Quote:
Originally Posted by Xack
Smaller diameter can make for better clearances and things look nice under the hood. However, the smaller diameter will twist under torque. you will have stressing things like welds on the knuckles which... you cannot determine if they are good or bad by looking at them. The trade-off for a larger diameter steering knuckle is only a little more space for clearance. For your heavy front end, high HP car it's your choice. For me I'll take the larger size components with good mechanical assembly for peace of mind.
Power Steering does reduce the stresses on the steering components from the rack back to the wheel.
|
Uhhh...no. If you are twisting the u-joints by simply turning the wheel, either you are really strong or you have a lot of other problems. The smaller diameters in this case allow the u-joints to handle a bit more angle than some of the larger brands. The steering shaft on an Arntz or Butler sits at a pretty hefty angle where the shafts meets the column. The smaller u-joint allows that angle to rotate a little easier as the large style joints have a tendency to bind.
Also, on a Butler or Arntz, the front end is pretty light due to the motor sitting way back in the engine compartment. The weight bias is about 48/52 depending on the engine. Besides that, they use a crappy MGB style front end, so there are a lot of other issues more than the u-joints...like king pins being worn.