Thread: Make it handle
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Old 09-22-2010, 09:04 PM   #98
robnolimit
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Dandridge, Tn. USA
Posts: 2,226
Re: Make it handle

Not a problem. Sometimes I go by this stuff so fast I get lost myself. Lets start with "roll center" or R.C., or RC for us lazy ones. The RC is the point that the truck wants to pivit around. OK, may have lost ya. When you put your truck into a corner, there are all sorts of things happening. The laws of physics are acting out all at one time. And all of these forces add together to force the truck to lean over. The RC is the pivit point, and we can change it, a bit. If you think of a picture of a truck, from straight in front of it, you would see it the front view. If you could mentally 'cut the picture out' and then hold it with a tack, you can imagine rotating the truck around the tack - ya? if you put the tack between the front wheels, even with the ground, this would be a LOW RC. And, no matter where you push on the truck, it tips over easily to the other side. Now imagine the tack throught the mirror, at the top of the winshield, and if you push on most of the lower part of the truck, it leans the other way. A HIGH RC. Now RC is only important when you compare it to something, like CG (center of gravity) think about this as the center of mass, or the balance point. Front to back is easy to understant. its the balance point front to rear. But height wise, theCG is the point at which there is equal weight above and below. For a standard, most vehicle CG hieght is about the center of the camshaft. This is where the 'Push" comes from. Now think about it, the closer you 'push' sideways on the RC, the less our picture wants to tip, or lean. Sounds great - but, it doesn't force any tires onto the pavement. In the front, where there is a motor and other weight, gravity is helping to keep the tires stuck. In the back, no weight, so no sticky-sticky. So, in the back, if we get the RC lower than the CG, it will force the truck to lean, and put pressure on the outside tire "bite"
I'm going to stop here. This is tough to describe without pictures. Let me know if this makes sense to you. RC and CG are pretty important if you want a good handle on this stuff. (pun)
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