Thanks guys, glad to help. M5 - I'm thinkin about your question.
One more vocabulary word for today : Radial Deflection. ?? OK , Radial - used here to describe a type of motion. In a radius, around a fixed point. Deflection - when something is "deflected" it has changed it's desired path of motion. We want the rear axle to move straight up and down (no side movement) So, we want minimal "radial deflection" -the rear axle being deflected sideways due to the radial arc motion of the panhard rod. lost yet? OK, take a yardstick and lay it on the ground. Mark each end, carefully lift one end up 6" off the ground, and put a mark on the ground directly under the raised end. The two end marks will have gotten a little closer together. (about 1/16"). Now, repeat this with a 12" ruler. The arc that the ruler travels on is much smaller, and the two end marks will have moved much closer to one another. (about 2") When discussing "radial Deflection" you must know how much travel there is, to compare. The rule is, the longer the bar (radius) the less deflection (side movement)
Rear Roll Center. - the height of this can be calculated by getting the average hieght of the chassis mount and the axle mount, as the truck is setting at ride hieght. Watch the Nascar teams, when you see the guy drop an extension down into the back of the car, and turn it around once or twice, they are changing the roll center. The chassis side mount on these cars is on a slide, and can easily be screwed up or down to tune the car.
Todays homework, - What is your Rear Roll Center?
Tony, did you mean Blue Moons?
