Modern Types of Car Steering Wheel

Steering wheel is the most important component of a car that helps improve safety and delivers higher standard of driving comfort.

A peep into the history of automobile industry gives a clear image of the actual steering wheel used in traditional cars and other vehicles. As days passed and innovations entered the auto industry, the steering systems also became modernized with still better levels of driving comfort.

Advancements and improvements in car steering wheel was the most significant addition to car technologies. The basic types of steering wheel used today are explained below:

Recirculating Ball Steering

In the manual recirculating ball steering system the input shaft of the steering column is linked to the worm gear inside the steering box. The worm gear supports the back and forth movement of the ball nut that have teeth on one side and rotate one portion of the gear that is linked to the pitman arm. So, when the car driver turns the steering wheel, the worm gear slides the ball nut that further rotates the gear attached to the pitman arm, which in turn rotates the front wheels.

Ball bearings are used in this system to reduce friction and improve the steering performance.

Rack and Pinion Steering

Rack-and-pinion steering system is the most common types of steering system. This kind of system is wrapped by a metal tube with rack ends protruding out. All the rack ends that protrude from the metal tube are linked to a tie rod which is connected at the other end to the steering arm. Pinion gear is linked to the steering shaft and when the driver turns the steering wheel, it spins the gear which further moves the rack that gives linear motion to the car wheels.

The basic advantages of the rack and pinion steering wheel is that it helps to convert rotational motion to linear motion of the wheels. It also reduces gear reduction to turn the wheels.

With a host of technologies and innovations that have entered the car market, various other types of steering systems are also introduced in the car market. Some of the most renowned are the adjustable steering system and the power steering system. Adjustable steering system is further classified to various types including the tilt wheel, telescope wheel, adjustable steering column, and swing-away steering wheel. Power steering system is only a power assisted mode of the mechanical standard or recirculating steering system or the rack and pinion system.