Theo,
Oh boy!! Maybe there's the makings of a real technical controversy here! I
thought how it worked was pretty obvious, but I guess not. I'm kind of
wrapped around the axle myself right now, but I'll read your analysis more
carefully first chance I have. Maybe some real Mechanical Engineer types
can opine in on this one too. Dan's original article on his torque arm
appeared in the August '91 issue of Tiger Tales. In it he makes the
following comment: "There is another minor bad side effect. If you try to
back up in a BIG HURR"Y, you get severe wheel hop, a very small price to
pay for its benefits." I submit without proof at this point that the very
reason the torque arm transfers weight to the rear wheels during
acceleration is the same reason it transfers weight to the front during
deceleration (or backing up). We all know that ladder bars lift the front
end of a drag car under acceleration. Since the total weight of the car
doesn't change, then less weight in front means more weight in back. A
single ladder bar in the center would do the same thing I believe. Now we
have something very similar to the Dan Walters torque arm, EXCEPT that
Dan's arm is captured in the bushing, so it pushes down just as well as
pushing up as the axle rotates.
Brgds,
Bob
Robert L. Palmer
UCSD, Dept. of AMES
619-822-1037 (o)
760-599-9927 (h)
rpalmer@ucsd.edu
rpalmer@cts.com
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