Crabsteering: Find Reference Material & Design Parameters

[sree]

hi,

can anybody give me any reference material on crabsteering? and the major design parameters involved?

 

[Danger]

I see that nobody has responded to this yet. The reason that I haven't is that I have no idea what you're talking about. Crab steering? I've never heard the term. Do you mean 4-wheel steering?

 

[Averagesupernova]

Crab steering is 4 wheel steering. Front wheels turn left back wheels turn right and the vehicle will go in circles. Front wheels turn left and back wheels turn left and the vehicle moves as if it were in a constant lane change. Not sure if one is more correctly considered 'crab' than the other.

Articulate steering is NOT the same thing. Articulate is where wheels/axles stay straight and the whole vehicle hinges in the center. The effect is the same as front turning left and rear turning right.

 

[Danger]

Thanks, Average. I'm somewhat familiar with both types, but have never heard the 4-wheel one called that. It's a good name for it, though. While I don't know enough about it to help sree, I'm a fan of it. One brand of pick-up truck sold here (Chev, I think) had a limited version of it as an option. You could park the sucker easier than a Volkswagon, and it made trailering a lot easier.

 

[sree]

hi,

well i am interrested in the second type where the vehicle can move parallel to the road.can anyone provide me any additional info

GM's new JEEP has got the first type of steering.all the four wheels can be turned independently.it can rotate about its yaw axis too.

 

[Averagesupernova]

Last I heard the GM vehicle would turn the fronts and the backs the same way above a certain speed. Obviously for lane changes. Possible also selectable at least in reverse. A website somewhere could probably tell you. I'm too lazy to check.

 

[Jeff Ford]

It's called the Hurricane. Each set of wheels has it's own engine. There's an article on it here

http://trucks.about.com/od/conceptcars/a/hurricane.htm"

 

[Danger]

Thanks, Jeff. There's also a nice little feature here: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/jeep-hurricane.htm"

 

[Cliff_J]

GM had Quadrasteer on their full size pickups where the rear wheels would steer (discontinued now).

Honda did rear steer in the late 80s/early 90s too, again discontinued.

While it may have benefits, the cost doesn't seem worthwhile to the consumers...