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

[veedublu at prod.net (John Van Vuren)]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Abatzis" <abatzis2@hotmail.com>

> no. the wheels are at the same angle. i think you mean that the outside
> wheel _turns (rotates) faster_ than the inside wheel during a turn.  think
> about the steering mechanism. the (rigid) steering rack has a tie rod on
> either end, connected to each wheel bearing housing.  during a turn, the
> rack, tie rods, and wheels all move as one unit, so the angles of the
wheels
> must be the same.


No, he is correct...   the inside wheel will turn slightly tighter than the
outside one.  It's called Ackerman angle, and is necessary because the
inside wheel must follow a tighter "corner" than the outside.

Whether it's enough to affect towing on a dolly, I dunno...   I have seem
some dollies that have floating pads where the wheels sit.  Me personally, I
have a trailer   :)

John