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Breakover angle

Aspect of wheeled vehicle chassis design

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated September 13, 2025
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Breakover angle or rampover angle is the maximum possible supplementary angle (usually expressed in degrees) that a vehicle, with at least one forward wheel and one rear wheel, can drive over without the apex of that angle touching any point of the vehicle other than the wheels. This definition is contingent upon the wheels being in continuous contact with the supporting surface(s). Breakover angle differs from ground clearance, which is the shortest distance between the ground and lowest point on the vehicle.

01Relevance

Breakover angle is a relevant performance metric in many common vehicle scenarios, including:

If a vehicle drives over a breakover angle larger than what it is capable of clearing, the vehicle will contact the apex of the angle, which will quite likely prevent the vehicle from continuing any further in its direction of travel, possibly even completely immobilizing the vehicle.

β° = Breakover angle; C = Underside of chassis; W = Wheel; G = Ground; M = Midpoint of wheelbase
β° = Breakover angle; C = Underside of chassis; W = Wheel; G = Ground; M = Midpoint of wheelbase

02Calculation

Assuming no tire deflection, and assuming an ideal breakover angle scenario (two flat surfaces coming to a point, a vehicle with the lowest point of the chassis located at its midsection, etc.), an approximation for the breakover angle of a vehicle can be calculated as follows:

{\text{breakover angle}}_{approximate}=2\cdot \arctan \left({\frac {2\cdot {\text{ground clearance}}}{\text{wheelbase}}}\right)

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Breakover angle”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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