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RE: K & S Alignment/Sharing Information

To: "'Bill Babcock'" <BillB@bnj.com>
Subject: RE: K & S Alignment/Sharing Information
From: "Hone, Richard A" <Hone_Richard_A@code80.npt.nuwc.navy.mil>
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 12:03:50 -0400
I've seen the heim joint upper a-arm modification before, very nice.  I
thought about doing this on my TR4 but was warned that it was not
considered "vintage legal".

Perhaps we need a group opinion on this modification.

Richard Hone
TR4  TR6

> ----------
> From:         Bill Babcock
> Sent:         Wednesday, June 3, 1998 5:54 PM
> Cc:   'Amici Triumphi'
> Subject:      RE: K & S Alignment/Sharing Information
> 
> 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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