John,
You are probably right about the free wheeling device, as Andy Mace
points out the same thing. However, I was told by a factory Rep that
the device was an innovation of Saab, Go figure!
The Saab 3 banger was a descendant of the DKW 2 stroke engine, but the
ones I was driving were the German Ford V4 engine. And a sweet engine
it was. But it just goes to show you that there is Nothing new under
the sun.
Joe
John McEwen wrote:
>
> Hi Joe:
>
> You've given a good description of a very old device. SAABs part was
> undoubtedly descended from DKW whose engine was being built by SAAB under
> license. However free-wheeling was common on cars of the early '30s in
> America and Europe. These cars had freewheeling incorportated in to the
> transmission or mounted behind it. In addition, many US cars of the late
> '40s and early to mid-fifties were equipped with free-wheel as part of the
> mechanical overdrives which were then popular. With this type of O/D
> shifts could be accomplished without using the clutch if the O/D activating
> handle was pushed in (engaged).
>
> John
>
> >James,
> >I think you are talking about the "Free Wheeling Device that Saab
> >designed in the mid-60's. It was a very unique piece of technology. It
> >consisted of a shaft/cylinder affair with roller bearings riding in
> >their own channels. The device was fitted between the transmission and
> >the engine. When the transmission was turning faster than the engine,
> >the rollers would turn freely and separate the tranny from the engine.
> >But when the engine turns faster than the tranny, the rollers would
> >attempt to travel up a ramp and become lodged in the space at the top,
> >thus locking the engine and tranny together.
> >
> >The whole affair could be engaged or disengaged according to driver
> >preference. The effect was to enable the driver to shift all 4 gears up
> >or down without touching the clutch. It was great for long trips, as it
> >increased fuel mileage, but very precarious in mountain driving where
> >gearing down is helpful.
> >
> >If anybody else can provide a better description of the device, I
> >welcome comment.
> >
> >Joe Curry
> >
> >James wrote:
> >>
> >> All this semi-auto stuff, that's not what I wan't, I wan't a car that
> >> when you are in first or second in your standad manual setup, and
> >> your revs drop below 900 rpm, the clutch goes in. When the car is
> >> in nutral the cluck goes out. When you go above 900 rpm the cluch
> >> engadges over 1/2 a second. This way you don't have to touch
> >> the clutch pedel in trafic, it could also slip it if your in
> >> second from full stop. Thus you change like normal.
> >>
> >> But you car won't use the 15% of the power like a normal automatic
> >> with torque converter. You will get the economy, and even in that
> >> auto clutch mode you can still do wheel spins away from the junction
> >> (the best way of stopping pedestreians from crossing inf ront of you)
> >> becasue you should be able to get 5000 rpm's before it engadges.
> >>
> >> Yep, I'm going to design one, that ties onto the hydrolic system.
> >>
> >> How can you tell if the car infront is an auto? You've just
> >> overtaken them.
> >> --
> >> James Carpenter
> >> Yellow '79 spit wired by a trained marmot
> >
> >--
> >"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible
> > to travel across the country coast to coast without seeing
> > anything." -- Charles Kuralt
--
"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible
to travel across the country coast to coast without seeing
anything." -- Charles Kuralt
|