Here’s my dilemma. I’ve spent the better part of 4 hours searching the Internet and going through all of my 40 or so reference books on German vehicles and I can only come to one conclusion…8-rad vehicles NEVER turned!!! They just rolled straight to the battle field, fought, and then retreated in perfectly straight reverse. [:D]
Well, okay. Maybe they just never turned when there was a photographer in the area. I did find one rather poor picture of a SdKfz 263 with it’s wheels just slightly turned to one side…and I mean slightly!
Can anyone out there prove me wrong? What I’d really like is just one good clear (semi-clear) picture of any 8-rad (231/234 or variant) in a full turn…3/4 turn would be nice…1/2 turn is appreciated…anything less than 1/4 turn, I’ve already got. Thanks in advance.
Try a search for the Spahpanzer 2 Luchs, it’s modern 8 wheeler and I’ve seen many photos of it turning, almost like they’re showing it off. I’ve got an old Areo armor-series book with several photos of it turning. I’d guess it’s not all that different from the WWII 8 wheelers. As far as turning is concerned anyway.
Probably one of the reasons you don’t see them turning often in photos is that they were horribly unstable on the horizontal axis because of their narrow wheel base (think Explorer on stilts). Turns had to be made very slowly or they ran the risk of tipping. All 8 wheels were steerable and as Rob mentions, had two sets of steering gear front and back so reversing was very quick and easy to do, no turning required.
heres a photo i took at Bovington, and those kind peaple down there left the wheels turned, it used the same type of steering as the earlier armoured cars
ive got more photos of it, i’ll have to have a look for them
