I wonder if the manual steering trucks have less caster in the front axle, that would make it easier to steer at the cost of some straight-line stability. The steering ratio is also probably different from manual to power.
It is and they do. Drop the caster to near zero and steering eases considerably. Ad a turn or two to the lock to lock ratio and it steers even easier. With positive caster you are physically lifting the front end of the truck as you steer. Wider tires and wheel offset add to steering
effort. Very heavy trucks have center point steering. That's where an imaginary line drawn between the upper an lower steering pivot points
intersects at the ground in the center of the tire. The tire rotates around the center. . Look at one ton truck rims . They have a deep offset
allowing the negative scrub for driving stability. The center of the tire moves close to the steering center. This reduces or eliminates most of what is called positive scrub. Slight positive scrub aid ssteering while standing still. Cars with manual steering are design with a certain geometry in mind
Scrub radius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
