> augi writes:
> I've discovered the heart stopping limitations of swing axles! I was playing
> around in an empty parking lot, thinking that all of the complaints about
> swing axles were frivolous, enjoying the mild oversteer as the rear suspension
> tucked under on hard turns. I was taking turns harder and harder, ending
> up with more and more oversteer, and having a great time steering the car
> with the throttle when it happened: the rear suspension must have tucked
> under too far, and I lost almost all rear traction. The car spun 2 or 3
> times, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do. I ended up facing back-
> wards, and had actually broken a weld on the exhaust system from the flex.
> I'm glad that I know the limit is so dangerous, I might have been tempted
> to approach it on the regular road if I hadn't had this experience in the
> parking lot.
>
> The funny thing is that I'm convinced that the whole problem can be solved
> by simply putting a limit strap on the rear suspension. Things seem to work
> fine (even if with a bit of oversteer) until the rear wheels _really_ tuck
> under. Has anyone tried limit straps on the rear suspension? Has it worked?
>
Camber jacking on swing axles is a known problem of long and involved history.
Some of the only roll-overs we've seen in SOLO here in NER involve swing-axle
VW beetles getting jacked up and over. Yes, it is dangerous, and yes, you
can do something about it. There is a device available for the VW that
applies a counter-torque to the axled at the transmission interface, but
only if the trans is skewing over. This allows normal suspension travel
most of the time, but when it starts to camber jack, it acts to level
things out. "Steering the car with the throttle" is a touchy thing with
an unassisted swing-axle, as you have discovered. If you want to turn
at the limit, with some measure of safety, you have to get down to turn speed
smoothly without too much trail braking, then get on the gas and hold it
down. Full throttle is not usually needed, but backing off is a definite
hazard.
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John R. Lupien
lupienj@hpwarq.hp.com
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