rod angle must intersect with the instant center of lines three and four.

The tie rod could be located in an alternate location and still achieve zero bump steer. You could place the outer tie rod anywhere on line one, as long as the inner tie rod landed on line two and the tie rod angle intersected with the instant center. If all these conditions are met, your car should have zero bump steer, which is the ideal.

Okay, that was pretty intense, but now we all know everything about bump steer. Now let's get back to the ’Cuda.

Lincoln Tech can teach you how to have a career working with cars. See lincolntech.edu.

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