Suspension: designs, shapes, sizes
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Ladder bars are a low-cost way of controlling differential rotation, although they may be overly harsh in a street application. Where the car has to negotiate an uneven entry or exit such as angling into or from a driveway, there is no compliance in the bars like there would be in an OEM system. You could find one of the front tires being pulled off the surface of the roadway due to chassis twist and non-conformity of the bars. Another peril is the bending or breaking of brackets or welds from the flexing, a good reason to limit ladder bars to a race-only vehicle. | Ladder bars are a low-cost way of controlling differential rotation, although they may be overly harsh in a street application. Where the car has to negotiate an uneven entry or exit such as angling into or from a driveway, there is no compliance in the bars like there would be in an OEM system. You could find one of the front tires being pulled off the surface of the roadway due to chassis twist and non-conformity of the bars. Another peril is the bending or breaking of brackets or welds from the flexing, a good reason to limit ladder bars to a race-only vehicle. | ||
| − | At least one manufacturer has addressed this non-conformity. Auto Weld Chassis has developed a compliant urethane member in the Vee-point. This is a low-cost, new generation of ladder bars for Pro-Street use. They place a heavy duty urethane bushing in the front with a heavy duty outer sleeve welded | + | At least one manufacturer has addressed this non-conformity. Auto Weld Chassis has developed a compliant urethane member in the Vee-point. This is a low-cost, new generation of ladder bars for Pro-Street use. They place a heavy duty urethane bushing in the front with a heavy duty outer sleeve welded directly to the ladder bars for extra strength. The bushing has an inner steel sleeve which accepts a drag legal 3/4" bolt. Stainless steel adjusters and double shear plates are employed at the back of the bars. The flexibility of the urethane bushing allows the rear to twist and float slightly to soak up road irregularities and bumps for a better handling, quieter, maintenance-free ride that is still able to supply the necessary traction. |
Ladder bars may be used to control axle rotation with a leaf-spring arrangement or may be used with coil-overs or coils/shocks using a Panhard bar or Watts Link to control lateral body movement in relation to the differential housing. | Ladder bars may be used to control axle rotation with a leaf-spring arrangement or may be used with coil-overs or coils/shocks using a Panhard bar or Watts Link to control lateral body movement in relation to the differential housing. | ||
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====Torque arm==== | ====Torque arm==== | ||
| − | :A torque arm setup utilizes 2 lower control arms while having a unique arm which attaches near the | + | :A torque arm setup utilizes 2 lower control arms while having a unique arm which attaches near the center of the rear end near the pinion. This third torque arm extends all the way to the transmission tailshaft or crossmember. It can use either coil overs or a coil spring and shock setup. Also this setup like the 3 link requires either a panhard bar or watts link for centering the rear axle. This system is known to be a good handling performer however during launches the flexing of the torque arm can change pinion angle undesirably. On solution to this problem is to buy a sturdier aftermarket torque arm. |
===Solid Axle Centering Devices=== | ===Solid Axle Centering Devices=== | ||
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==For Performance== | ==For Performance== | ||
====Benefits of a Rigid Platform (chassis)==== | ====Benefits of a Rigid Platform (chassis)==== | ||
| − | A rigid chassis allows a suspension system to operate more reliably and | + | A rigid chassis allows a suspension system to operate more reliably and consistently. It does this by preventing any geometry changes from occurring outside of the intended pivot point in the suspension. Also as a chassis flexes points such as the center of gravity and roll center will move. By stiffening up the chassis it ensures that these points will remain consistent and the suspension can function as it was designed. |
===Methods for Quantifying Suspension Performance=== | ===Methods for Quantifying Suspension Performance=== | ||
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