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Re: Suspension analysis challenges

To: Bill Babcock <BillB@bnj.com>
Subject: Re: Suspension analysis challenges
From: Larry Young <cartravel@pobox.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 21:07:53 -0600
Bill,
In a previous discussion, I mentioned that I don't believe you can measure the
steering ball joints and pivots accurately enough to predict bump steer with
software.  1/8 inch can make a huge difference in bump steer.  It is very
difficult to measure the position of a ball joint that accurately.  After
several trips to the garage and measurements from the scaled drawings, I did
exactly what you are suggesting.  All the hard work was in the garage doing
the measurements.  The camber curve was easy to match.  It took 15 minutes of
number massaging at the computer to get a perfect match of the measured bump
curve.  Only a few more minutes were required to predict how to fix it.

What type of camber curve/camber gain do you get with you're modifications?
Although lowering helps a little, the stock suspension doesn't have enough
camber gain.  This is probably why TRs like a very stiff frontend to minimize
body roll.
Larry Young

Bill Babcock wrote:

> I'm going to try reverse engineering the proper measurement point, though
> I have some doubts about my ability to do so adequately. I'm going to
> graph actual bump steer (as best I can) and camber gain, and compare them
> to the calculated values. Then I'll try different values for the lower
> ball joint location and see what gets me closest. Lots of work, ya
> think?!?

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