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07-5 4110-01 2. TORQUE STEER Torque steer is a condition in which a vehicle pulls to either side because of an inequality of traction between the left and right driving wheels when a large torque is applied to the front wheel of a FWD or 4WD. Especially for a FWD vehicle, this mechanical condition can cause the steering effect because of the output torque (rotational force) produced by the gyroscope. This rotational force is due to the difference in distance between the left/right front wheels and the transaxle which leads to the change of the shaft bending angle. To prevent this, the intermediate shaft, called Intermediate shaft, is employed on each side so that the bending angle and the length are kept constant. A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of angular momentum. In essence, a mechanical gyroscope is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation. Although this orientation does not remain fixed, it changes in response to an external torque much less and in a different direction than it would without the large angular momentum associated with the disk's high rate of spin and moment of inertia. Since external torque is minimized by mounting the device in gimbals, its orientation remains nearly fixed, regardless of any motion of the platform on which it is mounted. |