Working principle of rack and pinion steering gear.
Simple rack and pinion steering diagram.
The rack and pinion steering box has a pinion connected to the steering column.
A rack and pinion gearset is enclosed in a metal tube with each end of the rack protruding from the tube.
This pinion runs in mesh with a rack that is connected to the steering tie rods.
A rod called a tie rod connects to each end of the rack.
Rack and pinion steering is quickly becoming the most common type of steering on cars small trucks and suvs.
The steering system converts the rotation of the steering wheel into a swivelling movement of the road wheels in such a way that the steering wheel rim turns a long way to move the road wheels a short way.
A typical rack and pinion steering layout showing how the rack acts directly on the road wheel steering arms.
Rack and pinion steering uses a gear set to convert the circular motion of the steering wheel into the linear motion required to turn the wheels.
Helical gearing gives smoother and quieter operation for the driver.
It is actually a pretty simple mechanism.
Both the pinion and the rack teeth are helical gears.
A simplified rack and pinion steering diagram showing the column 2 rack and pinion 3 and tie rod 4 image via wikimedia commons laurensvanlieshout a tie rod links the rack to the kingpin.