[project] The Ultimate Track 205

[Cameron 16]

Haha really? You missed a trick there, you could have taken all the credit!

[shalmaneser 26]

Nice independent camber and toe in adjustment, but it's just crying out for a driveshaft into the back of that hub!

[Cameron 16]

Thanks, I may have borrowed the idea from our Formula Student car.

 

RWD is a bit too much to take on really, I had originally wanted to but I kinda like the idea of FWD.

[timmsy19 3]

Amazing work Cameron!

 

Subscribed to this

[ricdat 0]

<snip> Here's how the rear end looks at the moment. <snip>

 

I don't know how clear it is, but you might be able to see the method for adjusting camber via a series of shims between the upper wishbone clevis and the upright. This should make it so that you don't have to remove the wishbones to adjust camber.

 

Hi Cameron, I've been waiting for years for someone to develop some advanced suspension for my 205 .

I have only just found your thread, and have been reading about all the good work.

Can I make one suggestion about the rear suspension model shown above?: with that toe-control arrangement there is the minor problem that every time you adjust your camber, it changes the toe-in so you have to adjust that as well. If you had the toe-in link at the same height as the lower wishbone, you could adjust camber with no effect on toe. This would probably mean a different style upright - more like the one in Post 62 for the FS car. The upright shown above is better for its ease of manufacture, but maybe you could combine the best of both.

Another idea is that you can connect your coilover (or linkage) direct to the upright (as it does not steer). This has benefit of not loading the lower wishbone outboard spherical bearing axially, so it could be much smaller and/or last longer. (All spherical brgs or rod ends can take much higher radial loads than axial).

I know there are many other issues to consider that may conflict with my ideas; there are so many compromises to get the overall best package.

I'll keep following this thread now. Good Luck!

[Cameron 16]

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I had actually mounted to the upright back when I was going to have a damper-to-wishbone setup (like a Caterham) rather than a pushrod and rocker setup, I'm not sure whether there's any pictures earlier in the thread though. It is a good idea for the rear end, the only thing that stopped me from doing it was that the angle the pushrod had to attach to it (in order to be in-plane with the rocker and damper) made designing a bracket very awkward and a bit ugly.

 

You're also right about the toe-link being at wishbone level, and this was something I was going to do when I had intended to go RWD but abandoned when it turned to FWD as I wanted to make the uprights as simple as I could. Maybe it's something I could look into again as it's a relatively simple modification. Also that way I can put the body side attachment point for the toe-link on the lower wishbone rather than on the subframe, and it would be nice not to have to adjust the toe after changing camber settings - shame I can't do the same for the front though.

[Cameron 16]

I've had a little look into the idea of putting the toe link down low and am not so sure whether I'll go for it. I can't get it in a position where I get favourable bump / roll steer while keeping the amount of anti-lift I want. Because of the angle of the lower wishbone pivot it causes toe out when the toe link is attached to the wishbone. Attaching it to the body instead causes the problem I'm trying to avoid in the first place, although to a lesser extent.

 

I'll stick with what I've got for now, it meets my targets for everything and is incredibly simple to make.

[Rippthrough 98]

No RWD?

 

Hang your head in shame.

[Cameron 16]

Pfft..

 

Ok.

 

 

 

 

[shalmaneser 26]

I'm sure you're well aware of this but if you make the chassis side tie rod connection adjustable you could change the amount of bump steer....I've always wanted to play around with passive rear steering.

[Cameron 16]

Not a bad idea.. I could do some sort of shim arrangement that moved the inner track rod balljoint up and down a little, some rear steer could help out on a FWD.

 

I picked up my roll cage yesterday and in true kid at Christmas style tore the wrapping off and took a picture.

 

 

Spent the morning sorting out my Miami daily, swapped my dented door for a nice un-dented one and also nicked the electric windows and central locking off the Auto shell, which is nice. Then in the afternoon I turned my attention back to this and started the thankless task of removing all the seam sealant in preparation for lots of cutting and welding!

 

I've put an order in for a whole load of steel, too.. got some 2" x 16swg box section for the floor rails (and also to make my workbench) and a whole load of sheet for making brackets etc. I'm hoping to make a start on the fabrication next weekend.

Edited February 18, 2012 by Cameron

[Cameron 16]

A little update on the CAD side of things too, the space-frame design is "finished" and I've been running some torsional stiffness analyses on it to figure out how to improve the stiffness - weight ratio.

 

 

I say "finished" as the front end can't be completed until I have an engine block, I don't want to design anything only to find out that's where the engine / gearbox needs to be.

[Rippthrough 98]

RWD yet?

[Cameron 16]

Nope!

[Cameron 16]

Ok so this may not be progress on the car but it's something that will enable me to get started, and let's face it, everybody loves a workshop!

 

Recieved my steel order from Metals4U today - loads of 2" 16swg box, some 30mm angle and an assortment of sheet - so jumped out my work clothes and made a start on the workbench. This needs to be hefty, and it will be! The eagle-eyed will notice it's just a little bigger than my toolbox, as it's going to slip over the top.

 

 

Some weldy goodness - mmmmm.. smooth.

 

 

Bloody love this welder!

 

The worktop (in case you were wondering) will be 2 layers of 18mm MDF then a 3mm steel top, on to which I can tack jigs and the like. Will finish it by the weekend, when things will start happening on the car!

[tri_longer 25]

If your flat floor jig and work bench are anything to go by the build is going to be superb.

[sambaileyw 2]

Look forward to some car related progress nice work bench

[Cameron 16]

Thanks! I'm itching to get to work on the car and this bench is pretty much the last thing I need to get started.

 

Just bought this little beastie too - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140707435236 should do the job nicely!

Edited February 21, 2012 by Cameron

[Rippthrough 98]

4wd yet?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cameron 16]

No.

 

More workbench stuff.. welded some 30mm angle to the top to hold the wood surface in place, then gave it a few coats of satin black paint..

 

 

Then once it had dried to the point that I could just about pick it up I moved it inside and into position! I cut the worktop from my last bit of MDF and wedged it in (read: bludgeoned it in with a mallet because I couldn't be arsed to sand 1mm off one end). I've run out of wood so will have to make a dash to B&Q to pick up another sheet, I want the top to be 2 layers thick so I hammer on it without breaking anything, and also bolt my rather large vice to it securely.

 

Here it is, looks pretty good!

 

 

The eagle-eyed may have spotted my cock-up though.. can anyone see where the keyhole for my rollcab is?

[BusEngineer 7]

Doh!

[Cameron 16]

Derp!

 

It's ok, I'll just nip 5mm or so off the key and it'll fit.

[alexcrosse 124]

Id put a metal top on that if I were you piglet... laser cut 4mm would probably be the cheapest way to do it, only £20 or so, but makes so much difference.

[Cameron 16]

Somebody needs to learn to read, Carrrrrrl!

 

It's getting another layer of wood then a 3mm sheet top.

[alexcrosse 124]

oh, i only do pictures mate, llamas cant read.