After the successful first outing the plan now is to continually modify/adjust/tweak etc in an attempt to either improve reliability or speed or BOTH!
One item that was highlighted at Snetterton was the flexing of the rear hubs. This would show its head as slightly erratic handling of the car under power. Obviously I could just draw up some much larger uprights, and I may still have to do this, but I dont really want to as it will cost some cash and take some time, so I have put some effort into modifying the original uprights to stiffen them up. This has been successful and the uprights are MUCH stiffer now, but only another test will prove if they are stiff enough!
Below you can see the original setup. What I have not done is to use much larger bolts with 15mm hollow dowel pins to hold the steering arm in place. The raised section on the arm has been removed to allow for a larger diameter steel spacer to be used, obviously I have put back on the length removed to maintain the geometry! I have then made up a supporting arm that bolt to the lower lug on the upright. Please excuse the dirt, but it was chucking it down at Snetterton and I didnt see the point in cleaning the uprights before machining them!
Here you can see where I removed the raised section on the steering arm
The counter-bore for the dowel pins
The threads are all now helicoiled. This allows, due to the increased diameter, and increased torque on the bolts. I have actually used Carillo SPS rod bolts, at about £30 a bolt new. Only however because we had some used ones lying around, if fact we have quite a few, and there were exactly the right length and diameter!!! Lucky hey!
The dowels are a good fit in the c-bores! In fact nothing was drilled in clearance!
The steering arm in place
Below is the new support arm! It look a little overkill, but if it works I can always redesign it when I have some more time.
Machining the angled face of the support arm
The final assembly
Tags: Suspension
