Steering - The Tire Effect

Range of Motion on the Bench

Note: This section uses the testing method shown here.

You might not know, but on the MGT there is a problem of the rim hitting the turnbuckle on the inside tire at full turn. So, I mounted four different tires to test this out. For each test, I mounted a different tire on the right side, and then measured the left on the degree wheel. Here are the results:

• BASELINE - Left wheel with no tire on right - 33°/19° (total of 52°)
• BowTie 40 series on right, left now rotates - 33°/19° (total of 52°)
• Stock MGT tire mounted on right, left now rotates - 33°/17° (total of 50°)
• T-Maxx Bow Tie on right, left now rotates - 33°/16° (total of 49°)
• T-Maxx Bow Tie on wide offset wheels on right, left now rotates - 33°/19° (total of 52°)

You can see that the 40 series Bow Ties rims allow for good rotation, but they still contact the turnbuckles. The stock MGT rims and T-Maxx style rims both hit the turnbuckle even worse and cause you to lose some turning rotation. However, the wide offset T-Maxx rim does not even come close to hitting the turnbuckle.

The ProLine 40 Series BowTies just barely hit, but do not restrict movement	The stock MGT rim solidly hits the turnbuckle and restricts turning ability.	The stock T-Maxx rim hits and is the worst restrictor of turning, of all tires tested.	The offset wide T-Maxx rim has plenty of room and does not even come close to hitting the turnbuckle

Practical Steering Radius

The above section points out physical limitations in the MGT's steering when it's sitting on the bench. Now it's time to put all 4 wheels on and look at some practical measurements of the steering radius on a fully ready to race truck. Before I started these tests, I made sure to align my front end using the "Steering Tune-Up" steps. Once I did that, all I did was to change tires and measure the turning radius. I wanted to be sure I was repeating the tests as accurately as possible, so I tried to minimize all the variables. I repeated each separate radius test about six times and then I switched the tires to the next set. I mounted each set of tires twice, so I actually did about a dozen radius tests on each set of tires.

I put a piece of duct tape across my carpeted floor and made marks on it, both starting and finishing marks. I used the marks to line the truck up the same way for each test. I turned the wheels (using the radio) to maximum left turn for each test, I turned the wheels before moving the truck. I used small pointers on each end of the truck and lined them above the marks, as shown in these two pics:

After I had everything lined up and the wheels held hard left, I gently pushed the truck until it came around and the front pointer hit the center of the tape. When using the same tire my measurements were actually all quite similar, thus validating my test protocol. I would then take a measurement, as shown below:

Results: The different tires had quite an effect on turning radius!

So, if you want the tightest turning radius, then the wide offset T-Maxx tires are the clear winner from these four. There is quite a noticeable difference in the turning radius as I was doing the testing. Hope you find this information as interesting as I did.

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