sway bar

[mike_also]

Found the photos I was looking for. They have an unmistakable red tinge about them. Drat, they're from Wally's red Tiger; serious hit to my credibility although I'm pretty sure Wally made this mod to both cars. If Eric G. would confirm.... PM to Jim E. Thanks.

 

[Jim E]

Yeah the Alpine has them too.

 

[64beam]

Hi Forum,

Would a panhard rod be of better use instead of the rear sway bar, or if you went this far would you go for a four or five link setup?

Regards, Robin.

 

[Bill Blue]

Robin, post deleted.

Bill

 

[RootesRacer]

Hi Forum,

Would a panhard rod be of better use instead of the rear sway bar, or if you went this far would you go for a four or five link setup?

Regards, Robin.

Based on the way that the aftermarket rear bar connects to the axle and the chassis, the rear bar would have little to no effect on lateral positioning the axle due to spring distortion under cornering load.

If you think a handling anomaly is caused by lateral shift, then your best bet is the watts link or panhard bar, the better being the watts link.

In my alpine with sticky race tires, I get enough lateral spring deflection to rub my 205 tires on the rear fenderwells, so have been thinking of adding on a panhard rod.

 

[mike_also]

In my alpine with sticky race tires, I get enough lateral spring deflection to rub my 205 tires on the rear fenderwells, so have been thinking of adding on a panhard rod.

Its been suggested before and I'd like to hear if it worked, but what about solid-bushing the spring eyes including the shackles and foregoing the the Panhard rod or Watts linkage? Removing all lateral compliance prior to adding weight and complexity seems good policy. Hope you have pool-table-smooth roads to drive on, however.

 

[RootesRacer]

Its been suggested before and I'd like to hear if it worked, but what about solid-bushing the spring eyes including the shackles and foregoing the the Panhard rod or Watts linkage? Removing all lateral compliance prior to adding weight and complexity seems good policy. Hope you have pool-table-smooth roads to drive on, however.

Solid bushes are going to help, but if there is any arch to the spring itself, the metal itself distorts to the load, so the effectiveness of the solid bushes are going to depend on the amount of spring arch.

Luckily SI and SII springs arent very arched and have a rather high spring rate.

Perhaps I should entertain making some urethane spring eye bushes before getting out the welder.

 

[64beam]

Hi,

I did a bit of searching on the watts link to find out what it looks like and found a site that explains it well for those people like me who have lots to learn regarding suspension geometry . Here is the link: http://www.fays2.net/index.html
I know it would be alot of work, but could it be adapted to an Alpine? It would be nice for those Alpine racers' out there.

Regards, Robin

 

[RootesRacer]

Hi,

I did a bit of searching on the watts link to find out what it looks like and found a site that explains it well for those people like me who have lots to learn regarding suspension geometry . Here is the link: http://www.fays2.net/index.html
I know it would be alot of work, but could it be adapted to an Alpine? It would be nice for those Alpine racers' out there.

Regards, Robin

That is certainly a more complicated watts linkage than I had in mind.

What Ive seen and had in mind has the heim pivot welded to the back of the axle (couldnt do that on a dana 44 though) and had the frame connections at the rear subframe near the midpoint of the two axle eyes.

Whole thing should weigh only 15 lbs or so.

 

[64beam]

That is certainly a more complicated watts linkage than I had in mind.

What Ive seen and had in mind has the heim pivot welded to the back of the axle (couldnt do that on a dana 44 though) and had the frame connections at the rear subframe near the midpoint of the two axle eyes.

Whole thing should weigh only 15 lbs or so.

Hi,

Are you going to trial this setup or is it still in the planning stages?

Regards, Robin.

 

[RootesRacer]

Hi,

Are you going to trial this setup or is it still in the planning stages?

Regards, Robin.

Its been in the planning stage for the better part of a decade.

If you are interested in what something like that would look like, there is a nice picture and writeup in the absolutely essential book "how to make your car handle".

There is also a nice picture in it of traction bars on a tiger.

I'd scan mine but someone was kind enough to steal it around 15 years ago.

 

[64beam]

Hi Forum,

While some of us are in the mood for talking suspension, I find my Alpine gets a little unsettled when hitting some bumps in the road. Is this an inherent problem with Alpines or could it be worn suspension?

Regards, Robin.

 

[alpine_64]

Hi Forum,

While some of us are in the mood for talking suspension, I find my Alpine gets a little unsettled when hitting some bumps in the road. Is this an inherent problem with Alpines or could it be worn suspension?

Regards, Robin.

The alpines get unsettled by mid corner bumps in the rear, the axel tends to hop or step out of line. Better shocks go some way to helping.

 

[skywords]

I took delevering of my Series II car two days ago and have since put it up on jack stands. I am amazed at how much Beefier the rear springs are on the Series II verses the Series I. I suspect that will go a long way in reducing the axle hop we are talking about.

Rick