Why Are Wheels Crap?

[Apollo13]

On Minmus, even the simplest rovers are uncontrollable.  I'm using stock wheels.  When I attempt to go forward, I go backwards,  Yes, before you ask the obvious, I've set the context menu correctly so the wheels are to go in the proper direction.  I've tinkered with the Traction and Friction controls to no avail.  I've tried various combinations of powered back wheels and no-power front, and powered-front, with no-powered back.  I've tried making the wheels steerable and non-steerable.  Even going 2 kph, I can flip the vehicle.  The wheels lack traction, or friction, or whatever and just skitter around.

Is there a mod with decent wheels?  Stock wheels are crap require some fixing.

Note:  I'll post screenshots when I fire up KSP after my rage-quit simmers down.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Apollo13

[bewing]

The problem is the orientation of your control point -- which is probably your probe core. If you look at your Navball, it it probabaly pointing in some funny direction (down?). You need to pick a control point that  is aimed in the direction that you want to be "forward" (when you hit W). Often there is a klaw or docking port pointed that way, so click it and "control from here".

If you had modded wheels, they would be working just the same as your stock wheels in this case.

If you want us to verify that is indeed the problem, we need a screenshot showing your rover and your navball.

 

[sebi.zzr]

If you're using stock wheels on a rover,first thing you need to do is disable all tork from reaction wheels and command probes or switch to docking mode,so that commands don't get interfered.
It is well known trick from the times when wheel actually worked

39 minutes ago, Apollo13 said:

Is there a mod with decent wheels?  Stock wheels are crap require some fixing.

I'm not going to direct you to actual mod,but to thread with similar issue.

 

[Gargamel]

Another thing to consider is the low gravity of minmus.  It doesn't lead to a lot of traction, as your rover can easily bounce over some of the mountains if you get going fast enough.  I speak from experience. 

But it does sound like your navball isn't aligned properly, as others have mentioned. 

[Apollo13]

Thanks for the answers.  I'll look at my rovers and see if those are the problem.  I gave forum Rep points to each of you.

EDIT (5 mins later): We have a winner.  Checkout the Navball :

EDIT: I set the Cockpit part to "Control From Here", and the Navball now shows blue on top of brown, as it should be.  The rover still pitches forward, but I believe that to be my design flaw.  I should have the front wheels directly under the cockpit.  I've somewhat corrected that situation by disabling the back wheels and powering the front wheels, so the rover is being pulled by the motors versus pushed.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Apollo13

[Goody1981]

2 hours ago, Apollo13 said:

The rover still pitches forward, but I believe that to be my design flaw.  I should have had the forward wheels directly under the cockpit.  I've somewhat corrected that situation by disabling the back wheels and powering the front wheels, so the rover is being pulled by the motors versus pushed.

Just to elaborate on (and reiterate) what sebi.zzr said above (in case you didn't do this too)...disabling the torque in the command module (and reaction wheels if you have any) should stop any pitching forward. It does this because it doesn't know it's not a plane/rocket, and 'W' usually means 'pitch forward'. I believe you can also get rid of this problem by driving in docking mode (is docking mode still a thing?)

[The Aziz]

Bad control point is one thing, messing up the friction settings is another. I had a rover on same wheels as yours, but with lower center of mass (wheels on sides, not under the frame) with default friction/traction settings. 30m/s on flat ground, 15 to 20m/s on slopes with no problem. No sliding, just had to make slight turns.

[pincushionman]

21 hours ago, Goody1981 said:

Just to elaborate on (and reiterate) what sebi.zzr said above (in case you didn't do this too)...disabling the torque in the command module (and reaction wheels if you have any) should stop any pitching forward. It does this because it doesn't know it's not a plane/rocket, and 'W' usually means 'pitch forward'. I believe you can also get rid of this problem by driving in docking mode (is docking mode still a thing?)

Alternatively you can re-assign the "drive forward/reverse" and/or the "wheels turn" controls to some other control in settings. This helps in airplanes too by separating turn from yaw.

[Warzouz]

On 04/04/2017 at 10:58 PM, sebi.zzr said:

If you're using stock wheels on a rover,first thing you need to do is disable all tork from reaction wheels and command probes or switch to docking mode,so that commands don't get interfered.
It is well known trick from the times when wheel actually worked

NO ! Don't deactivate torque ! On the contrary, you need to turn with torque instead of wheels.

Explanation

By default, Torque AND steering are controlled by the same keys. On high grav world, that doesn't matter much. But on low gravity worlds it makes driving nearly impossible.

So first step is to set the steering to the keypad keys in the options

On low grav world, your rovers are somewhat very light so they tend to flip very easily. High Torque is necessary to control the rover when it starts to flip. Even more, it's easier to turn using the torque instead of the wheels : the rover stays flat an only loose speed.

Finally, if you want to drive a lot, I strongly suggest you use a mod that maintains the rover attitude to the ground surface. MechJeb has a feature like that.