Steering From Above the Rack To The Steering Wheel

The two main components of this section are the steering column and the steering wheel

Steering Column

The steering column connects the steering wheel to a u-joint that then connects to the rack and pinon through a second shaft. We have decided to use a collapsible steering column as it vastly improves the safety of the driver. Collapsible steering columns are made of two or more shafts connected by a device that will collapse after a certain force, meaning that instead of the shaft spearing the driver it will collapse and only bruise the driver. We have yet to decide whether we will buy an aftermarket shaft or manufacture our own.

If we decide to manufacture our own shaft then we have to decide on the type of connection between the two shafts. The connection point can be made a variety of ways but we are currently looking at using RENCOL tolerance rings if we make our own steering column. Rencol tolerance rings go over top of a small shaft that is then put inside of a larger shaft, once enough force is applied to the shafts the ring allows the smaller shaft to collapse into the larger shaft.

If we decide to purchase a steering column there are a few different options but the columns must have room for wiring and be relatively easily mounted onto the chassis. We currently have sourced two different steering column manufacturers, ididt steering columns and sweet manufacturing. Ididit have quite complex and ergonomic columns however we are not sure whether their columns will work for our car, further research has to be done on their products. Sweet manufacturing has very simple adjustable length steering columns, however we are unsure if they will collapse during a collision. Sweet columns also come with quick release assemblies and rod ends attached to the column. We are unsure if we can run wiring down the center of sweet columns so further research is required.

Standard columns are long and run from the steering wheel down to the same plane as the rack and pinon. This makes securing and mounting the column difficult because multiple there have to be multiple mounting points. A second option is to use a short column that runs almost horizontally from the steering wheel into the dash, attaching to another column that then descends to the same plane as the rack and pinon. This design becomes much easier to mount but short off the shelf steering columns are hard to find, meaning we might be forced to make our own.  

Steering Wheel

We have decided to use a circular wheel that will be 3D printed and then wrapped in leather. The wheel will have buttons for the indicators, cruise control on, up and down and the horn on it. No final designs have been made on the wheel as it is not a critical part at this stage in the design process.