[Spridgets] bent frame rails

David Lieb dbl at chicagolandmgclub.com
Fri Dec 19 19:15:44 MST 2008


>>> Now we need to ask ourselves, why did they go about doing this 
>>> 'retrofit' bend of the frame rails.

It is not so much a "retrofit bend" as it is a "build it with a kink". The 
jig is for setting it up with the angle there rather than for inflicting the 
angle into it. I know of people who  have used vast amounts of energy trying 
unsuccessfully to straighten these. Good structural strength.

As with much British engineering, it is not so much that this is the best 
way of doing it as it is that this is the way they chose to do it. Unlike 
the Japanese, these designs were the product of a small number of guys, none 
of which devoted his entire career to determining the "best" way to set the 
caster. The way the suspension is setup in a Spridget, the only parameter 
you should have to fool with is toe-in. Unless something was bent. As long 
as you know that the frame is supposed be angled like this, the rest of it 
is fairly easy to eyeball and know that it is straight. Nothing wrong with 
the way it was done. I imagine that, as Peter opined, you can set the bare 
shell on a flat surface and measure one point to determine that the caster 
is fine. KISS
David Lieb 


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