Homemade VW car dolly - What is a good tongue weight?

[rocco_crossing at hotmail.com (Rhett Farnum)]

In a normal street car the tires turn the same amount on both sides.this 
makes cornering at "slower speeds" easier. Most autocrossers allign the cars 
so there is "toe-out" which means the fron of the tires point away from each 
other rather than being perfectly parrallel.

I do understand the worry of putting strain on the steering system. But, I 
really don't think it's something to fuss that much over. If it was 
somethign to fuss about I'm sure U-Haul and others would have a different 
design for the 2 wheel dollies they have.





Peace Out,
Rhett
Rocco_crossing
'83 Rocco (DEAD!!) :-(  Now what to do???





>From: "Mark" <mardak@cogeco.ca>
>To: "'L F'" <rocco16v@netzero.net>, <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
>Subject: RE: Homemade VW car dolly - What is a good tongue weight?
>Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 14:18:10 -0500
>
>I don’t think you’re quite understanding my analogy, so I’ll try
>another:
>
>Forget the dolly exists, this is just a car on the ground, not moving.
>Turn the steering wheel to full lock.  The inside wheel will be at a
>tighter angle than the outside wheel, correct?
>
>Now turn the steering wheel so the wheels are pointing straight again.
>Lock the wheels in place, pointing straight ahead, so they can’t move
>(front to back, or “turning”).  Now get some big guys and drag the ass
>end of the car sideways until the front wheels are in full lock.  Since
>both wheels were locked to the same angle when straight, the inside
>wheel would (at full lock again) now not be at a tighter angle than the
>outside – they’d be at the same angle.  Since the geometry of the
>steering system forces the inside wheel to be at a tighter angle than
>the outside wheel, I don’t see how there would be no stress if rigid
>“wheel clamps” were in place to keep the angle the same.
>
>I could always disconnect one tie rod end to alleviate any fears I still
>have…
>
>Make any sense yet?
>
>Thanks!
>
>
>Mark.
>80 S
>81 S  2.0 ABA/JH/4K
>75     Soon!
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: L F [mailto:rocco16v@netzero.net]
>Sent: January 16, 2004 11:20 AM
>To: Mark; scirocco-l@scirocco.org
>Subject: Re: Homemade VW car dolly - What is a good tongue weight?
>
>Mark,
>   The dolly will lock the front wheels together!!!!!!!!  No stress on
>the steering because equal stress is being applied to both front wheels
>silmultaneously BY THE RIGID DOLLY.
>Think about it....
>
>Larry
>----- Original Message -----
>From: HYPERLINK "mailto:mardak@cogeco.ca"Mark
>To: HYPERLINK "mailto:rocco16v@netzero.net";'L F' ; HYPERLINK
>"mailto:scirocco-l@scirocco.org";'Scirocco.Org'
>Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 12:17 AM
>Subject: RE: Homemade VW car dolly - What is a good tongue weight?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: L F [HYPERLINK
>"mailto:rocco16v@netzero.net"mailto:rocco16v@netzero.net]
>Sent: January 15, 2004 8:34 PM
>To: Mark; 'Scirocco.Org'
>Subject: Re: Homemade VW car dolly - What is a good tongue weight?
>
>Coupla' things;
>
>Since a dolly is really a four-wheeled trailer (with the car on it),
>tongue weight would be inconsequential. Don't worry about it. (Look at
>the big rigs with two trailers; the second trailer is a four-wheel and
>it has zero tongue weight)
>
>Second, if you bolt the wheels to the dolly (and don't lock down the
>steering wheel), the WHEELS will take all the strain, not the steering
>gear.
>(sounds like your problems are really non-existent!)
>--------------------------
>
>
>Here's where I still think there might be a problem:
>
>In normal driving when you turn the steering wheel, the inside wheel
>turns more than the outside, right?  Now lock both wheels in a straight
>ahead position and "turn" the car behind them (as on a dolly, turning a
>corner).  In this scenario the car is technically "turning" (if you
>ignore the dolly beneath the car), but both wheels are locked to the
>same angle.  My worry is that locking the wheels in a fixed position
>could break something in the steering system since the inside wheel will
>be prevented from turning more than the outside.
>
>Thanks for the info on the tongue weight - I never thought about it that
>way.  I think a bit of weight on the hitch would be good though...
>
>Thanks!
>
>Mark.
>80 S
>81 S  2.0 ABA/JH/4K
>75    soon!
>
>
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