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RE: K & S Alignment/Sharing Information

To: Alexander Joseph H <AlexanderJosephH@Waterloo.deere.com>,
Subject: RE: K & S Alignment/Sharing Information
From: Bill Babcock <BillB@bnj.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 14:54:44 -0700
I've done a great deal of work on my front suspension. No secrets, I
just don't have all the measurements and calculations at hand.  The
primary problems is that if you project the roll center for the stock
suspension it winds up around five feet underground. It's considered a
good thing to have the roll center for front and back in the same plane
(or at least close). Since the roll center for the rear wheels is the
centerline of the axle (fixed axle) there's a lot of funny forces when
the car turns. 

I modified the upper arms to add adjustable heim joints instead of the
stock bushings, and offset the pivot point towards the engine on the
spring box by about an inch to raise the roll center. The adjustments
allow me to change camber (though it also changes the length
relationships of the arms) and change caster slightly by shortening one
arm more than the other. 

I haven't done any real tuning since the initial setup, but the handling
difference is remarkable. 

I also fiddled with the control arm height to reduce bump steer.

I'll make a bunch of measurements and pass them on ASAP. I wasn't very
scientific about the design, other than modeling the roll centers on a
computer. But it's working very, very well. It's a whole new car. 

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