Sunday, January 29, 2012

D79-80: Suspension Redesign and Rebuild #4

I've spent the past week redesigning the front suspension yet again. After getting the last design tacked together I realized that bump steer might be an issue. I did a little research and modeled my design in CAD to realize that, YES, I did have a bump steer issue.

The design below is what I've come up with for the (hopefully) last build. I've raised the steering rack and plan on mounting the tie rods to the top of the spindle instead of the bottom. This allows for adjustments to control bump steer. I need to modify the spindle and build custom tie rods to complete this conversion.
The new design brought the mounts for the lower control arms in about 1.5" on each side. Below is the design for the new control arms. I've gone back to the style of the second design maximizing the steering range. This won't cause the same issue I ran into with the second control arm because the tie rod is on top of the spindle mount and won't hit the rim.
I built the new arm on the frame. It was easier to tack the mounts and build the control arm on the frame than trying to build a jig for the arm. I did the same on both sides and I'm much happier with the latest build than with the previous one. There is much less slop. I also plan on adding some additional plates to strengthen the mounts.

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