Geometry
The Steering arm angle will be set to between 15.5 and 16.6 degrees. This is found by creating a triangle that runs from the steering arm through the centre of the rear axle and then finding the angle between the hypotenuse and the centre line of the car. The greatest steering angle will be 26 degrees and will provide a turning radius of 6.2 m. The steering arm length, tie rod lengths and rack travel will all depend on the rack chosen.
Component Selection
As of right now we will most likely purchase our rack from Stiletto as it meets all of our criteria and is a reasonable price, however no force analysis has been completed to ensure the rack is strong enough so a final decision cannot be made.
Other manufacturers and retailers including, Flaming River, Coleman Racing, Ididit, Summit Racing, Jegs and PitStop USA were contacted, however none were able to provide products close to our needs. The other retailers could only provide racks upwards of 12 lb, far too heavy for our purposes, and were unable to provide custom steering columns.