Steering alignment problem

[mr_alister]

Hey guys. So my truck veers to the right quite hard when trailing at higher speeds. I noticed when i installed the servo horn i couldn't line it up to point perfectly straight no matter what tooth the spline was on. I decided steering trim from my radio could account for it coz it was so close. But with my trim set to max the opposite direction it still veers right. Any idea why? Its a power hd 20kg servo with the traxxas metal horn. Its not the tires either, i tried swapping the fronts and rears but still the same. Could it just be torque steer?

[Fricker08]

The best thing to do is set the steering trim in the middle, pull the horn off and try to get it as straight as possible. Then set the trim accordingly. You’re probably just off a tooth or 2.


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[Inspector86]

The horn is not clocked correctly on the servo. Remove the horn, power on the system and center the steering trim, this will center the servo. Then install the horn. You can also fine tune the center point by lengthening or shortening the drag link a turn or two.

[mr_alister]

I guarantee i have it on the closest one. One over the other way is further from center then i have it. Might adjust the steering arm and try that.

[$uicide $hift]

Are you trying to align the servo horn so it points straight forward? Make sure when the trim is at zero you have the horn attached to the steering linkage. Point your tires straight and see where the servo horn is pointing.

With zero trim and wheels pointing straight it is possible the servo horn will not line up pointing straight forward. It may be cocked in either direction when at zero trim and the wheels are pointing straight. If this is the case you will want to note the position of the servo horn when the wheels are pointing straight. From here you should be able to put the horn on close enough that minimal trim is all you'll need.

[mr_alister]

So i ended up putting the horn on so that it's slightly pointing left. At that position is further from the center than one tooth over which is slightly to the right. Either option forces me to use maximum trim, but the current one allows me to extend the steering linkage to get it straight enough that my trim adjustment needed is minimal. It just seems odd to me that i had to do it this way. Especially since all the links come pre assembled with the kit.

[mr_alister]

You can see how far out ot is on this tooth, but like i said, one tooth over is too far the other way to be adjusted by trim. Do you think I'll have trouble with the linkage being unscrewed that far?

[$uicide $hift]

It looks to me like you want the servo horn to point straight forward but this is not required. Screw back in your steering linkage ends. Right now you are increasing the toe out which will make the rig not handle as well on rough surfaces. Actual crawling not an issue but if you trail or want to go faster handling will suffer some.

On my SCX10 III it is the same thing. A top down view will show my servo horn is cocked to one side when the servo motor is centered and the wheels are straight. Try the steps I take and I generally do not even need to adjust steering trim:

1. Center steering trim on radio
2. Remove screw securing servo horn onto servo
3. Pull servo horn off the servo
4. With the steering linkage still attached set your wheels so they are straight
5. Bring the servo horn up to the servo and slide it on the gear while keeping the wheels straight
6. Tighten the servo horn and test
7. At most you may need a few steps of trim in either direction but it should not be a LOT and now you will have full turning radias in both directions from the servo

**EDIT**

Also make sure the travel setting or end points of the servo are not limited. If the end points or travel is limited in the radio you will not get the full rotation of the servo gear. Once you get the wheels straight and the rig driving in a straight line you can set your end points as the final step so you are not over working the servo and end up burning it out.

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by $uicide $hift

It looks to me like you want the servo horn to point straight forward but this is not required. Screw back in your steering linkage ends. Right now you are increasing the toe out which will make the rig not handle as well on rough surfaces.

Clocking the servo horn and adjusting the drag link length have no effect on toe. Toe is adjusted with the tie rod length.


To the OP,
Traxxas steering servos have just a tad wider mount bolt pattern than standard. When I install an aftermarket steering servo I center the LH mounts and file out the opening on the RH servo mounts for the screws to fit in the slot. In your pic above, it looks like you have the steering servo shifted to the right to center the RH holes. Try moving the servo to the left to center the LH mount holes.

[Benp]

When I set the horn to driver side, the servo horn hit the frame. Both servos had the horn set towards passenger side by 1 spline.

I adjusted the steering sub trim to align the wheels to go straight

[mr_alister]

I never even thought about where the servo was mounted. I guess i figured all 4 screws went in fine so it must be right. That's the next thing I'll check. Thanks for all the input fellas.

[MOguy]

If it doesn't turn out that the servo or alignment is not the issue and your tires are straight and stay straight it could be your tires, loose steering or suspension linkage. Depending on how fast you are going even tight linkage could have a little flex in it.

Given that it seems to always pull the same direction all the I would lean towards tires.

I have other vehicles that suffer from torque steer and when accelerating, even slightly and at higher, it can pull. With Portal axles I don't think that is supposed to be an issue.