<VV> Axle Jacking

Dave Leonard dave at arborlea.com
Tue Sep 20 07:28:02 EDT 2011


Totally agree with Warren's post on this topic.  The only way to get a swing
axle to behave is to lower the roll center as much as possible.  Carroll
Smith's book(s) on suspension design ("Engineer to Win" is the one I think?)
is a good primer on this.  Basically, you need to de-camber the rear.
Fortunately, this is easy - just use the appropriate HD springs from
'62-'63, remove the '64 transverse spring, and aim for at least 1 1/2"
static negative camber.  You'll get the roll-stiffness back, which will have
to be compensated with the appropriate front bar - to stiffen up the front
roll stiffness similarly.  This is the way my '64 Spyder convert is set up -
and back in the day I use to win F-stock autocross events all the time with
it.  In the movies (pre-video) I have of my runs, you never see anything
unusual going on with the rear suspension.  I didn't use a rear bar, as it
was a street car and I was happy with the car's balance without it.

The '64 transverse spring only reduced the roll stiffness, and as others
have said, moved more of the cornering load to the front, increasing
understeer, and making the car more "stable" (less tail-happy).  It made no
change to the geometry of the suspension.

Dave  



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