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BODY ROLL

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WHEEL
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GH1' Ol51RIBUilON
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BY HERB ADAMS

c C

\/ v

BY HER B ADAMS

HPBooks
 HPBooks
Published by The Berkley Publishing Group

A division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

28 27 26 25 24 23

The Penguin Group (USA) Inc. World Wide Web site address is
www.penguin.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Adams, Herb.
Chassis engineering : chassis design building & tuning
for high performance handling / by Herb Adams
p. em.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-55788-055-7
1. Automobiles-Chassis. 2. Automobiles-Performance.
1. Title.
TL255.A23 1993
629.24-dc20 92-37394
CIP

NOTICE: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recom
mendations on parts and procedures are made without any guarantees on the part of the author or the
publisher. Tampering with or altering any emissions-control device, or modifying an emissions-controlled
vehicle is in violation of federal regulations. Author and publisher di sclaim all liability incurred in
connection with the use of this information.

Cover design: Beth Bender

---- Interior photos & illustrations: Herb Adams & Michael Lutfy

All right s reserved. This book , or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Printed in the United States of America

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

erb Adams began his automotive engineering

H career when he joined the engineering staff at

Pontiac after graduating from the General Motors
Institute in 1957. At Pontiac, he designed and
developed a variety of experimental and production
engines, most notably the Pontiac Trans Am. In 1973, he left
General Motors to begin his own automotive engineering
and consulting business, while building his own racing cars
which he drove in several professional racing series, includ
ing the SCCA Trans-Am. His company, VSE, specializes in
handling and appearance items for American sports cars,
such as the Camaro, Firebird, Corvette and Mustang. He also
serves as an engineering consultant to Goodyear, Pontiac,
Oldsmobile, Koni, Appliance Wheels and Cincinnati
Microwave. In recent years, he has written numerous articles on chassis design and
building for Circle Track magazine. He lives in Northern California.
 Contents

INTRODUCTION VI

1 '-IRE CHARACTERISTICS 1

2 WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION & DYNAMICS 6

3 ROLL ANGLE & ROLL FORCE DISTRIBUTION 13

4 BUSHINGS & DEFLECTIONS 19

5 SPRINGS & SHOCKS 25

6 TYPES OF FRONT SUSPENSION 37

7 FRONT SUSPENSION DESIGN 43

8 BUILDING A FRONT SUSPENSION 55

9 LIVE AXLE REAR SUSPENSION DESIGN 60

10 INDEPENDENT REAR SUSPENSION DESIGN 73

11 BUILDING REAR SUSPENSIONS 79

12 FRAME DESIGN 85

13 BUILDING A FRAME 94

14 AERODYNAMIC DOWNFORCE 98

15 ROTATING INERTIA 106

16 VEHICLE TESTING & TUNING 110

INDEX 126
INTRODUCTION

v
he purpose of this book is to explain understand the whys of suspension and han

T some of the chassis engineering

aspects related to the design, build
and testing of high performance auto
mobiles. One area of race car performance that
still seems difficult to explain is suspension and
dling, you need to study the physics involved.
Since not all enthusiasts have an engineering or
physics background, this book will attempt to
discuss suspensions and handling in terms the
layperson can understand .
handling. Although many enthusiasts can tell Good handling could be described as going
you what changes will produce what results, around corners faster while improving driver
they may not be able to tell you why these control. Suspensions are involved in the han
changes produce these results . In order to dling equation because they control how the
tires work against the track.
Because the tires are the only
link between the car and

vi
the track, they are the key to improved han age mechanical skills should be able to make
dling. Almost all of the suspension variables are significant improvements in the cornering per
related to how well a car's tires react to the formance of their car, regardless of the type or
ground. application, be it street, circle track or road rac
Just as in the case of engine tuning, where ing. Because of the many different types of vehi
very small changes can have a dramatic effect cles and racing applications, it would be nearly
on horsepower output, very slight changes in impossible to do a true "how-to" book. The idea
the suspension of your car can have significant is to present the information in a universal man
effects on your handling. Even a one-degree ner, so it can be applied to suit any need.
change in camber can have a measurable effect The information contained in this book was
on performance, so a high degree of precision is accumulated over many years, the result of
required to set-up a suspension properly. numerous contributions by top engineers and
Another aspect of suspension tuning that racers. It is not unusual for an engineer or a car
should be stressed at the beginning is the con builder to struggle for months to solve a prob
cept of optimizing settings. For example, if you lem. And, once they do find the answer, it is sim
increased your tire pressure from 30 to 40 psi, ple to follow their lead. During the past 30
and you measured some improvement, there is years, there has been a tremendous increase in
no reason to assume that increasing the pres the available knowledge on car handling, and
sure from 40 to 50 psi will have an equal this book attempts to present some of this infor
improvement. If the tire operates best at 40 psi, mation. Therefore, when "we" is used through
increasing the pressure to 50 psi could actually out this book, it refers to all those people who
reduce its performance. Every suspension have helped to accumulate this information.
adjustment and setting has an optimum value. To help explain the handling concepts, I have
We know that more valve timing in an engine organized this book using the "building block"
can increase power up to a certain point and approach. The first chapters present the most
then further increases will lose power. The basic concepts. The later chapters use these
same concept is true in suspension tuning. basic concepts to explain the more complicated
This is not an engineering book in the classi relationships and solve common problems.
cal sense, but rather an explanation of how engi Don't read the chapters out of order, because
neering principles are applied to the automobile you need to fully understand tire characteris
chassis. This application of engineering to the tics before you can understand weight distribu
automobile chassis is a very specialized field of tion dynamics, or you need to know how tire
study, so it is not widely practiced. However, loadings, stabilizer bars and spring rates affect
the interest in chassis engineering is very handling before you can correct any oversteer
broad, because there are so many automotive or understeer problems. The study of chassis
enthusiasts interested in improving the corner engineering is complex and can be difficult to
ing performance of their cars. By studying the grasp. Hopefully, this book will make it easier.
engineering relationships, and the examples
given in this book, most enthusiasts with aver Herb Adams

vii
 TIRE
CHARACTERISTICS
he tires on your ~a r have more effect on its TIRE TRACTION VS. LOAD

T handling 'than any other component.

Understanding how the tires work on your
car is absolutely necessary in order to
understand why a car handles the way it does, or
more importantly, to change how it handles. To sim
It is necessary to know how the tire translates the
input into output to understand how a car will han
dle the way it does. In other words , you need to
know how changes in vertical load (input) affect the
plify the study of how tires work , we can limit the traction (output). The relationship between tire
analysis to their input-output characteristics, since input and output forces is different for every tire
these are the most important factors that affect han but, more importantly, the relationship changes dra
dling. This type of analysis is called the black-box matically as the vertical loading is changed. This
method , because we do not concern ourselves with changing relationship is the major reason why the
what is going on inside the "box," or tire in this case. study of handling is often confusing.
Vertical Load-The input for tire performance is the Although the relationship between vertical load
vertical load, or weight, on the tire . The dynamics of and traction for any given tire is continually chang
the car in motion cause this load to vary continu ing, the interaction between the two will follow a
ously. By tuning the chassts, it is possible to adjust curve similar to that shown in Figure 1-1. It is not
how this vertical tire loading will change, and by necessary to have the tire performance curve for
knowing how the tire will respond to the change in your specific tires because we are looking for the
loading, you will be able to predict the effect of the tire characteristics, not the exact values. The shape
changes. of the tire performance curve is what is important.
Traction-The output of a tire from a handling Different tires will have performance curves with
standpoint is its traction or how well it "sticks" to the different shapes or values, but they all will have a
ground. The traction between the tires and the curve that results in a smaller increase in traction as
ground determines how fast a car can accelerate, the vertical load is increased. We call this loss of rel
brake and /or corner. ative traction a loss in the tire 's cornering efficiency .
Good handling depends on optim iz ing how
your car uses its tires.You need to know
what your tires want if yo u expect to maxi
mize their performance.

1
 By making a chart of the tire performance curve
TIRE PERFORMANCE CURVE (Chart 1-1) it is possible to see how the cornering
efficiency of the tire decreases as the vertical load
2,000
ing is increased. The vertical load and traction read
ings were taken from the tire performance curve
~

CI5 (Figure 1-1). Efficiency is output (traction) divided

en 1,500
....J by input (vertical load) as shown on Chart 1-1.
z
V Byexamining Chart 1-1 , you can see that with a cor

-:
0
nering efficiency of 140%, it would be possible for a
0
....J
....J 1,000 car to corner at 1.40 g's. When the cornering efficien
-c
a:
w
I

2
500 /
V cy is only 75%, the same car would corner at .75 g's.
By looking at tire cornering efficiency, you can eas
ily see that you will get the most cornering power as
z
a percentage of the vertical load when the vertical

V
0
i=
0 loads are lower. A tire's cornering efficiency reduces
-c
a: quickly when it is asked to support more and more
I
weight. This characteristic of any tire is a key ele
o 500 1,000 1,500 2,000
ment in understanding why cars handle the way
WEIGHT (VERTICAL LOAD IN LBS.)
they do . Understanding this aspect of a tire's per
formance is necessary to analyze the more complex
conditions that a car experiences during actual driv
Figure 1-1. This is a tire performance curve. The amount attraction
available from any given tire is dependent on how much weight is ing conditions.
on the tire. As weight is increased, the traction also increases. The
important thing that must be recognized however, is that the
increase in traction becomes less and less as the weight is
increased.

Chart 1-1

VERTICAL LOAD V5. CORNERING EFFICIENCY

Vertical Traction Traction Factor Cornering

Load Available Vertical Load Efficiency

500 700 700 1.40 140%

-
500

1000 1000 1000 1.00 100%

--
1000

1500 1250 1250 .83 83%

--
1500

2000 1500 1500 .75 75%

--
2000

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -t

2
 CAMBER ANGLE VS. TIRE PATCH

ZERO CAMBER POSITIVE CAMBER

V" v

I- '--
~ ~
~

tI

TIRE PATCHES

Figure 1-2. When a tire is perpendicular to the ground, it has zero camber angle. This condit ion provides the biggest tire patch for the most
possibl e traction. Equally important is that the unit-loading on each part of the tire pat ch is more evenly distributed when the tire has zero
camber angle. As shown here, a positive camber angle will result in less of a tire patch.

CIRCLE OF TRACTION
Tire Factors-When analyzing your car's handling, The Circle of Traction concept is based on the fact
tire factors such as contact patch, tread depth, that a tire has only a certain amount of traction at
aspect ratio, etc., must be considered because they any given time. This total amount of traction is
change how much traction your tires can provide for dependent on the weight on the tire, the track con
a given vertical load. These factors raise or lower ditions, the weather, etc. When studying the Circle
the traction curve and they can cause the shape of of Traction, th e total amount of traction is consid
the curve to change. When the same size and type ered constant. What the Circle of Traction shows is
of tire is used at all four locations, these factors how this total amount of traction is distributed
affect how much traction is available. between cornering forces and acceleration or brak
ing forces. If you only have so much traction avail
CAMBER ANGLE
able, deciding how to use this traction can have an
important effect on how well a car handles. The
& CONTACT PATCH
Circle of Traction concept says that the amount of
A tire will provide the maximum traction at any cornering force available for a tire will be reduced by
given vertical load when it is perpendicular to the whatever amount of the total traction is also used
ground. This is called zero camber angle (Figure 1-2). for acceleration or braking.
When the tire is perpendicular to the ground, its con How it Works-If you could view the tire contact
tact patch is bigger than when it is at any other angle. patch as it moves along th e roadway, you could see
Contact patch is the area of the Ute in direct contact how this Circle of Traction operates. The total trac
with the road surface. If a tire is tilted out at the top, tion capability can be represented by an arrow on a
it has positive camber. This condition reduces the circular graph. This arrow represents the available
tire contact patch and the tire will not provide as traction and it can be pointed in any direction
much traction as when it is perpendicular. Negative (Figure 1-3).
camber, when the top of the tire is tilted inward, is For example, if a sample tire had 1000 lbs. of load
often dialed in to compensate for the moving or on it, and its cornering efficiency was 100%, it would
bending (known as deflection) of suspension parts. provide 1000 lbs . of traction. This 1000 lbs. of trac
When it is used, the result is to have zero camber tion is available in any direction-pure cornering,
angle when maximum tire traction is needed. acceleration or braking. But unfortunately, it is not

3
 CIRCLE OF TRACTION

FULL ACCELERATION

ACCELERATING OUT
OF A RIGHT TURN

LEFT TURN RIGHT TURN

FULL BRAKING

Figure 1-3. The Circle of Traction shows that any given tire has only a certain amount of traction. This amount of traction can be directed
in any direction, but if any of it is used for acceleration, less will be available for cornering.

available in any two directions at once at its full trac tion force , there is less cornering force available at
tion of 1000 Ibs. If some of the total 1000 Ibs. is used the rear, so the car has more oversteer as the driver
in acceleration, less than 1000 lbs. will be available applies more power.
for cornering. The total is not additive, but is a vec Acceleration Effects-The extreme example of this
tor amount that can be used in combination as condition is a car making a wheel-spinning start. If
shown on the Circle. there is enough power to cause both rear wheels to
Every driver has experienced the effects on han break traction, all of the tires' traction is being used
dling of this condition. When exiting a turn, a car in the accelerating direction. As shown in the Circle
that has normal understeer will have oversteer at of Traction diagram (Figure 1-3), this condition
full throttle. The reason for this change in cornering results in zero cornering power available from the
attitude on the same car in the same corner can be tires to restrain the car from side loadings. The
explained by looking at the Circle of Traction. As the results of this lack of lateral force from the tires will
driver asks the rear tires to absorb more accelera cause the rear of the car to "fish-tail."

t
4

.
 the need to recognize the weight of the object. For
instance, a 3000-lb. cornering force acting on a 3000
lb. car would be a 1.0 g load. The same 3000-lb. force
on a 4000-lb. car would be a .75 g load. By describ
ing cornering forces in g's, various cars can be com
pared equally, regardless of their individual weights.
RADIUS

-+------L---I+--l------fI SKIDPAD TESTING

Many magazine road tests include a measure of a
car's cornering power, or lateral acceleration. It is
-, measured on a skid pad and expressed in g's. A skid
pad is a flat area of pavement with a painted circle,
usually 200 to 300 feet in diameter. The car is driven
around the circle as fast as possible without spin
ning out, the time is measured, and the lateral accel
eration is calculated from the time and size of the
circle. A typical late-model stock Corvette can cor
Figure 1-4. A car 's lateral acceleration can be measured on a skid ner at .84 g's, a very respectable figure. A road-rac
pad, which is a flat area of pavement usually 200 to 300 feet in ing sedan, however, does considerably better. Our
diameter. The car is driven around the circle as fast as possible,
the time is measured, and the lateral acceleration, expressed in Trans-Am race car produced 1.15 g in skidpad
g's, is calculated from the tim e and size of the circle . testing.
A simplified formula for determining a car's cor
Braking Effects--- The effects of braking are similar nering power on a skidpad is:
but opposite. We know that locking the front tires
will make the front-end go straight regardless of the 1.225 x R
steering angle of the front wheels. When the front g=
T2
tires are locked up , all of their available traction is
being used to absorb the braking forces , so there is R = Radius of the turn in feet
none left to provide the cornering power needed to
make the car turn.
T = Time in seconds required to
complete a 360-degree turn
On a moving car, the distribution of acceleration,
cornering and braking forces is constantly changing.
If the driver and the chassis tuner are aware of how Plugging in some "real world" numbers shows how
these changes affect the balance of the car, they will the formula works . For example, if a car takes 12
better understand what is needed to tune the chas seconds per lap on a 100-foot radius skidpad, the
sis for maximum performance under all of these computation is as follows:
driving conditions.
1.225 x 100
g=
g-FORCES 12 x 12
Tire and handling performance is described in 122.5
terms of g-force. One g is simply the force equal to g=
gravity here on Earth. If an object is said to weigh 144
100 pounds, the force of gravity on it equals 100 g= .85
pounds. If this object is subjected to a second force
of 80 pounds, we would say it has an .8 g-force acting This means that the car is cornering at a force
on it. This system of describing forces affecting equal to 85/100 of the force of gravity. Now, let's take
common objects-like automobiles-is more conve all of this information, and apply it to a discussion
nient than using pounds of force, since it eliminates on weight distribution and dynamics.

5
 WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION
& DYNAMICS
n Chapter 1, we discussed how the amount of steer, or push through the turn. If a car goes around

I traction available from a tire is related to how

much vertical load, or weight is on it. By using
the tire performance curve (Figure 1-1) shown in
Chapter 1, page 2, it is possible to determine how
much traction is available at each individual tire. If
a corner with the rear of the car sliding toward the
outside of the turn, it is said to oversteer and it is
loose. For an illustrated example, see Figure 2-1.

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION
you know how much vertical load there is, and how A car's weight distribution is determined by how
much traction is available, you can determine how much weight is on each tire . These weights change
much total cornering power the car has available. due to load transfer. The changes in loading are the
Knowing the individual tire traction limits can also result of forces acting on the car. The following
tell you some of the handling characteristics such as examples illustrate how some of these forces can
understeer and oversteer. change the individual vertical loads on each tire of a
Understeer & Oversteer-These are terms that car.
describe how a car goes around a corner. If a car Using this type of analysis is helpful in under
goes around a corner with the front of the car point standing how the static and dynamic weight distri
ed toward the outside of the turn, it is said to under- bution of a car can affect its handling characteris
tics. This example shows how the weights and
Weight distribution is how therefore the traction available can change as a car
much weight, or load, each tire
has on it at rest. However, when
the car goes around a turn,
weight will be transferred from
the inside tires to the outside
tires, which is known as lateral
weight transfer. The more
weight on a tire, the less trac
tion it will have. With this
knowledge , you can control the
amount of weight transfer so
your outside tires will have the
maximum traction available.
Understanding this relationship
is a fundamental key to good
handling. Photo by Michael
Lutty.

- - - - - -- - - -- - - - -t

6
 UNDERSTEER AND OVERSTEER

Figure 2-1. Understeer is the condition where a car needs more than normal front-wheel steering angle to go around a corner; the front-end
of the vehicle tends to break loose and slide, or push toward the outside of a tum. Oversteer is when a car needs less than normal front
wheel steering angle to go around a corner; the rear end of the vehicle tends to break loose and slide outward.

moves. But the important concept to understand is This theoretical car has 750 Ibs. on each wheel.
that the traction available from a tire is dependent Using the tire performance curve in Figure l-Lon
on its vertical load. The confusing aspect is that the page 2, you can see that you would have 850 Ibs. of
percentage of traction improvement goes down as traction available at each wheel. The total traction
the load goes up. As we look at the following exam would be 3400 Ibs. and th e cornering force would be
ples, keep in mind that the traction available values 1.13 g's. See Chart 2-1. To find the total cornering
in the charts were taken from our tire performance force in g's, you would divide the total traction by
curve, Figure 1-1, page 2. the total weight, from Chart 2-1, or:
Example One Traction
Assume we have a car with the following weight Total Cornering Force =
Weight
distribution:
Car Weight: 30001bs. 3400
Total Cornering Force = =1.13g's
Front End Weight: 50% 3000
Left Side Weight Bias: o
Load Transfer From
Cornering: o

Chart 2-1
Tire Static Weight Traction
Location On Tire Available

Left Front 7501bs. 8501bs.

Right Front 750 850
Scales such as the ones pictured here can be used to determine the
Left Rear 750 850 static weight on each tire of a car. Once you kno w the weight, you
can take this information and compare it to the tire performance
Right Rear 750 850 curve of your tires (such the one shown in Figure I-I , p. 2) to deter
min e the traction available. Of course, once the car is moving,
these weights change continually and affect the traction available,
so yo u need to understand the forces that control these changes.
Totals 30001bs. 34001bs. Photos by Mi chael LUfO'.

7
 Chart 2-2
Tire Static Weight Lateral Weight Weight On Tire Traction
Location On Tire Transfer During Cornering Available

Left Front 750 -500 250 450

Right Front 750 +500 1250 1130
Left Rear 750 -500 250 450
Right Rear 750 +500 1250 1130

Totals 3000 3000 3160

This sounds pretty good until you realize that the change in loading is dependent on the cornering
weight will transfer from the inside tires to the out force (g's), the car track width (T), the height of the
side tires as the car develops cornering force going center of gravity (H) and the overall weight of the
around a corner. car 0N). See Figure 2-3. Expressed as a formula:

Example Two Wxg'sxH

Lateral Weight Transfer =
As soon as a car starts to go around a corner, its Gravity x T
vertical tire loadings will change. Because of the
cornering force, weight will be transferred from the You can reduce the equation by factoring in a 1.0 g
inside tires to the outside tires (Figure 2-2). This cornering force, the amount equal to the force of
gravity, and then the formula would be:
LATERAL WEIGHT TRANSFER DURING CORNER WH
Lateral Weight Transfer =
T
s<f;.'?>
"\'?>t>-~ For our example, let's say our car has a center of
~<f;.\0\\"\ gravity height of 20 inches. With a track of 60 inches,

r
AMOUNT OF LATERAL WEIGHT TRANSFER

-:(jJ
CORNERIN~ FORCE ,

CORNERING FORCE
1H
c--

WEIGHT
c--

CORNERING PATH
1
T

Figure 2-2. When a car goes around a corner, some of its weight Figure 2-3. The amount of lateral weight transfer is dependent on
transfers from the inside tires to the outside tires. This causes the the weight of the car, the magnitude of the cornering force, the
weight on the outside tires to increase while the weight on the height of the center ofgravity (H), and the track width (T).
inside tires decreases.

8
 ,
Chart 2-3

Tire Static Weight Lateral Weight Weight On Tire Traction

Location On Tire Transfer During Cornering Available

Left Front 1050 -500 550 730

Right Front 450 +500 950 970
Left Rear 1050 -500 550 730
Right Rear 450 . +500 950 970

Totals 3000 3000 3400

the weight transfer for a 3000-lb. car at 1.00 g cor only turn left. In this case, assume the car has the
nering force would be: following specifications:
3000 x 20 Front End Weight: 50%
Lateral Weight Transfer = = 1000 Ibs.
60 Left Side Weight Bias: 6001bs.
This means 1000 lbs. of load will be transferred Load Transfer From Cornering: 10001bs.
from the inside tires to the outside tires during cor
Under these conditions, the tire loadings and trac
nering. On a car with equal front-to-rear weight dis
tion values would be as shown in Chart 2-3. Again, to
tribution, this lateral weight transfer would be split
find the total cornering force , plug the total traction
evenly to 500 lbs . on each axle. If the car turns left, available and total weight into the formula:
the left-side tires will lose 500 lbs. each and the right
3400
side tire will gain 500 lbs. At these tire loadings, the Total Cornering Force = - - = 1.13 g's
traction available would be 3160 lbs. To see where 3000
we got that total, look at Chart 2-2. This shows how increasing the weight on the left
Again, the traction available was calculated by side (preloading) is effective in equalizing tire load
using the tire performance chart, Figure l-l on page ings during cornering, so that all the tires equally
2, as it will be for all of the charts in the following share the load and produce the maximum in corner
examples. Now, to find the cornering force, take the ing force.
total traction available in Chart 2-2 and divide it by
the total weight on the tire when cornering, or: Example Four
3160 To see the effect of having a front-heavy car, let's
Total Cornering Force = = 1.05 g's see what happens when we make the front-end
3000 weight 60%with no left-side weight bias and our nor
As can be seen, cornering power was decreased mal 1000-lb. weight transfer from cornering. With
(from 1.13 to 1.05 g's) because of the lateral weight the same 3000-lb. car, there would be 1800 lbs. on
transfer due to the cornering loads. the front tires and 1200 lbs. on the rear tires. The
static weights, cornering weights and traction avail
Example Three able would be as shown in Chart 2-4. Plugged into
One way to help equalize the weight on the tires the formula, it would look like:
during cornering is to preload the inside tires. This 3130
is done by moving some of the weight from the right Total Cornering Force = - - = 1.04 g's
3000
side of the car to the left side of the car. This will
obviously only work on a circle track, where the cars Note that this is the average cornering force.

9

Chart 2-4

Tire Static Weight lateral Weight Weight On Tire Traction

Location On Tire Transfer During Cornering Available

Left Front 900 -600 300 500

Right Front 900 +600 1500 1250
Left Rear 600 -400 200 380
Right Rear 600 +400 1000 1000

Totals 30001bs. 3000 Ibs. 31301bs.

This total is misleading, because if you look at just This analysis shows that the car in this example
the front-end weights and traction forces in Chart 2 will not only corner slower than one with equal
4, you see that there is 1750 Ibs. of traction for front-to-rear weight distribution, but it will also
pulling the front-end weight of 1800 Ibs. around cor understeer in the corners. If the front traction is not
ners. The front-end cornering force would then be: able to pull the front weight as well as the rear trac
tion can pull the rear weight, the front-end won't
1750 stick as well as the rear-end . This causes the car to
Front Cornering Force = .97 g's
1800 understeer in the corners and to wear the right front
tire faster than normal.
At the rear, as shown in Chart 2-4, th ere is 1380 Ibs. Even more important is to note that although the
of traction to pull 1200 Ibs. of weight around cor total traction will permit the car to corner at 1.04 g's,
ners. This means the rear cornering forc e will be: the front-end won't corner at over .97 g's. This
1380 means that because of understeer, the car can only
Rear Cornering Force = =1.15g's corner at .97 g's. This is considerably less than the
1200
1.13 g's shown in Example Three.

Example Five
This example is a combination for Examples 2, 3
and 4. Our interest with this combination is to see if
the use of left-side weight bias will improve the cor
nering power of-a front-heavy car and if it will solve
the understeer problem. The static and cornering
weights as compared to traction forces are listed in
Chart 2-5. Plugged into the formula . th e values are :
3370
Total Corneri ng Force = - - = .12 g's
3000

This shows that the total cornering ior ce is almost

as good as in Example Three. but n t quite as good.
One method to equaliz e the weight on tires durin g cornering on Also, if we look at the front- ( r r distribution of
oval tracks, where the car only turns left, is to preload the inside
ti res. Weight is moved from the right side of the car to the left side cornering forces separately. , . ~ e e that the car
of the car, so that when weight is transferred, the loading on the will still und ersteer. To do : xe the front and
outside tires will be less. See Example Three.

10
 Chart 2-5

Tire Static Weight Lateral Weight Weight On Tire Traction

Location On Tire Transfer During Cornering Available

Left Front 1200 -600 600 750

Right Front 600 +600 1200 1100

Left Rear 900 -400 500 700

Right Rear 300 +400 700 820

- I

Totals 30001bs. 30001bs. 33701bs.

rear totals from Chart 2-5 and work them into the adding 200 Ibs. of weight to the right rear tire . Using
equation separately: a chassis wedge is a common method used to cure
1850
understeer. Wedging is accomplished by preloading
Front Cornering Force 1.03 g's the left front or right rear spring. When 200 Ibs. of
1800 wedge is added to the right rear, the weight on the
1520 left front will also increase about 200 Ibs., with a
Rear Cornering Force = = 1.27 g's reduction in the weight on the right front and left
1200 rear of a similar 200 lbs. Assume our car has th e fol
lowing specifications:
As was the case in Example Four, the car will only
be able to corner at 1.03 g's because this is all the Wedge Weight: 200 lbs,
front-end traction the car has available. This value Front End Weight: 60%
is still considerably lower than the 1.13g's shown in
Left Side Weight Bias: 600 lbs.
Example Three.
Load Transfer from Cornering: 1000 lbs.
Example Six Taking this data and putting it into Chart 2-6
The parameters for this exercise are the same as reveals that there is 3220 lbs. of traction available.
Example Five, except the chassis is wedged by Once again , take the data from Chart 2-6 and work it

A car that is front-heavy will have less traction available from the front tires to pull the front-end weight around the corner, while increas
ing the amount available at the rear to pull the rear-end weight around the corner. If the front traction is not abl e to pull the front-end
weight as well as the rear traction pulls the rear-end weight, the front-end of the car won 't "stick " as well, and understeer as a result. See
Example Four. Photo by Michael Lutfy.

11
 This example shows that the car will still under
steer in the turns, but it will do it less, and the car
1500 LBS 1000 LBS will go around corners faster. The front traction is
still weak, but wedging the chassis increased the
car's front cornering force from the value shown in
Example Five, 1.03g's to 1.06 g's. This is a significant
improvement, but it is still far less than the total 1.13
g's we showed in Example Three.
1000 LBS

A "WEDGED" CAR SUMMARY

c The numbers shown above should only be used to
study the concepts. Each tire has its own perfor
mance curve, so you can't use these numbers to set
Figure 2-4. Using a chassis wedge is a common method used to
cure understeer on circle track cars. Wedging is accomplish ed by up your car. However, analysis of these numbers
preloading the left front or right rear spring. When 200 lbs. of does demonstrate some important guidelines:
wedge is added to the right rear, the weight on the left front will
also increase about 200 lbs., with a reduction in the weight on the 1. The best cornering power is available when
right front and left rear of a simil ar 200 lbs. front-to-rear weight distribution is equal,
assuming the tire size is equal both at the
into the formula. Work the formula for the total cor front and rear.
nering force , then just for the front and rear, as in 2. Left-side weight bias increases cornering
Example Five. power for oval track cars.
3350 3. Cars that have front-end weight bias (heav
Total Cornering Force = 1.12 g's (average) ier in front) will tend to understeer while
3000
cornering.
4. Wedging the chassis can reduce understeer
1900
Front Cornering Force =1.06g's
in th e turns and produce faster cornering.
1800 5. In general, the best cornering power will
result when all four tires are equally loaded
1450 during cornering.
Rear Cornering Force =1.21g's
1200 6. Chassis tricks like left-side weight bars and
wedging will only work on cars that turn
left, like circle track cars.

Chart 2-6
Tire Static Weight Lateral Weight Weight On Tire Traction

Location On Tire Transfer During Cornering Available

Left Front 1400 -600 800 900

Right Front 400 +600 " 1000 1000
Left Rear 700 -400 300 500
Right Rear 500 +400 900 950

Totals 3000 3000 3350

12
 ROLL ANGLE & ROLL

FORCE DISTRIBUTION

I
hen a car goes around a corner it will results in less cornering power. Less roll angle

W roll towards the outside of the turn,

which adversely affects handling.
This is called body roll, and the
amount that it rolls is called the roll angle. Various
means are available to control the amount of roll
results in less positive camber, so a car will corner
faster if the roll angle is kept small.
Different suspension geometry factors such as roll
center height, swing arm length, the height of the
knuckle, the length of the control arms and the posi
angle and to minimize its negative effects on han tions of the control arms all contribute to the
dling. amount of camber change that is realized for a given
Resistance to body roll can be achieved at the amount of roll angle . (All of these relationships will
front of the car, at the rear of the car, or at both the be discussed in future chapters.) As a practical mat
front and the rear. By deciding how much of the roll ter, however, it is difficult to get a front-end geome
resistance is on the front and on the rear, you can try to work correctly when the negative camber gain
control the understeer and oversteer characteris is over about 3/4 degree per degree of body roll.
tics of your car. This means that if the car rolls at a 4-degree angle,
the outside tire will decamber 3 degrees, so the out
side tire will lose 1 degree of camber in relation to
ROLL ANGLE the track.
When a car rolls, the tires change their camber
angle to the track surface (Figure 3-1). Since a tire Negative Camber
develops its maximum traction when it runs perpen You can compensate for this loss of camber by
dicular to the track, this positive camber angle setting the car up with static negative camber, which

If a car has a large roll angle, the tires

will not be perpendicular to the
ground, so they will not provide the
maximum cornering power.

13
 CAMBER CHANGE IN CORNERING DUE TO BODY ROLL ANGLE

ROLL ANGLE
~ -

CAR CORNERING
-. .:
.....---=

CAR AT REST
POSITIVE CAMBER CHANGE NO POSITIVE CAMBER CHAN GE

Figure 3-1. When a car rolls due to the cornering force, the tires usually roll with the car and develop a positive camber angle to the ground.

is the amount of negative camber with the car at changing the height of the center of gravity is not

rest. By doing this, you help to keep the outside always an available means of controlling the roll

front tire perpendicular to the track, even if there is angle on a given car.

excessive body roll. Roll Center Height-As can be seen in Figure 3-2,

Using excessive static negative camber can lead to raising the suspension roll center will reduce the roll
problems, however. For most street applications, angle. Since the roll center height is an integral ele
the maximum is about 1.0 degrees, or else the ment of the total suspension geometry picture, we
insides of the tires will wear. For competition, static will discuss its effects in Chapter 7.
negative camber settings of 2 or 3 degrees are often Track Width-Because the lateral spring base is
used. Tire temperatures can be used to optimize the proportional to the track width, a wider track dimen
amount of negative camber for most applications sion will reduce the roll angle. As was the case with
(see Chapter 16). center of gravity height however, most cars already
have as wide a track as practical. This means that
Solutions for any given car, we can not expect to cause much
Because there are limits to the amount of negative of a reduction in the roll angle by increasing the
camber that can be used, it is important to control track dimension.
the amount of roll angle. The roll angle can be con Cornering Force Amount-As can be seen from the
trolled to varying degrees with the following ele GTO in the photo on page 13, more cornering force
ments of chassis design and setup. will result in more roll angle. If you want to go
Center of Gravity Height-It is easy to see why a around corners as fast as possible, you will have
lower center of gravity will result in less roll angle . ever-increasing cornering forces , and therefore ever
Most cars are already as low as is practical, so increasing roll angles. For example, if a street-driven

ROLL CENTER HEIGHT VS. CENTER OF GRAVITY HEIGHT

~ CENTER OF GRA~Y
-r I ROLL CENTER HEIGHT
0

I-o---l~
, ~

1
T
-- r--

Figure 3-2. A car 's roll angle is dependent on the distance between the height of the center of gravity and the height of the front and rear
roll centers. The greater this distance, the greater the roll angle for any giv en cornering force.

14

- ......... -
 B
BODY ROLL B .,-
BODY ROLL

FRAME

Figure 3-3. The left drawing shows how an anti-roll bar is twisted when the body rolls in a tum . This creates forces at the four points where
the bar is attached to the vehicle. The forces are shown in the right drawing. Forces A on the suspension increase weight transfer to the
outside tire . Forces B on the frame resist body roll. The effect is a reduction of body roll and an increase in weight transfer at the end of
the chassis which has the anti-roll bar. Because the total weight transfer due to centrifugal force is not changed, the opposite end of the
chassis has reduced weight transfer.

car with street tires could corner at .75 g's, it might motion to twist the bar (Figure 3-3). The stiffer the
have a roll angle of 3 degrees. This same car on race bar, the more resistance to body roll it can provide.
tires might corner at 1.00 g's. If it did, the roll angle Since the forces that cause the car to roll are being
would increase to 4 degrees. This means that cars absorbed by the stabilizer bar. and these forces are
that corner faster will need more roll stiffness to fed into each lower control arm, the outside tire
control the roll angle. loadings will increase as the stabilizer bar twists.
The stiffness of a stabilizer bar increases very quick
Roll Stiffness ly as its diameter is increased. The stiffness is a
The best way to control camber changes caused function of the diameter to the 4th power, or:
by body roll is to limit the roll angle by changing the
roll stiffness of the suspension. The two most com
Stiffness = D4
mon means of controlling the roll stiffness on any
given car are via the springs and the stabilizer bars.
Spring Rates-Increasing the spring rates will
reduce roll angle. Unfortunately, raising the spring
rates can also change other aspects of the car's han
dling. As an example. if a car had a front spring rate
of 700 lbs .-inch and a roll angle of 2 degrees, and you f 6.00"
wanted to reduce the roll angle to 1 degree, you'd
need to install 1400 lbs-in. front springs. This would <
double the roll resistance. But increasing the spring
rates this much would also upset the ride motions
and cause the car to understeer. Springs are dis
cussed in greater detail in Chapter 5.
Stabilizer Bars---The best way to increase roll stiff
112.00"
ness is to increase the size or effectiveness of the
stabilizer bars, which are sometimes called anti-roll
bars. If a car is to roll, one wheel will be up in com
~
pression and one wheel will be in drooping down.
Figure 3-4. The effecti veness of a stabilizer bar is dependent on the
Stabilizer bars limit the roll angle of a car by using length of the swing-arm as well as its diameter. The longer the
their torsional stiffness to resist the movement of swing-arm length, the less force the bar can provide with the same
amount of movement at its end. For example, a stabilizer bar with
one wheel up and one wheel down. Connecting both a swing-arm length of 6 inches will produce twic e the amount of
wheels to each end of a stabilizer bar causes this roll stiffness as a bar with a 12-inch swing-arm length.

15
 Chart 3-1

Lateral Weight
Tire Static Lateral Weight Weight wI Transfer w/Front Weight wI Traction
Location Weight Transfer Cornering Load Stabilizer Bar Front Bar Available

LF 1050 -500 550 -400 150 320

RF 450 . +500 950 +400 1350 1200

LR 1050 -500 550 000 550 730

RR 450 +500 950 000 950 970

Totals 3000 3000 3000 3220

This means that a 1 l/4-inch diam eter stabilizer arms will produce twice as much roll stiffness as
bar is 2.44 times as stiff as a l.Ou-tnch diameter sta 12.00-inch long arms (Figure 3-4). Also, the total roll
bilizer bar. But, the stiffness of the bar must be stiffness of a given stabilizer bar is dependent on the
properly transmitted into the chassis to do any stiffness of the frame mounting, the stiffness of the
good. The length of the arms that feed the stabilizer arms, the stiffness of the drop links, and where the
bar loads into the chassis have a dramatic effect on drop links connect to the lower control arms.
how much roll stiffness a given bar can produce on
the chassis. The longer the bar, the less effective it
will be . For example, 6.00-inch long stabilizer bar ROLL FORCE DISTRIBUTION
By varying the size and effectiveness of the front
stabilizer bar vs. the size and effectiveness of the
rear stabilizer bar, it is possible to change the under
steer/oversteer characteristics of a car. Since the
forces resisting the roll of the car are fed to the out
side tires, it is possible to decide whether the front
outside tire or the rear outside tire will absorb most
of these forces. If a car has understeer, too much
load is on the front outside tire. By increasing the
effectiveness of the rear stabilizer bar, some of this
load can be transferred during cornering to the out
side rear tire . Doing this will eliminate the under
steer, because the front and rear outside tires will be
more equally loaded.
The following examples show how transferring
The effectiveness of a stabiliz er bar is also dependent on how well some of the forces resisting body roll can be fed into
the bar is mounted to the fram e and to the control arms. Any lost
motion at these connections will result in a loss of bar effective
the rear tires to eliminate understeer. These exam
ness. Mak e sure you use high-quality, rigid materials for the con ples use the same tire curve as shown in Figure 1-1
struction of links and brackets.

16
 Chart 3-2

Weight Transfer Weight wI

Tire Static Weight Weight with w IFront & Rear Front & Traction
Location Weight Transfer Cornering Load Stabilizer Bars Rear Bars Available

LF 1050 -500 550 -200 350 550

RF 450 tf +500 950 +200 1150 1100
LR 1050 -500 550 -200 350 550
RR 450 +500 950 +200 1150 1100

Totals 3000 3000 3000 3300

(Chapter 1 page 2) and use the same procedures as To find the front cornering force only, take the
explained in Chapter 2. These examples are for a cir totals of both front tires only from Chart 3-1 and plug
cle track car that only turns left. On cars that turn into the formula:
left and right, the sample principles apply, but in
1520
opposite directions. Front Cornering Force = - - = 1.01 g's
1500

Example One And for the rear cornering force:

For the figures in Chart 3-1 on p. 16, we assumed 1700
we had a car with the following specifications: Rear Cornering Force = - - = 1.13 g's
1500
These figures indicate understeer, because there
Car Weight: 3000 lbs.
is more cornering power available at the rear than at
Front End Weight: 50% the front. This is what happens when you apply roll
stiffness at the front only. Let's see what happens
Cornering Load Transfer: 1000 lbs. when you equalize the roll stiffness.

Left-Side Weight Bias: 600 lbs. Example Two

For this example, the car specifications are the
Roll Stiffness (Front Only): 400 lbs. same as Example 1, except that instead of having
400-lbs. roll stiffness on the front only, we've split
Now, using the information in Chart 3-1, plug it the roll stiffness to 200 lbs . on the front and 200 lbs.
into the formula for total cornering force, which was on the rear by using both a front and rear stabilizer
covered in Chapter 2. bar.
Traction Again, the load transfer and traction available in
Total Cornering Force = Chart 3-2, is taken and plugged into the formula for
Weight cornering force to get the force in g's, or :
3220 3300
otal Cornering Force = = 1.07 g's (average) Total Cornering Force = - - = 1.10 g's.
3000 3000

And now, to find out how the cornering force bal

ances out with equal front and rear stabilizer bars,

17
Rear roll stiffness changes using a rear stabil izer bar are the primary means of balancing the understeer/ooerste er characteristics of road
race and high performance street cars. Photo by M ichael Lutfy.

take the information from Chart 3-2 for the fronts SUMMARY
and rears separately and plug them into the formula:
All of the preceding information can be summa
1650 rized into the following:
Front Cornering Force = =1.10g'8
1500 1. Increasing the rear roll stiffness reduces
understeer.
1650
Rear Cornering Force = =1.10g'8
1500 2. As a larger rear stabilizer bar will reduce
understeer because of its ability to
In this e xample, there is no understeer because increase the dynamic weight on the out
the cornering forces at both the front and rear are side rear tire, it will also work on cars that
equal. When comparing the two examples, note that turn in both directions.
the total available g-forces are increased when a rear
stabilizer bar is used to control half of the roll angle . 3. Because left-side weight bias and weight
More importantly, the front g-forces are increased by wedging will not work on a road-race car
9% and the car no longer suffers from understeer. or a street-driven car, rear roll stiffness
Balancing a car's stabilizer bars is as an important changes from a rear stabilizer bar are the
aspect of chassis tuning as balancing the springs primary means (although not the only
and the static weights. method) of balancing the understeer/over
steer characteristics of these cars.

18
 BUSHINGS &

DEFLECTIONS

'I
ven the best suspension geometry and sus

E pension alignment is ' only effective if the

suspension components do not change
shape or position. Suspension pieces in
general look strong and rigid, but these pieces must
handle loads in the 1000-5000 lbs. range, so they do
OUTER STEEL SLEEVE

RUBBER

INNER STEEL SLEEVE

bend .and deflect. Under high performance driving RUBBER BUSHING

conditions, the wheels bend, the knuckles bend , the

Figure 4-1. Rubber suspension bushings are used on most produc
control arms bend and the frame bends. The worst tion cars today. They consist of an inner sleeve, outer sleeve, and
source of deflection on a production car is the sus some form of material (almost always rubber in the case of pro
pension bushings. Suspension bushings are decep duction cars) separating the two . Rubber bushings are used pri
marily for cost, better road noise isolation and they don 't require
tively simple devices. Insignificant as they may lubrication.
seem, they have a very important effect on your
car's handling. Therefore, the construction and attracted to rubber suspension bushings because
quality of your bushings deserves close attention. they offered three advantages over earlier steel-on
steel versions. The rubber bushings were (1) cheap
er to build , (2) offered better isolation from the jolts
RUBBER BUSHING DEFLECTION of the road and (3) didn't require lubrication. Also,
Most bushings consist of an inner sleeve, an outer because the durometer (hardness) of the rubber
sleeve and some form of material separating the could be tailored for specific chassis characteris
two. In most modern production bushings, the tics, the engineers gained a new design flexibility
material bonded between the sleeves is rubber. they didn 't have with steel bushings.
During the 1950's, factory chassis designers were If rubber bushings have all of these advantages,
why are so many car enthusiasts replacing their
Even high performance street cars, like this Pontiac Trans Am , are bushings with ones made of other materials?
ubj ect to the ills of rubber bushing deflection . Aftermarket
rep lacement bushings are available to replace the stock units , the Obviously, there must be driving situations in which
reasons for which are explained the rubber bushings do not perform as well as
throughout this chapter. lIIlIIIIII. . ~!!::Ja~ they should.

19
 RUBBER BUSHING DEFLECTION
Loss of Camber Control
(TOP VIEW) A tire generates its maximum cornering power
when it is perpendicular to the road surface. If the
suspension bushings deflect when they are loaded
by high cornering forces, the tire is forced to posi
tive camber-and cornering forces are reduced
(Figure 4-3). This explains why setting static nega
tive camber helps cornering power. By aligning the
CORNERING LOAD
--------t--+--+-+-+--+-Io._- -- - - - suspension with negative camber when the car is at
rest, you anticipate the positive camber caused by
rubber bushing deflection during cornering. If the
suspension bushing material resists deflection,
there is less loss of camber control.
The loss of cornering power due to rubber bush
ing deflection is a problem on cars with independent
front suspension and on cars with independent rear
suspension. The need for a better bushing material
Figure 4-2. For most street driving, rubber bushings work very well. is especially important to Corvette owners because
But under high performance driving conditions, the rubber
deflects, allowing the inner sleeve to move toward the outer
camber loss at the rear will cause oversteer (Figure
sleeve, which changes the location of the control arm . 4-4).

Under most driving conditions, rubber bushings Front Deflection Steer

are the best choice. However, high performance Rubber suspension bushing deflection can also
driving demands less deflection, which a rubber have a dramatic effect on the steering characteris
bushing is not capable of providing. The excessive tics of your car. The steering linkage consists of
deflection of rubber bushings can have several rigid links and joints, so there is little deflection
adverse effects on high performance handling when these parts are loaded by high cornering
(Figure 4-2). forces. The control arms, however, are mounted in

FRONT CAMBER LOSS REAR CAMBER LOSS

0>1----
CORNERING FORCE
CORNERING FORCE

Figure 4-3. When the front control arm bushings deflect, the control
arms can move in relation to the frame. The cornering loads
cause this deflection to result in positive camber, which reduces Figure 4-4. If a car has independent rear suspension with rubber
and distorts the tire patch. The net effect is a loss of cornering bushings, the deflection will again result in positive camber and a
power at the front . loss of traction at the rear wheels.

20
 FRONT DEFLECTION STEER REAR DEFLECTION STEER

'0'
p

lJ

DEFLECTION
OVERSTEER

A TOP VIEW OF

REAR SUSPENSION
REAR TOE-IN

CONTROL ARM
_CORNERIN G \
- .--,
\
MOVEMENT FORCE

~\ \
1
DRIVING
FORCE
-
B STEERING LINKAGE
\r DEFLE CTION
UNDERST EER
_
lJ (
\
\
\

L--
_\

CONTROL ARM

MOVEMENT

Figure 4-6. On a rear-wheel-drive car with independent rear sus

pension , rubber bushing deflection can cause torque steer,
because the rear hubs can mo ve during acceleration and/or brak
ing. Durin g acceleration, the rear wheel will toe-in ( shown here)
and cause understeer. The opposite, rear toe-out, occurs during
braking. This change in the rear wheel alignment can result in
handling that is unstable and unpredictable.
Figure 4-5. When the control arms mov e because of bushing deflec
tion, they also cause a change in steering angle, because the steer
ing rods do not move as the control arms move. If the steering link
age is behind the front axle (A) , this deflection can cause over safer and more pleasant to drive, so most late-model
steer, which is unstable during high performance driving. When automobiles have their steering linkages in front of
the steering linkage is in front of the front axle (B), the result is
deflection understeer, which is considered to be safer and easier to the knuckles (Figure 4-5).
drive. This is why most late-model produ ction cars have the steer
ing linkage located in front of the axle. Rear Deflection & Torque Steer
Deflection steer can have a more dramatic effect
rubber. Thus, the control arms can deflect while the on the handling of independent rear suspensions. If
steering linkage stays in place. If the control arms the suspension bushings permit changes in the rear
move in and out, the steering knuckle will also move. tires' camber and toe, the car's directional stability
The result is a change in steering angle . The driver will change over bumps and during hard cornering.
will notice that the car feels "twitchy," because the Because the car's rear suspension must also absorb
actual steering angle changes as the bushings driving loads (which also deflect the bushings),
deflect, even though he is holding the steering wheel changes in directional stability are common.
steady. Torque Steer-If your car understeers under power
If the linkage is in front of the knuckle, the result is and oversteers during braking, torque steer may be
deflection understeer. If the steering linkage is locat the culprit. Torque steer is when the steering angle
ed behind the front knuckle, the effect is defle ction of the driving wheels changes as the power and/or
oversteer. Deflection oversteer is when the tire turns braking torques are applied. Under power, the rub
more than the driver asks. Deflection understeer is ber bushing at the front of the rear control arm com
when the tire turns less than the driver asks. presses and the arm moves forward. This increases
Deflection understeer is generally considered to be rear toe-in. More rear toe-in creates understeer,

21
 URETHANE BUSHINGS
In recent years, several companies have offered
urethane suspension bushings. These plastic bush
ings look great on the parts shelf. Unfortunately, the
urethane used in the products we have evaluated is
not a material well suited for suspension bushings.

Disadvantages
Depending on the application, suspension bush
ings must allow movement in different planes. The
most common plane of movement is simple rotation.
Rubber bushings allow rotation by the internal
shear of the rubber itself. This means there is no
sliding motion between any of the members. The
rubber flexes to allow the inner and outer sleeves to
rotate relative to each another. Since there is no
sliding motion, there is no friction-caused wear and
no need for lubrication. Because the rubber is mold
Urethane bushings prevent deflections, but because urethane is a ed to the inner and outer sleeves, there are no criti
sticky plastic, the use of urethane bushings usually results in a sus
pension which is not free to move . This binding is made worse
cal tolerances to maintain during manufacturing.
when the lubrication is forced out of the joint over time. Graphite This is one of the features that allows rubber bush
filled urethane does not solve the problem. ings to be made inexpensively.
When a steel or urethane suspension bushing is
because the driving force aims the car toward the used, the bushing material cannot deflect. There
outside of the turn. must be some sliding motion to permit rotation
The opposite happens during braking. The bush between the inner and the outer sleeve (Figure 4-7).
ing deflects and produces toe-out and oversteer.
This varying condition-understeer under accelera
tion and oversteer during braking-doesn't promote RUBBER TWIST VS. SLIDING MOTION
driver confidence. A good-handling car should be
predictable and controllable.
The first step in eliminating erratic handling is to
reduce deflection in the control arm bushings
(Figure 4-6).
RUBBER BUSHING RUBBER
UNLOADED TWISTING
STEEL-aN-STEEL BUSHINGS
There are several types of suspension bushings
that will eliminate deflection. One obvious alterna URETHANE BUSHING SURFACES
tive is the old steel-on-steel bushings used by the UNLOADED SLIDING
factories before the development of rubber bush
ings. Steel-on-steel bushings require periodic greas
ing and close tolerances to operate properly.
Like all non-rubber bushings, they offer no isola
tion between the control arms and the chassis, so
more road noise is transmitted to the passenger
Figure 4-7. A rubber bushing allows the inner sleeve to rotate in
compartment. Steel-on-steel bushings are used on relation to the outer sleeve by deformation of the rubber itself Any
some race cars because road noise is not a concern. hard bushing, like urethane, requires a sliding motion between the
inner sleeve and the bushing material. This type of bushing is real
ly a bearing, so slippery-type plastics are required.

22

 offer little ability to absorb rotational shear within

themselves. The only way a rigid suspension bush
ing can allow rotational movement is if one of the
mating surfaces slides on the other. This sliding
action demands close manufacturing tolerances and
lubrication for satisfactory operation. The aftermar
ket urethane bushings we've tried did not meet
these requirements.
Greasing the bushings before assembly works for
a few weeks until the grease is forced out or washed
away. Once the grease is gone, the urethane is again
abl e to bind to the steel sleeves, and the driver
hears squeaks and moans. Without lubrication, the
urethane can stick to the steel, and the suspension
do es not move smoothly.
Urethane bushings could be customized to pro
vide better service by hand-fitting the bushings to
obtain proper clearances and installing grease fit
tings for regular lubrication. But, there is a better
Industrial-grade nylon bushings prevent bushing deflection. Their alternative.
use requires machin ed steel support sleeves, so they cost slightly
more than urethane bushings. Because they have grease fitt ings,
they can last over 100,000 miles wi th bi-annual greasings. NYLON BUSHINGS
Nylon bushings, when properly supported and
Many people who buy aftermarket urethane bush lubricated, have proven themselves in many indus
ings believe that the urethane behaves like hard rub tri al applications. Nylon inserts are inexpensive and
ber, but most urethane suspension bushings are so are available from any bearing supply house. These
hard they have to be considered solid, because they "nyliner" inserts require sleeves machined to close

BUSHING ROTATION AND TWIST

( ) 0

( )

Figure 4-8. When a suspension member must move in rotatio n and twist at the same tim e, the bushing must perm it this complex moti on.
vtany rear suspension bushings are of this type, because they must allow the chassis and body to roll whil e at the same time allow the axle
'0 move up and down. This diagram shows an early Corvette rear suspension, which has the same requirements.

23
 ber can deflect axially and rotationally at the same
time. Simple urethane and nyliner bushings can not
provide this combination of motions , and are not
satisfactory for this use (Figure 4-8).
Spherical bearings can provide this combination
of motions. Spherical bearings are expensive, how
ever, so I recommend them only for this specific
type of application. Many grades and levels of qual
ity are currently available to the spherical bushing
buyer. Testing has convinced me that only aircraft
quality, hardened steel-on-hardened steel bearings
will provide long-term durability. Considering the
labor required to install the bushings, using lower
quality, less durable bearings makes poor economic
sense.
Spherical bearings are made to very close toler
ances, so their supporting parts must also be made
accurately. As a result, they are more expensive
than cheap, molded parts.

RIDE & NOISE CHARACTERISTICS

If the suspension bushings you install are free to
rotate without binding, the ride characteristics of
When the control arm motion requires rotation as well as twist, your car will not change. But, if you eliminate the
like on most rear suspension links, spherical bushings are needed rubber from the suspension bushings, more road
to handle the complex motion s. Using plain-type bushings in this
application will result in a suspension that binds up.
noise will be transmitted to the passenger compart
ment. I have found that nylon and spherical bearing
tolerances for proper operation, so the total cost of suspension bushings will usually increase the
installing nylon suspension bushings is slightly high impact harshness to the same degree as adding 5 psi
er than urethane bushings. Compared to the cost of to your car's tire pressure.
labor to remove and replace the control arms, how If you don't drive your car hard , or in competition,
ever, the amount of increase is insignificant. you probably do not need solid suspension bush
Properly made sleeves to support nyliner bearings ings. However, if you can stand a little more impact
should have zerk fittings for easy lubrication. I have harshness, installing suspension bushings will make
run cars more than 100,000 miles with the same .set your car handle like a race car. Both cornering
of nyliner suspension bushings. I recommend the power and steering response will improve greatly.
use of nylon and steel bushings for all applications
where pure rotational motion is required. All bush
ings should have zerk fittings so they can be greased
every six months.

SPHERICAL BEARINGS
Some suspension bushings are subject to a combi
nation of rotational movement and angular twist.
The bushings used between the frame and rear con
trol arms on '63-'82 Corvettes are an example.
Rubber bushings work in this case, because the rub

24

 SPRINGS & SHOCKS

prings and shocks are an integral part of Chart 5-1, the spring compresses 1 inch for every

S any suspension system. But the total sus

pension system must be considered as a
coordinated package, so just changing
springs and/or shocks will not always give the
desired results. What works on one car might not
150 lbs. of load. The spring rate determines how
much the spring will compress as the loading
increases. The spring load determines how much
weight the spring can support at a given height. For
example, when the spring is compressed at 7 inches,
work on another car because of differences in their the spring can support 1050 Ibs. If one corner of
system design. The following aspects should be con your car is sagging, you don't need more spring rate,
sidered in choosing springs and shocks for your car. you need more spring load.

SPRING LOAD & SPRING RATE Spring Rate at the Wheel

Assume a car weighs 3000 Ibs. and that it has
Spring load and spring rate are often confused. equal weight distribution. This would mean it would
For the best understanding of how your suspension have 750 lbs. of weight at each wheel. If we assumed
works, it is important to recognize the difference. an unsprung weight of 150 lbs. at each wheel, the
Spring load is the amount of weight it takes to com sprung weight at each wheel would be 600 lbs.
press the spring to a given height, expressed in lbs . Unsprung weight includes parts of the car that are
Spring rate is the amount of weight it takes to com not supported by the springs, which would be the
press the spring one inch expressed in lbs-ln, An weight of the tire, wheel, knuckle, hub and one-half
example of this relationship for a spring is seen in of the spring, shock and control arms . Sprung
Chart 5-1. weight includes the weight of the body, frame,
Note that the spring rate does not change as the engine, transmission and one-half of the spring,
spring is compressed, but the spring load does. In shock and control arms. With a sprung weight of 600
Shocks and springs are an int egral part of any suspen
sion system. Matching the proper spri ng rat e and
load to suit driving and tra ck conditions is a crit
ical factor to racing success. However, the
process is a bit more involved than just
changing to different shock s
and/or springs . Photo by
stichaei Lutty.

25
 Wheel Rate vs, Spring Rate
Chart 5-1 This relationship often becomes confusing when
Typical Rear Spring enthusiasts try to actually measure the results.
Wheel rate is the actual spring rate at the wheel as
opposed to spring rate at the spring. It is not a sim
Amount of Spring Spring Rate Spring Load ple relationship , so adding 100 lbs . of spring rate will
Compression (Ibs/in.l (Ibs.l not add 100 lbs. of wheel rat e unless the spring is
mounted directly on the axle. Anytime there are
1.00 inch 150 150 linkages such as control arms involved, you have to
2.00 150 300 consider the linkage ratios. Since most mod ern cars
.- , use upper and lower control arms on their front sus
3.00 150 450 pension, we will use this example to demonstrate
4.00 150 600 how linkage ratios work. Figure 5-1 shows a
schematic of a typical front suspension having an
5.00 150 750
upper and a lower control arm with the spring acting
6.00 150 900 on the lower control arm. The formula for determin
7.00 150 1050 ing the wheel rate is:

8.00 150 1200 Wheel Rate = Spring Rate ( : ) 2 X ~: ) 2

lbs. at each wheel, you 'd need a spring load of 600

A: Distance from control arm inner con
lbs . to hold the car at normal ride height. If th e
trol arm pivots to the center point where
wheel travel was 4.00 inches up and 4.00 inches
the spring acts on the lower arm.
down , the spring rate at the wheel would need to be
150 lbs . per inch to absorb a 1.00 g bump. A one g B: The length of the lower control arm
bump is equal to the normal irregularities on a from the ball joint to the inner pivots.
smooth road . This spring rate would provide full
C: The distance from the lower ball joint
suspension travel, and would be considered soft by
to the front suspension instant center.
most standards. However, with high performance
applications , there are man y factors that will require D: The distance from the center of the
the use of higher rate springs. tire contact patch to the front suspension
instant center.

FRONT SUSPEI\lSION LAYOUT NEEDED TO DETERMINE

LINKAGE RATIOS OF FRONT SPRINGS AT WHEEL

INSTANT
CENTER

GROUND LINE

1 4 - - - - - - - - - - C - - - - - - - - - - - - . - j
o

Figure 5-1. The spring rate at the wheel is not the same as the rate of the spring if there are any linkages in volved. This sho ws a typical
front suspensio n arrangement listing where the dim ensions for the control arm and instant center point are located. To decipher what the
coordinates are, see the text nearby.

26
 If the dimensions are plugged into the formula it
DETERMINING ACTUAL PIVOT POINT
would look like this for a 500-lbs-in. spring rate:
OF SUSPENSION BALL JOINT

(149)2 X (90)2

;<,
?\
( \ / '7 Wheel Rate = 500 94
\ / /
\
\
\
J /
\; / f Wheel Rate = 500 x (.64)2 x (.96)2
\ / Wheel Rate = 500 x .41 x .92
\ / Wheel Rate = 188 Ibs-in.
\, - - \ - - \ - - - - f J ----../
Note that with this configuration the wheel rate is
about 37% of the spring rate. This means that
adding 100 Ibs. of spring rate will only add 37 Ibs-in.
ACTUAL
of wheel rate.
PIVOT
POINT Using the same example, let 's see what happens
when the spring location on the lower control arm is
moved outboard 1.00 inch. With this configuration:

Figure 5-2. When making an accurate layout of a suspension sys A = 10 in.

tem, it is important to know the exact pivot point of the ball joints.
By moving the joint from one extreme to the other, it is possible to B = 14 in.
project this point. An even more accurate method would be to
machine one side off the joint to measure what is inside. C = 90 in.
D = 94 in.
Finding Instant Center-To accurately find the
instant center of your front suspension, you need to

(1410)2 X
make a scaled drawing based on measurements you
have taken off your car with the car setting at ride Wheel Rate = 500
height. This sounds like a lot of work, but you can
do it in about an hour with a tape measure. It is not
necessary to measure more accurately than 1/16 Wheel Rate = 500 x (.71)2 x (.96)2
inch to get good results. Care should be taken, how Wheel Rate = 500 x .50 x .92
ever, in determining the actual pivot point of the ball Wheel Rate = 230
Ibs-in.
joints . This is difficult to measure since it is inside
the joint. If you have a ball joint off the car, you can This wheel rate represents about 46% of the spring
move it from one extreme to the other and eyeball rate, so moving the spring acting point outboard
what appears to be the actual pivot point. It is usu 1.00 inch increased the wheel rate more than if
ally close to the flange or the end of the housing, so another 100 lbs-in. of spring rate had been added .
you can use this as a reference point in making the Because of the effects of the linkage ratios, it is
measurements on your car (Figure 5-2). usually impossible to compare the spring rates of
When you have made your front-end layout, you one car vs. the spring rates of another car unless all
will have the A-B-C-D dimensions you need to fill in the linkage dimensions are known to be exact. From
the wheel rate equation. For the purposes of expla the above examples, it is also obvious that just using
nation let's assume your dimensions are: wheels with more or less offset will have a slight
A = 9.0 in. effect on the actual wheel rate.
B = 14.0 In. Calculating Coil Spring Rates
C = 90.0 in. If you have access to a spring rate checker, you
D = 94.0 in. can measure all of your springs. If you don't have a

27
 SPRING DIMENSIONS NEEDED TO CALCULATE SPRING RATE

WIRE DIA .

II

L ACTIVE

OUTSIDE

Figure 5-3. When calculating coil spring rates, it is necessary to determine the specific spring dimensions. This diagram shows where these
dimensions are measured from for a typical coil spring.

checker, you can also determine the rate of your coil ing coils, only consider those that can move as the
springs by measuring them and using this formula: spring is compressed. For the example, assume a
Gd 4
spring with 10 active coils.
Spring Rate = -
Determining the mean coil diameter can be done
8ND3 with a tape measure, from th e end of the spring, as
shown in Figure 5-3. For th e example, assume a
G = Torsional modules for steel = 11.25 x mean coil diameter of 5.00 inch es . Filling in the for
106 or 11,250,000 mula with measured numbers will result in:

d = Wire diameter in inches 11,250,000 x .62 x .62 x .62 x .62

Coil Spring Rate =

N = Number of active coils 8 x 10 x 5.0 x 5.0 x 5.0

1,662 ,337
D = Mean coil diameter in inches Coil Spring Rate =
= 166 Ibs-in .
10,000
8 = A constant for all coil springs
The G factor in the equation is always the same for Sever al things should be noted from this calcula
coil springs made from steel. A titanium spring tion.
would require another factor (11.25 x 106 can also
1. If we cut one coil from th e spring it will
be written as 11,250,000) .
have less active coils , its length will
The coil wire diameter (d) can be measured with a
change and the rate will go up :
caliper. It will be the same for th e whole length of
the spring unless it is a spring of variable rate, in 11,250,000 x .62 x .62 x .62 x .62
Coil Spring Rate = - - - - - - - - - - -
which case you can't put on number on it anyway. 8 x 9 x 5.0 x 5.0 x 5.0
For our example, we will assume a wire diameter of
.62 inches. 1,662,337
Determining the number of active coils needs Coil Spring Rate = = 187 Ibs-in.
some judgment on your part. The key work here is 9,000
ac tive. If the ends of the spring are flatt en ed or
ground, these coils are not active, since th ey are This is about an 11 % increase or proportionate to
resting on their mounting pads. When counting act th e amount cut from th e spring.

28
 LEAF SPRING Calculating Leaf Spring Rates
DIMENSIONS Leaf spring rate is determined by the spring's
physical dimensions as shown in Figure 5-4. The
THICKNESS
OF EACH spring rate of a leaf spring can be approximated with
LEAF
this formula:

WN) X (100 Ot)3

Leaf Spring Rate = (U L
W = Width of Leaves (inches)
--JWIDTH~ N = Number of Leaves
T = Thickness of 1 Leaf

Figure 54. When calculat ing leaf spring rate, it is necessary to

know the dimensions of the spring. This diagram shows where the
(in inches)

measurements must be made to do these calculations.

L = Length of Spring (in inches)

2. Increasing the wire diameter will cause a 12 =A Constant for all Leaf Springs
dramatic increase in the rate of the spring.
If we increased the wire diameter only 1/32 For the example, assume the following specifica
of an inch the rate would be : tions:

11,250,000 x .65 x .65 x .65 x .65 W = 3.00 in.

Coil Spring Rate = -----------
8 x 10 x 5.0 x 5.0 x 5.0 N = 5.0
T = .25 in.
2,231,328
Coil Spring Rate = L = 60 in.
10,000

Plugging these numbers into the formula results

Coil Spring Rate = 223 Ibs-in. in:

3. Nothing in the spring rate calculation indi 3.00 x 5

Leaf Spring Rate =
cates that a coil spring ever has a change 12
in its rate. The rate is determined by the
material, steel in this case, and the dimen
Leaf Spring Rate = 1.25 X (4.17)3
sions of the spring. Coil springs don't
wear out or lose their rate.
Leaf Spring Rate = 90 Ibs-in.
4. Nothing in the spring rate calculation
describes the spring load. Spring load
WHERE TO MOUNT SPRINGS
determines how much weight a spring can
support at a given height. The spring rate Where the springs are mounted is as important as
only tells how much the height will change their rate. Either an existing car or a newly designed
as the load is changed. A spring can lose car must take these factors into consideration.
its load rating over time or if the steel is
not heat-treated properly. However, when Front Springs
a spring sags, its rate is still the same as To minimize the linkage ratio effects, it is usually
when it was new. best to mount the front springs as close to the ball

29
joint as possible. There are obvious clearance con Rear Leaf Springs
siderations which must be resolved, but in general, Since rear leaf springs are also used to transmit
the closer the better. On Winston Cup cars, which acceleration and braking forces, their positioning
still use 5.0 diameter springs, it is impossible to get and configuration is more critical. These forces
the springs very close to the ball joint. This results cause the axle housing to twist, and in doing this,
in big linkage ratios and the need for very high the leaf springs tend to wrap-up and distort. To
spring rates. counteract this condition, it is necessary to increase
It is also a good policy to mount the springs in a the number of leaves, or the thickness of the leaves,
nearly vertical position to keep the spring force at to give the spring enough stiffness to resist these
its full value. forces. Unfortunately, adding leaves or making them
thicker, also increases the spring rate. This conflict
Rear Coil Springs is solved by adding leaves only to the front of the
It is often possible to mount rear coil springs leaf spring, which provides the spring with the stiff
directly on the axle housing. This configuration pro ness in the front half it needs to resist the axle
duces wheel rates equal to the spring rates. The torque reaction while not increasing the spring rate
rear springs can also be mounted on the rear control as much as if a full leaf was added. Most leaf springs
arms, but since this introduces linkage ratio consid used on high performance cars have extra leaves
erations, the wheel rate will not be the same as the only on the front of the spring for this reason.
spring rate.
When mounting the rear springs, it is also neces
sary to consider the angle of the springs from verti JOUNCE BUMPERS
cal as this angle can affect the actual spring force. Jounce bumpers are rubber blocks that keep the
Angling the springs from vertical can reduce the lower control arms from hitting the frame on severe
effective force the spring can provide in the vertical bumps. Many enthusiasts throw these away which
direction. A slight angle has little effect, but any is a mistake, because they don't realize that these
thing over 30 degrees will result in a significant bumpers are really variable-rate springs. By using
reduction in the vertical force on the axle, which jounce bumpers, it is possible to use softer spring
reduces the spring's effectiveness. rates. In the free travel before the jounce bumpers
touch the frame, only the car springs are active in

Winston Cup cars use 5.0-inch diameter springs, so it is This is a typical rubber jounce bumper installed on a lower control
impossible to get the springs very close to the ball joint. This arm. The jounce bumper prevents the lower control arm from hit
results in big linkage ratios, and the need for very high spring ting the frame on severe bumps. Don 't throw them away, like some
rates. enthusiasts do-they act as variable-rate springs.

30
the suspension. On severe bumps, the jounce
SPRING RATE CHANGE WITH JOUNCE BUMPER
bumpers are compressed between the frame and
the control arms, and the effective spring rate of the
600 - LOAD
suspension is increased. Jounce bumpers are

/
DUE TO
shaped to provide an ever-increasing rate as they JOUNCE
BUMPER
are compressed. It is a mistake to trim the shape of
500

1/
a jounce bumper because it destroys the bumper's
progressive rate characteristics. Jounce bumpers
can be used on race cars for the same reasons they en 400 - LOAD
co

//
work on production cars (Figure 5-5). ...J DUE TO

"

SPRING SELECTION .
0

0
...J 300
SPRING

(9
All of the above is good background information,
but in the end you have to make the decision on
which springs to use on your car. Understanding all
Z
~
o,
(/)
200
IpY
of the factors involved will help make that decision,
as well as help to rationalize the springs you are
already using. The following are some of the factors
100 1/
that should be considered in choosing springs for
your car.
Aerodynamic Effects
/ 100 200 300 400

Some race cars, like Indy racers, can have aerody INCHES OF WHEELTRAVEL
namic downforce that is greater than the weight of
the car. If you have a 2000-lb. car with 2000-lbs. of Figure 5-5. When a jounce bumper is used to supplement the regu
downforce, you will need spring rates and spring lar spring rate, it provides a variable spring rate. The increase in
loads twice as high as if there were no aerodynamic rate helps to prevent the suspension from bottoming out over
severe bumps while allowing the use of softer springs necessary
downforce. A stock body car on a 1/4 mile track for a smooth ride and good cornering force.
does not have much aerodynamic downforce, but
some Modified cars do have a considerable amount.
a spring rate as possible. The traction between a
Spring Rates Left-to-Right
car's tires and the road is the only source for devel
Circle track cars will have a large percentage of
oping cornering power. If the tires are not in contact
their weight transferred to the right side of the car
with the road, they develop zero cornering power.
during cornering. Since the effective weight on the
Soft spring rates allow the tires to better follow road
right side is increased, it follows that more spring
bumps and irregularities so the tires stay in contact
rate and spring load will be required. Keeping softer
with the road a higher percentage of the time .
spring rates on the left side is a popular choice, pro
Higher spring rates can also limit suspension in both
viding it doesn't upset the overall balance of the car.
the bump and rebound directions. If your car is not
Road-racing and street-driven cars usually use the
getting full suspension travel, it might not be allow
same spring rates and spring loads from side-to-side
ing the tires to follow the road as much as possible.
because they run around both left- and right-hand
Variable Rate Springs-A study of the optimum
turns.
spring rates for a car eventually come to the conclu
Effects of Too Much Spring Rate sion that the best spring rate is a variable one. We
Since most race cars can adjust the spring load to would like to have a soft spring rate to absorb the
set the correct ride height, choosing the best spring road irregularities and then have a high spring rate
rate is usually of the most concern to racers. We to absorb the larger bumps. Springs are available
have discussed reasons why more spring rate might that are made with a variable rate. You can identify
be desired, but how do you know if you have too these coil springs by noticing that the spacing
high a spring rate? In general, it is best to run as soft between the coils is different from one end to the

31
Indy cars generate tremendous aerodynamic downforce, especially on high speed ovals like Michigan and Indianapolis. Springs with more
rate and load are needed.

other. The design concept for these springs is cor improvement in handling. As long as the springs on
rect, but in practice they don't work too well. Since a car are stiff enough to keep the car from bottoming
car springs only operate in a limited percentage of out, they are adequate. If a car is lowered, a slight
their total travel, the amount of change in rate is increase in spring rate can be used to compensate
usually pretty small. Jounce bumpers provide this for the reduced ride travel.
same variable rate feature with more consistency. Some car enthusiasts mistakenly believe that if
300 lbs-in. coil springs are good, then 600 lbs-in.
Spring Rates for Oval Tracks springs have to be better. They're wrong. Optimum
When a car runs on a banked track, spring rates road-holding demands that the tires be in contact
must be increased to compensate for the increase in with the pavement; a soft spring lets the wheels fol
effective weight of the car. Chart 5-2 gives an low road irregularities so that the tires can generate
approximation for how much spring rates must be maximum adhesion.
increased for various bank angles. These calcula Our recommendation for front springs on a street
tions are based on the car maintaining a 1.00 corner driven car is to use the standard factory coils. For
ing force at all bank angles. Since a car might not be street use, you can trim one half coil off the top of
able to maintain such a cornering force because of
aerodynamics or horsepower, these figures might be Chart 5-2
high under some circumstances. These values are
close, but the car and the driver should be the final
Bank Angle of Track % Increase
element in choosing spring rates at any given track.
(in degrees) in Spring Rate
Spring Rates for the Street
The purpose of suspension springs is to hold the
car steady while allowing the wheels to follow road 0 0%
irregularities. In general, the softest possible
5 10%
springs will do this job best. Softer springs will
allow each individual wheel to move in relation to 10 23%
the chassis while having the minimum effect on the 15 41%
driver's compartment. This translates into a soft
ride, noise isolation and good handling. 20 67%
All stiffer springs do is make the car have a stiff 25 106%
ride. They have no capability to make a significant

32
the spring with an acetylene torch to lower the car the spring load back to normal using several meth
slightly (see sidebar p. 35). ods. For coil springs, the usual procedure is to place
Most front spring rates range between 300 and 350 a rubber shim on top of the spring to increase the
lbs-in. Trimming the coils as we've recommended load. (These spring shims are available through car
will increase the rate approximately 10%. But the dealership parts departments and from auto parts
true purpose of trimming the front springs is to stores.) A leaf spring's load height can be increased
lower the car for improved aerodynamics and better by using different shackle lengths or, in extreme
handling, not to increase the spring rate. cases, by re-arching the spring.
Several cars, like the Corvette with F-41 suspen Lowering-Before you invest in springs to lower
sion, the WS-6 Trans Am and the later model Camaro your car, you should be aware that your chances of
Z-28's, are equipped with very high rate springs. We success are much better if you simply cut your exist
have found that the ride can be greatly improved by ing springs . All springs take a certain amount of per
installing softer springs, with no effect on the han manent set after they are installed. (Note that new
dling capabilities of these cars. Many enthusiasts cars sitting in the showroom are higher than the
buy the standard rate soft springs from their dealer same models with only a few thousand miles on
for these cars and cut 1/2 coil for the proper ride thern .) This change in height is caused by the
height. inevitable loss in load that any new spring experi
ences. If you put new springs on your car, they will
settle as much as an inch within the first few
ADJUSTING RIDE HEIGHT months. Obviously, if your car was the correct
Although the spring rate will not change during height when you installed the new springs, it will be
the life of a spring, the spring load can change. This too low after a few months.
is commonly called spring sag. Loss of load, or This is why I recommend you cut your existing
spring sag , can be caused by a variety of reasons, springs and save the cost of new springs. The
including poor metallurgy, overloading and even results will almost certainly be better. Your car's
fatigue due to high mileage. If a spring has lost load, existing springs have already taken a permanent set,
this problem should not be corrected by changing so you know where they will end up. If you want to
the spring rate. If a spring has sagged, you can get lower your car, you can cut your existing springs to

Unli ke circle track cars, which use more spring rate and load on the right side of the car, road-racing and street cars usually use the same
spring rates and loads on both sides, because they will be turning right and left. Photo by Michael Lutty

33
achieve the ride height you want with one operation.
SHOCK DAMPENING CURVES
See the sidebar nearby for details.
Springs don't wear out, so you can save the cost of
~
r INSUFFICIENT
DAMPENING
new springs if you trim your existing ones. If you
want to feel like you bought new springs, paint your
old ones. We have found that most coil springs
should be cut 1/2 coil to lower the car and still keep
/ \ CRITICAL
DAMPENING

adequate ride height. If your springs have sagged,

you don't even have to cut them because the car is I
Z
already at a lower ride height. W
~
W
>
o /
~
SHOCK ABSORBERS z OVER DAMPENING
Q
The purpose of shock absorbers is to control the
velocity of the suspension. If the shocks don't have
z
w
o,
/
(f)
enough resistance, the spring will move the suspen :J
(f)
sion too fast and it will have an underdampened
motion. If the shocks are too firm, the motion will be
overdampened. It is important to have just the right
amount of dampening to control the spring action of
TIME
the suspension.
Proper Dampening-Extra firm shocks have the
Figure 5-6. In order to provide the correct amount ofdampening for
same negative effects on ride and handling as extra the spring in a suspension system, it is necessary to have the criti
stiff springs. The tires cannot follow the road irreg cal amount. Overdampening will restrict the free movement of the
suspension and insufficient dampening will allow the suspension
ularities unless they are free to move in relation to to cycle freely without control.
the chassis. The relative motion must be as free as
possible, but it also must be controlled. Shocks are
used for control. If the shocks are too firm, the sus the front shocks. Basically, this means placing them
pension will be over-dampened and the tires will not as close to the ball joint as possible. This location
be able to keep in contact with the road. If there is increases their effectiveness. You can mount them
no dampening, the suspension will cycle up and further from the ball joint and then increase their
down at its natural frequency and again the tires will dampening rate to get the same control. This proce
not keep in contact with the road. What is needed is dure, however, magnifies any clearances or loose-
critical-dampening, which means just enough control
to keep the suspension from cycling. We have found
that adjustable shocks allow each car to be tuned
for critical dampening. Run your shocks as soft as
possible-just enough so the car doesn't wallow
over bumps (Figure 5-6).

Mounting Shocks
A shock absorber's ability to control the suspen
sion is dependent on how it is mounted. For street
driven cars, rubber-insulated mounting points are
preferred because they help to dampen road noise.
For race cars, rod-end type mounts are preferred
because they prevent the suspension from moving
without moving the shock piston. Most production shocks come with rubber insulators to provide a
Front Shocks-The same consideration for mount better ride and lower suspension noise. However, during high per
ing the front springs should be used for mounting formance use, these rubber components can deflect.

34
CUTTING COIL SPRINGS

2. Most stock spri ngs can be trimm ed a

hal f coil to provide the proper rid e
height for improved handling. Mark the
sp ri ng directly across from the original
end as shown.

3. Cut the spring with an acetylene torch.

I . Carefully remove the coi l sp rings following
the pro cedure outlined in yo ur car 's shop
manual. Note how the end coils of this stock
front spring are bent slightly so that it seats
properly in the fram e and A-arm.

-
5. Quick ly tum the spri ng upside down and
bend the top coil by pushing down on the
spri ng. DO NOT quench the spri ng wi th
water; allow it to air-cool slow ly.

4. Heat the half coi l below your cut so yo u 6. Paint the sp ri ng and reinstall it accord
can bend it to match the spri ng's original ing to the directions in yo ur shop manu
shape. al . Realign the front suspension.

35
 VERTICAL LOAD FACTOR FOR ANGLED SHOCKS

450 ANGLE
00 ANGLE 100 ANGLE 300 ANGLE

70% EFFECTIVE

86% EFFECTIVE

100% 98%
EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE

Figure 5-7. Shocks are most effective when they are mounted perpendicular to the direction of travel. Slight variations are permissible, but
anything over 30 degrees will result in a loss of shock effectiveness.

ness in the system which can result in loss of control Rear Shocks wjLeaf Springs-Mounting the shocks
at the wheel. on a leaf spring rear suspension is a special case
Rear Shocks wjCoil Springs-All those considera which requires special considerations. Chevrolet
tion mentioned above for spring and shock location found that if one shock is placed in front of the axle,
should be followed in mounting rear shocks on a coil and one shock is placed behind the axle, their damp
spring type rear suspension. Basically, keep the ening effects do a good job of controlling the violent
shocks as close to the wheel as possible and prevent torsional rotation of the axle during power-hop and
any lost motion between the shock and the axle. brake-hop. This configuration is so successful that it
Mount the shocks as nearly vertical as possible to eliminates most of these problems without any
maximize their effectiveness. other devices. Under extreme conditions, traction
bars and/or telescoping brake rods can be used to
provide additional torsional control of the axle
SHOCK PLACEMENT TO RESIST AXLE TORQUE
(Figure 5-8). For more information, turn to Chapter 9,

~
page 72.

Figure 5-8. On cars with a Hotchkiss drive rear suspension , the

shocks can be placed on either side of the axle housing to help Because of the deflection, the shocks are prevented from acting
prevent the axle housing from rotat ing. When the axle housing is imm ediat ely on the suspension, so they are usually replaced with
free to rotate, power hop and/ or brak e hop will usually result. rod-end type mounts on race cars.

36
 TYPES OF FRONT
SUSPENSION
II
he evolution of high performance front sus mine a good high performance front suspension

T pension design has been ongoing for nearly

100 years. During that time, there have
been many ideas presented in an effort to
find the best performance configuration. The crite
ria for determining the best configuration is very
design . In the 1930's, production cars started to use
independent front suspensions, but it wasn't until
the 1960's that it was developed to provide good
cornering power.
Analyzing the types of front suspension designs
simple, "What makes the car get around the corner that have been used in the past will help you to
the quickest?" Optimizing the design aspects of understand how the current systems evolved.
each configuration is a more complex problem. The
technology of high performance front suspension
design has been closely related to the technology of BEAM AXLE
production-car front suspension design, so the two A beam axle is one where both wheels are con
must be studied together. nected to a rigid axle. Early cars used a beam-axle
The factors that are used to determine a good pro front suspension as a carryover from horse-drawn
duction car front suspension design, however, are carriages, and because they worked well, there was
not always the same as those that are used to deter- no need to consider other types . Even today, beam

The new-for-'93 Pontiac Trans Am utilizes an unequal

length double A-arm front suspension, what they call an
"SLA" (Short and Long Arm) front suspension. This
type of front suspension causes the tires and
wheels to gain negative camber as the suspen
sion compresses, which means the camber
angle between the outside tire and the
ground will not change much in
relati on to the ground during
body roll. This allows the outside
tire to develop maximum corner
ing power.

37
axle front suspensions are used on most sprint cars BEAM AXLE SUSPENSION WITH COIL SPRINGS
and midgets. Indycars used beam-axle front suspen
sions up until the 1960's, and they are still used on
tractor-trailer trucks and some 4WD trucks. Beam
axle front suspensions are used in these applica
I
tions because they provide a good solution to the
problem of suspending the vehicle from the front
wheels. Beam axles are still used on the rear of
many cars, so this "old" technology still has a useful
purpose today. Some new technology was applied to
the beam axle when coil springs and torsion bars ~
SHIMMY MOTION
were used to replace the ' leaf springs. These
improvements in springing, and similar improve Figure 6-2. One of the disadvantages of a beam axle front suspen
ments in shock absorbers, have kept the ancient sion is that the gyroscopic forces from one wheel are fed through
the axle and the steering linkage to the other wheel . This connec
beam-axle front suspensions competitive with the tion results in shimmy and tramp motions which are difficult to
newer independent types for some applications. control.

Advantages
The advantages of a beam-axle suspension are: reduces road-holding on anything but a smooth sur
Strength & Rigidity-When weight is not a big fac face. Independent front suspension is considered
tor, a beam-axle front suspension can be made to be better than a beam-axle front suspension, because
very strong. This factor, and its basic simplicity, are the forces affecting one wheel do not affect the other
the reasons why beam-axle front suspensions are wheel.
used on semi-trucks. Shimmy, Tramp & Bump Steer-When both front
Camber Control-Since a beam-axle connects both wheels are connected to the same axle beam, the
front wheels together, the camber angle between the steering forces between the two front wheels are
tires and the road will always remain constant. also interconnected. This interconnection can
Decamber can still be used to advantage, but there cause the front wheels to shimmy and tramp under
will be no loss of camber because of suspension certain conditions, Shimmy and tramp are uncon
movement or body roll. trolled vibrations of the wheels due to gyroscopic
forces reacting between the wheels. The problem
Disadvantages can usually be controlled with tight bushings and
The disadvantages of beam-axle suspension are: joints, and with effective shock absorbers, but it is a
Heavy Unsprung Weight-Because both front fundamental disadvantage with a beam-axle front
wheels are attached to the same axle, its weight suspension. Because of the axle control devices
affects the unsprung weight of each wheel. This used to position a beam-axle front suspension, it is
inertia, and the interaction between the wheels, difficult to locate the steering linkage so that the

Figure 6-1. The beam axle front suspension is the most basic type, in that both wheels are attached to the same axle . This is a very rugged
arrangement, but it has several disadvantages, such as heavy unsprung weight, shimmy, tramp and bump steer, that make it less than
desirable for high performance cars. Shown here is an axle located with fore-and-aft leaf springs like those used on many trucks.

38
 SWING AXLE FRONT SUSPENSION

ROLL CENTER

JACKING
r- --_ FORCE
7
/ I
I

- - - . . l . - - - ; > " ' L - - - - l - - - - - - - - - + - - -- -----....I.------:::.....:::-....----CORNERING

FORCE

Figure 6-3. A swing axle front suspension has a high roll center
and a short swing arm length, which looks good an paper because
it provides a lot of camber gain. However, in practice, cornering SWING AXLE
forces react through the axle shaft, which jacks up the car. When
the car is jacked up, it causes positive camber on the outside A swing-axle suspension system has a pivot near
wheel, which results in a severe loss in cornering power when it is
needed most.
the center of the car which allows the axle to swing
(Figure 6-3). One of the first attempts to provide an
bump steer is minimized. Various methods have independent front suspension, and eventually an
been used to solve this problem, but again it independent rear suspension, was with the swing
remains a fundamental disadvantage with this type axle. This is a simple and strong system that offers
of front suspension. all of the advantages of an independent suspension,
Space Requirements-A beam axle with the related whether it is used on th e front or on the rear. All of
suspension arms and steering linkage requires a th e early Volkswagen Beetles used a swing axle on
considerable amount of space if the suspension the rear, and some Ford pickup trucks still use it on
travel is to be enough to provide good ride motions. the front.
This disadvantage of a beam-axle front suspension
was one of the major reasons why production cars Disadvantages
started to use independent front suspension. Although the design of a swing-axle suspension is
Rough Ride-The major reason why production satisfactory, development and testing have shown
cars started using independent front suspension there are some serious handling pr oblems with its
was because it improved the ride characteristics of use on vehicles that can generate high cornering
the car. The heavy unsprung weight of the beam forces . The basic problem is called jacking and it
axle suspension, and the interconnection of the results from the cornering forces acting through the
front wheels, does not allow for as much ride isola wheel and axle to raise the car. When the car is
tion between the wheels and the chassis, so a jacked up, camber angle is reduced and some of the
rougher ride results. Ride quality is also important cornering power is lost. Since the jacking only hap
for road-holding since those factors that improve pens during hard cornering, the loss of cornering
the ride characteristics also help to improve the power happens when it's needed most. And, since
road-holding, because they keep the tires in better the jacking happens quickly, the resulting change in
contact with the road. handling is sudden and severe. The early Corvairs

39
made this problem famous because they would sud
TRAILING LINK FRONT SUSPENSION
denly spin-out if the driver attempted to corner at
the limits of the car's traction.
Another way to analyze a swing-axle suspension is
to notice that its roll center is high and its swing arm
length is short. Since the combination of a high roll
center and a short swing arm length can cause errat
ic handling on a swing-axle suspension, it is not wise
to use this same combination with other types of
suspension.

TRAILING LINK
A trailing-link suspension uses two arms to sup
port the steering knuckle which trail from ahead of Figure 64. A trailing link front suspension has the apparent design
the knuckle (Figure 6-4). Since independent front advantage of improving the ride by pulling the wheels over the
suspensions for production cars were first devel bumps. This feature is negated on the overall picture by the prob
lem of camber loss during body roll, and by bending of the control
oped to improve ride quality and to reduce the arms during hard cornering.
space required for the suspension, early designs
tried to maximize these advantages. One of the
more popular configurations was the trailing-link Another problem with trailing-link front suspen
type of front suspension, like the one used on the sions is that the control arms need to be heavy in
Volkswagen Beetles. This design uses a minimum of order to absorb the bending forces. The arms also
space and offers the possible advantage of dragging require considerable frame structure ahead of the
the wheels over bumps, so that the suspension not front wheels, which increases total car weight.
only raises, but it also moves backwards. From a With these problems it is easy to see why trailing
ride standpoint, the trailing-link front suspension link front suspensions never became popular on
was a success. It offered a ride quality much better high performance cars. These same reasons are
than thought possible with a beam-axle, so the pro why this design of front suspension is also not seen
duction car manufacturers liked it. on any current production car.

Disadvantages
The trailing-link front suspension design was not STRUT
adapted to many high performance cars because The knuckle on a strut-type suspension is mount
there are serious design problems that show up dur ed on the shock absorber. Sometimes they are
ing hard cornering. When cornering loads are referred to as MacPherson struts (Figure 6-5). Strut
applied to the trailing links, they bend. Road irregu type front suspensions became popular on produc
larities cause various amounts of bending and the tion cars in the '70's because they offered a simple
result is severe vibration. This vibration shakes the and inexpensive configuration that doesn't take up
tires and wheels so the steering vibrates and the much space. It is particularly well-suited to front
tires don't adhere to the ground. wheel-drive production cars, because it allows room
Another problem with a trailing-link front suspen for the front drive-axle to pass through the front
sion is that the camber angle of the wheels changes hub. Most of today's small cars use this type of front
in relation to the ground when the car rolls during suspension, because it is inexpensive and gives a
cornering. This loss of camber angle severely fairly good ride quality with the compact dimen
reduces the cornering traction of the front tires, so sions needed for front-wheel-drive cars.
cornering speeds are reduced. With a trailing-link
front suspension, the swing arm length is infinitely Disadvantages
long and the roll center is at ground level. These fac Except where it might be required by the race
tors promote body roll and camber loss. sanctioning bodies in production-based classes,

40
 STRUT-TYPE FRONT SUSPENSION

ROLL
CENTER

Figure 6-5. Strut-type front suspensions are used on iront-uihe el-drioe cars because they provide room for the drive axle . The problem with
strut-type front suspensions is the need for a high cowl height, lack of room for large tires and limited camber gain.

such as Showroom Stock, it probably won't be used cost cars that offer high performance, but it is done
on many race cars. One of the problems with a strut to reduce cost, not for any handling advantages.
type front suspension on a race car is that there isn't
much room for wide tires and wheels without
increasing the scrub radius. Increasing the scrub EQUAL LENGTH DOUBLE A-ARM
radius causes a big increase in the side loading of The front knuckle on a double A-arm front suspen
the sliding members, which causes bending and sion is supported by a triangulated control arm at
higher friction loads. Another problem that con the top and at the bottom (Figure 6-6). Early ver
cerns racers is that there is little camber gain possi sions of double A-arm front suspension had equal
ble with this type of front suspension. This means length arms mounted parallel to the ground. With
that the outside tire will lose its camber angle to the this arrangement, the swing-arm length is infinitely
road as the car rolls during cornering. With a strut long and the roll center height is at ground level.
type front suspension, the swing arm length is rea Unfortunately for high performance handling, this
sonable and the roll center can be above the ground. system does not provide any camber gain, so the
It is interesting to note that even with favorable front tires lose camber as the body rolls and corner
design objectives for roll center height and swing ing power is lost.
arm length, the lack of sufficient camber gain keeps
this type of front suspension design from being suit
able for race cars. Advantages
Another problem with a strut-type front suspen A double A-arm front suspension design offers a
sion is that it requires a high cowl height to provide big advantage over the other types because it uses
sufficient room for the tops of the struts. This can rigid control arms to connect the front knuckles to
be a problem when building a low-profile race car. the frame. These arms prevent deflections during
Honda has quit using strut-type suspension on its hard cornering, which insures that the steering and
production cars for these same reasons. They the wheel alignment stay constant. The ride charac
apparently feel that it is worth the increased cost to teristics of a double A-arm front suspension are
equip their cars with the superior double A-arm type excellent, so most manufacturers of quality produc
of suspension. tion cars use this basic system. All that is needed to
Strut-type front suspension is used on some low- make double A-arm front suspensions satisfactory

41
 EQUAL LENGTH DOUBLE A-ARMS

CAMBER LOSS

,....-..;= ROLL ANGLE

Figure 6-6. Double A-arms are preferred, because they mount the wheel and hub on rigid arms, which do not deflect during hard corner
ing. The problem of equal length arms is that they do not pro vide any camber gain.

for high performance use is to find a way to get the suspension. Computer programs are available for
system to provide camber gain as the suspension quickly analyzing the variations, so in recent years
was compressed. This problem was solved by there has been more refinement in the application of
changing the length of the A-arms. double A-arm suspensions.
How long each A-arm should be, and what angle
the A-arms should be to the chassis for optimum
UNEQUAL LENGTH geometry, has been studied for over 50 years. Not
DOUBLE A-ARM everyone agrees on what the optimum values are,
The use of a longer, lower A-arm and a shorter, but Chapter 7 explains some of the considerations
upper A-arm provide a suspension geometry that involved. There is no right or wrong answer. The
causes the tires and wheels to gain negative camber bottom line is "whatever makes a car go around cor
as the suspension compresses (Figure 6-7). The rea ners fastest." Under some conditions, one arrange
son this happens is because the shorter upper arm ment might be better than another, and so each situ
will cause the top of the knuckle to pull inboard ation needs to be evaluated on its own merits.
faster than the longer lower arm moves the bottom
of the knuckle inboard. The advantage of this gain in
negative camber is that the camber angle between
the outside tire and the ground will not change too UNEQUAL LENGTH DOUBLE A-ARMS
much in relation to the ground during body roll. If
the outside tire is kept perpendicular to the ground, CAMBE R LOSS
it will develop its maximum cornering power, and ROLL ANGLE
the car will go around turns faster. Since there is lit
tle weight on the inside tire, the angle between it and
the road is of little concern.
With unequal length control arms mounted at var
ious angles to the ground, it is possible to design for
just about any roll center height and swing-arm
Figure 6-7. Unequal length control arms mounted at various angles
length. This flexibility in the design process gives a can provide a variety of roll center heights and swing-arm lengths.
chassis engineer many options on how to layout a The amount of camber gain is determined by the length of the
SWing arm and the height of the instant center.

42
 FRONT SUSPENSION
DESIGN
he facto rs involved in front suspension SUSPENSION GEOMETRY

T design include the components and their

arrangement on the chassis. All of these
factors are related, so each element must
be optimized on its own merits as well as to how it
fits into the system. The following specific design
All the factors that are involved in th e geometry of
an independent suspension system (front or rear) ,
make its study a complex problem. In order to
explain each element, and how it fits into the total
aspects are usually considered in laying out a new system, I will go through a design exercise.
front suspension. After the layout is established, it Hopefully, this step-by-step process will give an
can be analyzed with a computer program to deter overview, as well as consideration for each aspect in
mine how it will move throughout the suspension its own right.
travel. Unfortunately, the computer analysis won't Before starting a suspension design, it should be
tell us how well the suspension will work without understood that there are no absolutes. Each
interpreting the data. design factor must be evaluated as it fits into the

Front suspension design requires that you consider all components and their arrangement on the chassis. All factors are interrelated, so
each eleme nt must be optimiz ed on its own merits as well as to how it fits into the overall system. Photo by Michael Lutfy.

43
 DETERMINING LOCATION OF WHEEL AND TIRE ON FRONT SUSPENSION LAYOUT

TRACK
2

ROLLlNG~ RADIUS

Figure 7-1. A suspension is designed from the wheels inboard, so the first thin g to establish is the siz e and location of the wheels and tires.
You can use as much detail as yo u wish, but we /ik e to keep it to the minimum because of likely changes.

overall system. Every design decision is a compro that permit the knuckle to be placed inside the
mise based on several other factors. Over the past wheel. Wheels with the offset toward the outside of
30 years, most of the factors relating to independent the car might look trick, but they result in other sus
suspension design have been thoroughly tested and pension problems that overpower their good looks .
developed. The science has been researched and For our example, I am using a 60-inch track and
the results are pretty much agreed upon. Radical 10xlS-in. wheels with a 1.S0-in. positive offset. This
departures from proven practices will probably means that the wheel mounting surface will be 28.50
result in an ill-handling car. The values I will present inches from the centerline of the car. Ideally, we
in the following design exercise are ones that have would use a I.S0-in. negative offset , which would
been proven to work correctly. You can use other make the wheel mounting surface 31.S0 inches from
values on your car, but you should understand how the centerline of the car. The following discussions
these variations can affect your car's handling. will show why this would be preferred.
A car's suspension design starts at the tires and Our tire for this design study has a rolling radius of
wheels and moves inboard. The last thing that is 12.5 inches and a section width of 13.0 inches.
designed is the frame.
Front Track
Wheels, Tires & Offset The front track is usually determined by car width,
To start your design layout, you should first draw so put these dimensions on your layout. Obviously,
a front view of your wheel and tire setting on the the centerline of the car will be midway between the
ground (Figure 7-1). This is a simple matter of mea tire centerlines, so this dimension can also be put on
suring the wheel and tire in cross-section and trans the layout. If you are not required to run a given
ferring the dimensions and shape to the layout. track dimension by your racing rule book, you have a
Wheel offset, which is the distance of the wheel rim choice to make that involves some compromises. A
to the center of the mounting flange, is an important wider track will improve cornering power, because it
design dimension, so this should also be shown. If reduces weight transfer in the corners. Less weight
larger tires or wheels might be used, you should also transfer means that the tire loading will be more
show these on your layout. If you have a choice of equal and the cornering power will be greater.
wheel offset , it is a design advantage to use wheels Unfortunately, a wider track dimension will make the

44

Chart 7-1

BALL JOINT PIVOT LOCATIONS

Height from Offset from
Axle Center Wheel Surface
(inches) (inches)

Lower Ball Joint 5.75 below 3.75 inboard

Upper Ball Joint I' 5.75 above 5.50 inboard
Steering Ball Joint 5.25 below 3.50 inboard
Note: Figure 7-2 shows these dimensions added to the layout.

car wider and its frontal area will increase. A wider is an advantage to place the ball joints as far apart as
car can be more difficult to drive in heavy traffic, and possible. Any given load results in lower forces if
more frontal area causes more aerodynamic drag . If the spread between the points is increased. The lim
you run at low speed, and have plenty of room for itations for increasing the spread between the ball
maneuvering, a wider track will be an advantage. As joints is usually clearance between the joints and
mentioned, our sample layout shows a 60.0-inch the wheels and tires. The cast knuckle used in our
track, so the distance from the centerline of the tire example has been designed to allow placing the
to the centerline of the car will be 30.0 inches. joints inside a IS-in. wheel, so that the scrub radius
can be reduced if the proper wheel offset is used .
Knuckle Design The ball joint pivots on our sample knuckle are
The knuckle arrangement has a great deal of influ located as seen in Chart 7-1. Figure 7-2 shows the
ence on the total effectiveness of a suspension knuckle and ball joints added to the layout. If these
design. The knuckle determines the position of the ball joint locations are put on the layout, their coor
upper ball joint , the lower ball joint, and the steering dinates would be as listed in Chart 7-2.
ball joint in relation to the wheel and tire. For our
example I will use a cast stainless steel knuckle to King Pin Inclination & Scrub Radius
show how these factors interrelate. If you draw a line through both ball joints and
Ball Joint Heights-Since all the loads from the extend it to where it hits the ground plane, the king
wheel and tire must be fed into the chassis and con pin inclination is the angle that the ball joint line
trol arms through the upper and lower ball joints, it makes with the ground. Typically, this angle is

ESTABLISHING KNUCKLE AND BALL JOINT LOCATION

KNUC KLE

(
BALL JOINTS
h
)

SCRUBRAD~. ___
KING PIN INCLINATlDN ANGLE I
Figure 7-2. The knu ckle is really the key compon ent in a front suspensio n because it sets up where all the other comp onents will be. When
designing a front knuckle , it is best to keep the ball joints close to the wheel centerli ne to minimize the scrub radius.

45
 Chart 7-2

BALL JOINT LOCATIONS

Coordinates
X Direction Y Direction Z Direction
Longitudinal Height Distance
Distance Above From Car
From Front Ground Centerline
Axle Centerline (inches) (inches)
(inches)

Location

Lower Ball Joint -.100 6.75 24.75

Upper Ball Joint +.100 18.25 23.00
Steering Ball Joint -4.00 7.25 25.00

NOTE: The dimensions in the "X" coordinate are negative if they are ahead of the axle centerline .

This example shows some positive caster at design and the steering arm ahead of the axle.

between 5 and 10 degrees. The scrub radius is the king pin angle , the tire tends to flop from side to side
distance from the ball joint line to the centerline of as it is steered. This causes the tire contact patch to
the tire. There are significant handling and control run up the edge of the tire as it is turned. The above
advantages in reducing the scrub radius to the mini considerations and many experimental cars in the
mum. Any bump or cornering force that is applied past, have shown that the best compromise in king
to the tire can exert a twisting force on the steering pin angle is between 7 and 9 degrees (Figure 7-3).
that is proportional to the length of the scrub
radius . If the scrub radius was zero, these twisting Control Arm Length
forces would be zero. Cars with zero scrub radius Assuming you have established the tire /wheel ,
can usually be driven without pow er steering, knuckle and ball joint locations on the layout, the
because the twisting forces are gone and the tire length of the control arms is the next step in the
eas ily rotates about the steering axis . The factors design process.
that increase scrub radius are: positive wheel offset , Lower Control Arm-In general, it is best to make
wheel and tire width, brake rotor width and the the lower control arm as long as possible. This
design of the knuckle. If any of these components reduces the angularity the ball joint must accommo
can be made to minimize the scrub radius , there will date as well as slowing down angular change of the
be an improvement in handling, control and steering suspension members as they go through their trav
effort. el. Long control arms cau se clearance probl ems to
As can be seen on the layout, more king pin incli th e engine, exhaust, etc. , so again you ar e faced with
nation will also reduce the scrub radius . Increasing a compromise. Our example layout sh ows lower
the king pin inclination also helps to center the steer control arms 13.0 inches long, which is about the
ing, so why not use a lot of king pin angle ? The rea practical minimum for a suspension with 4.00 inches
son is another compromise s ituation. With excessive of jounce and rebound travel.

46
 ADDING CONTROL ARMS TO LAYOUT
CONTROL
ARMS

1------ SWING-ARM LENGTH

Figure 7-4. After the ball joint locations are establish ed, the control
arms can be added. Their location and length will determine the
camber gain, instant center location, and the movement of the
instant center as the suspension moves up and down.

provide a smooth wheel movement while controlling

the roll center location. Figure 7-4 shows the layout
with the control arms added.

Swing-Arm Length & Camber Gain

The swing arm length is the distance from the ball
joint line to where the upper and lower control arms
intersect. A longer swing-arm length results in
smooth wheel movement but less camber gain. A
Figure 7-3. This photo shows a cast stainless steel knuckle tucked shorter swing-arm length results in more camber
inside a wheel used on a NASCAR Winston Cup race car. With this
compact design, it would be possible to have even less scrub
gain but causes the wheel movement to become
radius if the wheel center was moved outboard. more erratic. Some enthusiasts might believe that a
shorter swing-arm length is better, but by stroking
the suspension through its travel, you can see the
Upper Control Arms---The length of the upper con error in this assumption. If you positioned your sus
trol arms can have a dramatic effect on the suspen pension at full jounce you would see that the swing
sion system because it controls the movement of the arm length would become very short. This is
roll-center during jounce and roll. In general, the because the upper arm is shorter, and its angle
upper control arm length will be between 50% and changes in jounce to move the intersection of the
80% of the length of the lower control arm. It is a arms closer and closer to the center of the car.
popular belief that a shorter upper control arm is an Numerous tests have shown that a swing-arm length
advantage because it results in a faster camber gain at a design ride height of between 100 and 150 inch
at full jounce. Since this condition is only one aspect es is a good compromise. Our example layout has a
of the suspension movement, it is a mistake to com swing-arm length of 124 inches at normal ride
promise the total suspension design for this small height. At full jounce (4.0 inches) the swing-arm
advantage. With computer analysis, it is possible to length reduces to just 30 inches. This means that at
make the upper control arm length exactly right so full jounce the front control arms are, in effect, giving
there is little change in the roll center location in us a swing-axle suspension (see page 39). Think what
either jounce or roll. Later in this chapter, I will would happen if we started with a swing- arm length
describe the use of computers in optimizing suspen of 60 in. At full jounce, our effective swing-arm would
sion geometry design. be less than 30 in. and the suspension would be just
For our sample layout, I have chosen an upper like the rear of an old Volkswagen. The maximum
control arm length of 7.00 inches. The combination amount of camber gain can be had with a swing-axle
of ball joint heights, tire diameter and lower control type suspension, but I don't know of any designers
arm length need this upper control arm length to who want to use this arrangement on the front of

47
 more confidence in the car's handling and be able to
CHANGE IN CAMBER AND SWING-ARM

LENGTH AT FULL BUMP TRAVEL

run faster.

CAMBER1
Front Suspension Pivot Points
GAIN
Now that the desired camber gain and roll center
heights have been determined, you can establish
the exact coordinates for the control arms. These
coordinates are needed to use a computer program
to study the suspension characteristics during
jounce and rebound travel. They are set in Chart 7-3.

ROLL CENTER HEIGHT CHANGE

SHORT
Figure 7-5. As the suspension compresses ooer a bump or in a UPPER
banked turn, the camber increases and the swing arm gets shorter. INSTANTCENTER
ARM

Both of these factors help to maintain the proper camber angle of AT RIDE HEIGHT
the outside wheel . Too short a swing-arm length can produce a
jacking effect just as it does on a swing-axle front suspension.

their cars, so why arrange the control arms to give INSTANTCENTER

-
"'- ROLL CENTER
IN BUMP HEIGHT CHANGE
these same characteristics? As I explained earlier,
suspension design is a compromise that requires
evaluation of all the factors. Some camber gain is
good, but that does not mean that more camber gain INSTANT CENTER
AT RIDE HEIGHT
is better. With the 124-inch swing-arm length used in
our sample layout, the camber gain is between .60
and 1.6 degrees per inch of jounce travel. At the full
jounce position, there is a camber gain of over 4 ' ROLL CENTER
degrees. Figure 7-5 shows how to determine swing "- INSTANT CENTER
HEIGHT CHANGE
IN BUMP
arm length and the camber gain.

Movement of Roll Center Figure 7-6. The roll center height can change as the suspension
As I explained previously, the roll center location moues if the lengths of the control arms are not properly matched.
can move both vertically and laterally if the upper A changing roll center height will mak e a car feel slightly unstable

control arm length is not correct (Figure 7-6). Since

the roll center height has an effect on body roll, and
on how much of the body roll is absorbed by the COMPUTER ANALYSIS OF
front suspension, it follows that if the roll center SUSPENSION GEOMETRY
height changes when the car hits a bump, or when The suspension pivot points established on the
the ride height changes on a banked turn , the driver layout can be fed into a computer program to ana
will notice a change in handling. If you keep the roll lyze how they interact as the suspension moves
center height constant throughout the suspension through its travel in jounce and rebound. It is inter
travel, the handling will be more consistent. The esting to note that there are only nine pivot points in
same is true for roll center location across the car. the entire suspension and steering system. From
Unless the upper control arm length is optimized, these nine points, the computer program can print
the roll center location will move laterally as the car out 10 pages of data (Figure 7-7). We will only show
experiences some roll angle. Again, if the roll center the first page here, but here is a list of the informa
is moving across the car during its travel around a tion that is also available.
corner, the driver will feel a change in handling. If Roll Angle of Car
you can eliminate unpredictable changes in the way Camber Angle of Both Wheels
a car feels on the road, you or the driver will have Roll Center Location Vertically & Laterally

48
 Chart 7-3

Coordinates
X Direction Y Direction Z Direction
Distance from
Front Axle Height above Distance from
Centerline Ground Car Centerline
(inches) (inches) (inches)
"

Lower Control Arm

Front Pivot -1.500 5.900 11.750
Rear Pivot +10.000 5.900 11.750
Ball Joint -100 6.750 24.750
Upper Control Arm
Front Pivot +.100 17.120 16.150
Rear Pivot +6.100 16.920 16.150
Ball Joint +.100 18.250 23.000
Tie Rod Inner Pivot -4.000 6.400 12.150
Tie Rod Outer Pivot -4.00 7.250 25.000
Wheel Center +.000 12.500 30.000

Each of these parameters is described with num you can see how the wheel position and geometry
bers for each 1/2 inch of wheel travel and each parameters change as the suspension is moved
degree of roll. All the numbers can be plotted on through its travel. Notice that there is data for
paper to determine what the suspension geometry wheel travel 4.00 inches up and 4.00 inches down.
is doing under almost any imaginable situation. The positive numbers indicate the bump direction ,
The computer program used for this example is or the wheel moving up in relation to the chassis.
available from: Peerless Engineering, 840 Dahlia , Caster Angle-As can be seen from the column of
Rochester Hills, MI 48307 (313) 651-5140. numbers , our design geometry starts with just less
than one degree of caster at ride height and increas
Analyzing the Data es to just over 1 1/2 degrees of caster at full com
Here is how I would analyze the printed data that pression. In rebound, it loses about 7/lOths of a
comes out of the computer shown in Figure 7-7. The degree of caster. The small amount of caster change
first line of data shows the computer calculated is a result of having the upper control arm pivots
dimensions that I selected on our sample layout. angled upwards at the front. We angled these pivots
Shown are the true lengths of the control arms , the to provide some anti-dive under braking, and the
scrub radius, the king pin angle and length , th e tie caster change is a by-product of this.
rod length and the track dimension. Although I had Although there is some change in caster, the total
all this data on the layout, this shows that the com amount is so small that you would normally ignore it
puter agrees, so there is no mix up in transferring for most high-performance applications. However,
the data. The computer data sheet is arranged so slight changes in caster can cause a change in

49
 SLAFRONT SUSPENSION GEOMETRY PROGRAM

F[LENAME = HLAST
DATA T[TLE = HLA SHORT TRACKII/
FORTH[S PROGRAM, X=AFT, Y=UP, Z=LEFT

TH[S [SA FRONT SUSPENSION W[TH THE WHEELS NOT DRIVEN

LOWER ARM COORDINATE ex, Y, Z) UPPER ARM COORD[NATES ex,Y, Z)
FRONT PIVOT = -1.500 5.900 11.750 .100 17.120 16.150
REAR PIVOT = 10.000 5.900 11.750 6.100 16.920 16.I50
BALL JOINT = -.100 6.750 24.750 .100 18.250 23.000
TIE ROD INNER PIVOT =-4.000, 6.400,12.150
TIE ROD OUTER PIVOT =-4.000,7.250,25.000
OTHER DES[GN PARAMETERS
JOUNCE TRAVEL = 4.000 CAMBER = .000 WHEELBASE = 101.000
REBOUND TRAVEL =-4.000 SLR= 12.500 C.G.HEIGHT = 18.000
% FRONT BRAKING = 60.000 WHL CNTR COORDINATES = 000 12.5000 30.150
LOWER ARM UPPER ARM SCRUB KINGPIN T[EROD TRACK
TRUE LENGTH TRUE LENGTH RAD[US ANGLE LENGTH
13.028 6.942 4.373 8.653 11.634 60.300

RADIUS R3 = 26.83
WHEEL CASTER CAMBER TIRE TOE-IN FRONT SIDE
TRAVEL ANGLE DEG. s.c:R!lli DEG. SWG...ARM SWG.ARM
4.000 1.591 -4.343 -.264 -.154 -32.55 499.25
3.500 1.520 -3.491 -.211 -.130 -36.55 471.54
3.000 1.449 -2.741 -.163 -.108 -41.31 449.11
2.500 1.376 -2.083 -.119 -.089 -47.09 430.60
2.000 1.302 -1.51 2 -.081 -.070 -54.28 415.01
1.500 1.228 -1.021 -.050 -.053 -63.54 401.65
1.000 1.152 -.607 -.025 -.035 -76.09 389.95
.500 1.075 -.267 -.008 -.018 -94.32 379.49
.000 .996 .000 .000 .000 -123.82 369.89
-.500 .917 .194 .000 .018 -181.35 360.83
-1.000 .836 .314 -.010 .037 -350.11 352.01
-1.500 .754 .356 -.029 .055 -45629.80 343.09
-2.000 .670 .313 -.057 .073 322.87 333.73
-2.500 .585 .174 -.096 .090 150.02 323.46
-3.000 .497 -.076 -.143 .105 91.38 311.67
-3.500 .406 -.463 -.199 .115 61.02 297.41
-4.000 .312 -1.031 -.263 .116 41.83 279.09

Figure 7-7. Here 's a sampling of a computer program available from Peerless Engineering that will enable you to see how the camber, toe,
caster and SWing arm length changes as the suspension moves through its trav el. It 's also possible to determin e roll center height, anti
dive , understeer, roll angle, and many other design parameters with the program.

50

handling on speedway racers, so it might be better Front-View Swing-Arm-The front-view swing-arm

to forego the anti-dive feature for this application. is the distance from the knuckle to where the upper
Camber Angle-The numbers shown indicate that and lower control arms would intersect if they were
our sample suspension design has a total camber projected far enough. The length of the front-view
gain of negative 4 degrees at the full bump of 4.00 swing-arm has a great influence on how much cam
inches. It should be noticed that the camber gain is ber gain the suspension has. A shorter front-view
progressive in that there is more gain between 3 and swing-arm results in more camber gain. If you want
4 inches of travel than there is between 0 and 1 inch the most possible camber gain, you could replace
es of travel. Most enthusiasts think that more cam your double A-arm suspension with a swing axle sus
ber gain is better. But, the data shows that camber pension. This computer data shows that at ride
gain keeps increasing as the springs are com height, the front-view swing-arm is 124 inches long.
pressed, so you can reach a point where the tire will At full bump, its length reduces to 32 inches. Since
be riding only on its inside edge. From a design this is about the length of a swing axle, all the prob
standpoint, cars that run on flat tracks can use more lems of a swing-axle suspension will result if a short
camber gain. Cars that run on banked tracks should er swing-arm length is chosen at ride height.
have less camber gain. Side-View Swing Arm-The side-view swing-arm is
The .amount of camber gain is dependent on the the distance from the knuckle to where the upper
roll center height and, more importantly, on the and lower control arms would intersect if they were
length of the front-view swing-arm. A higher roll cen projected far enough in the side-view. Since our
ter height can actually decrease camber gain, so you sample suspension design has very little anti-dive
can't just change the upper arm pivot location and built in, the length of the side-view swing-arm is
expect your car to corner better. The difference in quite long. As more anti-dive is used, the side-view
length between the lower and upper control arms swing-arm length decreases, and as we discussed
determines how progressive the camber gain is. A before, caster change will increase.
shorter upper arm will make the camber gain more Roll Center Height-Although not shown in Figure
progressive, but too short an upper arm will cause 7-7, our sample suspension design shows that th e
radical changes in the roll center location during roll center height is just below the road surface at
body roll and over bumps. ride height. As the suspension is compressed, the
Tire Scrub-This column of numbers indicates how roll center height decreases at about the same rate.
much the tire contact patch moves sideways as the This means that the height of the roll center does
suspension moves through its travel. Obviously, you not change much in relation to the rest of the chas
want as little tire-scrub as possible. sis. As discussed in Chapter 3, the roll angle of the
Toe Change-The computer measures toe-in in car is dependent on the distance from the roll center
degrees rather than in inches. Our sample suspen to the center of gravity. If this relationship stays
sion design shows a total toe-out of .154 degrees at 4 constant as the suspension is compressed (like dur
inches of bump. This converts to about .040 inches ing the banking on a high speed oval), the driver will
at full travel. The change in toe, as shown on the not notice a change in handling as he runs from the
computer sheet, is called bump steer. Bump steer is flat straightaway to the banked turns.
how much and in which direction the toe changes Reducing the distance between the roll center
during suspension travel , such as when going over a height and the center of gravity height will reduce
bump. If the outside front tire toes-out in bump, you the roll angle, which leads many racers to want to
have bump understeer. Generally, bump understeer raise the roll center. But a higher roll center causes
feels better to the driver because the car only turns jacking effects and erratic suspension movements.
as much as he tells it to . The amount of the toe In some cases, raising th e roll center height can also
change, and whether it is toe-in or toe-out, is deter reduce camber gain. Most successful cars have the
mined by the position of the inner tie rod pivot as roll center height between 1.00 inches below ground
compared to the tie rod pivots on the knuckle. What to 3.00 inches above ground, so I would recommend
should be noticed here is how accurately the com you stay in this range to keep all the compromises at
puter can determine changes in toe, without ever a reasonable level.
having to build and test the hardware.

51
Percent Anti-Dive-The computer data showed could check the bump steer.and it would closely
that the anti-dive values of our sample suspension agree with the computer data for change in toe.
range from 5% to 7%. As discussed previously, this Bump steer is how much and in which direction
is a slight amount, because we didn 't want to intro the toe changes during suspension travel. If a chas
duce any more caster change. Some production sis is designed and set up correctly, there should be
cars use as much as 30% of anti-dive because they very little bump steer. Even with a well-designed
want to keep softly sprung cars level during heavy chassis, small changes to steering component loca
braking. Most race cars are light enough and low tion can cause significant changes in bump steer. In
enough that they don't have a real need for anti-dive order to be sure your car is set up correctly, you
effects. Figure 7-8 shows a layout of the anti-dive might want to measure the bump steer. See Figure 7
geometry. 9 for how bump steer is determined on a layout.
Percent Understeer-e-l'ercent understeer is a calcu
lated factor that indicates how much the suspension Measuring Bump Steer
design and steering geometry will make the car want Since bump steer is the change in toe through sus
to understeer in the turns. Our sample suspension pension travel, you need a way to measure to e
design on the program (not shown) indicated about change at different wheel travel positions. You can
2% 'understeer, which is a small amount. From a buy a special fixture that makes this a simpl e opera
practical standpoint, this value is not important by tion, or you can improvise with a simple method
itself because it doesn't consider all the aspects of that delivers slightly less accurate results. Make
how the car is set up for high performance driving. sure the wheels are pointing straight ahead and that
the steering gear is in mid-position. This is impor
tant, because very small changes in the steering
pivot points can have significant effects on the
BUMP STEER bump steer characteristics. Place a piece of ply
Included in the computer analysis was data relat wood on edge against the front tire . With the sus
ing to the steering geometry of the design. The data pension at ride height, the board should touch both
showed that the total change in toe-out for the full the front and the rear edge of the tire . Remove the
4.00 inches of bump travel was only .040 inches. In springs and use a jack to move the suspension into
the full rebound travel of 4.00 inches, the toe-out the bump position. When the bottom of the board is
was less than .030 inches. From a design standpoint, kept stationary on the ground, you can tell any
this would be considered a pretty good layout. If the change in toe by looking at how well the top of the
parts were all made to the exact dimensions, you board aligns with the front and rear edge of the tire.

FRONT ANTI-DIVE GEOMETRY

HEIGHT OF CENTER
OF GRAVITY

1---- - - - LENGTH O F - - - - - - - _
INSTANT CENTER
WHEELBASE - - - - - - - - - - . 1

Figure 7-8. The arrangement of the control arms in the side view determines the anti-dive characteristics of the front suspension. The com
puter data in Figure 7-7 of our sample suspension shows anti-dive between 5 and 7 percent. We wouldn't want to go any higher because
we don 't want to have any more of a change in caster for this application.

52
 ~ . ....
.. '

r . ,.
;;.

v,
: .. : ....
,

The maximum anti-dive on street cars is usually less than 30 percent, to keep them level during heavy brakin g. But many race cars use
zero anti-dive, because they have such a low center of grav ity. Photo by Michael Lutfy.

If there is a .030-inch air gap at the rear of the tire, Exactly how much bump st eer you need on your
your car has this amount of bump st eer, and it's in car is like most suspension settings-a compromise.
the understeer direction. It is common to set the bump steer so th at th e front
The same basic process is used with professional whe els toe-out on a bump. This will make th e car
bump steer equipment, but of course the results are feel more stable, because th e car will not turn any
much more accurate. See Figure 7-10 for how to mor e than the driver asks . To understand this
measure bump steer on a car. effect , picture what would happen if your car had
toe-in on bump. As the driver would start a turn, he
Bump Steer Amount & Direction would feed in a certain amount of steering angle. As

LAYOUT OF STEERING TIE RODS FOR ZERO BUMP STEER

TIE ROD PIVOT ON FRAME

Figure 7-9. The amount and dire ctio n of the bump steer is contro ll ed by the location of the steering ti e rods in relatio n to the contro l arms.
With a computer, we can design for zero bump steer or any amount in either directio n.

53
the car built up g-forces, the chassis would roll and the lower arm, the top of the knuckle moves in a
the outside suspension would compress in the tighter radius than the bottom of the knuckle. By
bump direction. If the car had toe-in on bump, the placing the steering inner pivot at exactly the cor
front wheels would start to turn more than the driv rect position, it is possible to make the wheels go
er asked and his turn radius would get tighter. This through their travel with no change in steering
would require the driver to make a correction and angle . This would be zero bump steer and there
upset the car's smooth approach into the turn. The would be no toe change. By moving the steering piv
outside tire is considered in this analysis because it ots, it is possible to change the amount of bump
carries most of the weight in a turn. steer and the direction of the bump steer from toe
Assuming that your car has the bump steer set so in to toe-out.
that there is toe-out in the bump direction, the next Rate of Change-It is also possible to adjust the rate
consideration is how much toe-out. If the car has too of change of bump steer. If the inner steering pivot is
much toe-out in bump, the steering can become too far inboard (a longer tie rod), the rate of change
imprecise, because the suspension will tend to of toe-out will be reduced. For each suspension lay
negate what the driver is doing with the steering out, there is an ideal length tie rod that will give the
wheel. Also, if there is too much bump steer, the car correct rate of toe change. This length is usually
will dart around going down the straightaway. A rea established by the chassis builder, so you shouldn't
sonable amount of bump steer would be in the range have to consider its effects unless you are the chas
of .010 to .020 per inch of suspension travel. sis builder, or if you have difficulty getting your
bump steer adjusted . On a car that has the steering
How to Adjust Bump Steer gear ahead of the front suspension with the correct
On a typical double A-arm suspension, the knuck length tie rod by design, more toe-out will result in
le moves in radii set up by the length of the control bump if the inner steering pivot is raised or if the
arms. Since the upper arm is usually shorter than outer steering pivot is lowered. These adjustments
are the ones normally used to adjust bump steer.
Each chassis has its own adjustment characteris
tics , but the concept will be the same.
Bump steer has a big influence on the driver's abil
ity to control the car, so it is an important part of the
design and setup of your suspension.

Figure 7-10. Regardless of how well the steering gear and linkage
gear are designed, it is a good idea to check the actual bump steer
on the finish ed car. Bump steer can be measured by observing
how much the toe changes as the suspension is moved up and
down. Place a flat board again st the tire (in this case we used a
creeper) , then tak e a j ack and lift the wheel assembly up and
down. By looking closely at the two photos, you can see the
amount of toe change.

54
 BUILDING A FRONT
SUSPENSION
v
e have discussed most of the design leading edge of the available technology. Which

W aspects of a front suspension, but

engineering evaluation and analysis
doesn't stop there. In assembling the
components for a front suspension, you have to
evaluate each piece to determine if it is strong
compound and construction to use is best decided
after testing.

Wheels
In order to reduce your car's front scrub radius,
enough to suit your needs while at the same time you should use wheels with zero or negative offset.
providing the lightest possible weight. This is obvi Zero offset means that the mounting surface of the
ously a compromise that is complicated by th e fact wheel is on the same centerline as the tire. Since a
that you really don't know if any given piece will be lO-inch wide wheel is really 11.0 inches across the
strong enough until it is tested. This is where expe flanges, the backspacing for zero offset wheels is 5.50
rience becomes so valuable. If parts are known to inches. Backspacing is the distance from the wheel
survive the rigors of endurance racing, such as a mounting surface to the innermost flange edge.
SOO-mile event, then you can use them with confi If you had a wheel with 1.00 inch of negative offset
dence in your car. (mounting surface outboard of the wheel centerline)

Tires
The tires have more effect on how well a
car handles than any other component asso
ciated with the front suspension. Because
they have such a big effect, their perfor
mance characteristics are cov
ered in Chapter 1. We use
Goodyear tires for our test and
development because they are
"state-of-the-art." Goodyear's
ongoing racing research and
development work assures that
their tires are always at the

You can design the perfect suspension

for your car on pap er, but even the best
design won 't be enough to overcome
the faults of weak materials.
Suspension components, especially
those used for racing purposes, must be
strong yet lightweight. If you use com
ponents known to withstand the rigors
of racing, especially enduran ce events, .
then you can use them with confidence
on your car. Photo by Michael Lutfy.

55

 MEASURING WHEEL OFFSET AND BACKSPACE

BACK

~OFFSET

This knuckl e is made from cast stainless steel, which results in a

lightweight part that is quite rigid and compact. The hub is made
from 4130 billet steel and heat-treated for improved strength.

Figure 8-1. This diagram shows the relation of the wheel dim en Knuckle & Hub Assembly
sions commonly used in the aftermarket industry. Note that the
overall width of a typical wheel is 1.00 in. larger than the tread
In order to save front-end weight, I recommend the
width because of the flanges. use of a newly designed knuckle and hub made from
cast stainless steel. This material provides excellent
the backspacing would be 6.50 inches. Figure 8-1 strength, and because it can be cast in thin sections,
shows where wheel offset and backspacing are mea it is possible to design it for rigidity and lightweight.
sured from. A complete knuckle-and-hub assembly with bear
Three-piece component wheels allow for building ings and seals weighs about 18 lbs . This knuckle
a wheel with varying amounts of offset, so these are design allows you to place the hub further inside the
preferred. Three-piece wheels are also usually the wheel, reducing the scrub radius and improving
lightest and the most expensive. If your budget dic steering precision.
tates steel wheels or cast aluminum wheels, you can Mounting brackets are incorporated in the cast
still measure different types to find the wheel offset knuckle for the brake calipers and for the cooling
you need. hose fitting. Dual steering arms are also incorporat
ed, so it can be used on either front-steer or rear
steer front suspension. This provision also allows it
to be used on either the right side or the left side.
The knuckle and hub shown in our example nearby
is available from: VSE, 23865 Fairfield, Carmel, CA
93923, (408) 649-8423.

Wheel & Brake Pilots

Because the front hubs rotate inside the front
knuckle, a one-piece wheel-pilot, wheel-spacer and
brake rotor mounting hat can be used . This part
simplifies the design and saves a little weight.
Various wheel offsets and track dimensions are pos
sible with changes in how deep the machining for
Using three-piece wheels allows for the flexibility to build wheels
with a variety of diameters, widths and offsets. The current selec the hub pocket is made. Any diameter rotor pilot
tion of wheels available are lightweight, attractive and expensive. can also be machined on the same basic casting.

56
 j1

This one-piece aluminum pilot serves three functions; as a wheel

pilot, brake rotor pilot, and wheel spacer. The thickness of the
spacer can be machined to provide custom wheel locations.

Control Arms
The construction of the upper and lower control
arms should be done with consideration for making
them as rigid as possible. The ball joints should be
proven components and their attachment to the
arms should be secure. A previous chapter
explained the importance of controlling bushing
deflections and their effects on handling.
Mounting-When mounting the control arms to the
chassis, it is important that the brackets be made
rigid. Any flexing of the control arm brackets will
result in deflection and/or vibrations when the con
trol arms are loaded during hard cornering. It is also
important that the whole front of the frame doesn't Coil-over springs and shocks are popular because they are simple
and lightweight. They also provide some adjustment which makes
deflect under loading, so care must be taken to fully turning easier.
triangulate this structure. Chapter 12 explains how
to build a rigid frame structure.
Springs/Shocks/Jounce Bumpers
From the sample design layout in Chapter 7, you
know that you need 5.00 inches of shock travel to
give 8.0 inches of wheel travel. This results in
shocks with an extended length of 16.0 inches.
These units are available in various dampening lev
els, and can be had with rod-end attachments at
both ends. Shocks should feature a gas-cell design
to prevent fade under racing conditions. The shocks
can also be supplied with coil-over springs in vari
ous rates , so you can test to determine the optimum
setup for your car.
Good shocks should also include a jounce
bumper, which is really a variable-rate spring that
lets you run a soft suspension spring rate for maxi
mum road-holding. With the use of a jounce bumper,
Fabricating control arms from steel tubing is common practice. It the suspension won't bottom out under severe
results in strong and rigid parts that can be built to almost any bumps, because its variable-rate feature comes into
design requirement.
playas the suspension is compressed. A jounce

57
bumper can increase th e ability of asuspension to
absorb a severe bump while retaining a soft spring
rate under normal conditions.
Note that a much higher spring rate would be
required to prevent bottoming out if a jounce
bumper was not used . Also note that the jounce
bumper does not come into action until the suspen
sion has already compressed.

Because of the very large forces that can be generated by a worm

and-sector steering gear, it is very imp ortant to provide rigid frame
members to suppo rt the gear. If the fram e bends when the steering
is turned, the driver will not get an accurate feel for how the car is
handling. This photo shows proper mounting.

result in a small amount of understeer. This han

dling condition is easier for a driver to adjust to, so
It is very impo rtant to provide a rigid mounting for any steering
gear. Any movement of the steering gear will result in imperfect he will feel more comfortable with front steer.
feedback to the driver, and the car wi ll feel difficult to control. Rack & Pinion vs. Worm & Sector-If both steering
systems are rigid enough to handle the loads
Steering System applied to them, there should be no difference in
The steering system on any car has a big effect on driver feel between a rack-and-pinion steering box
how comfortable a driver will feel while driving "at and a worm-and-sector box. Each is just a gearbox,
the limit." It is important to have a very precise so if the lash is properly adjusted, one won't be any
steering system. There are a number of areas to con better than the other. Rack-and-pinion steering can
sider when selecting a good steering system. save about 50 lbs. over a worm-and-sector system,
Front vs. Rear Steer-Front steer means the steer so this is why it is used more often.
ing arms are ahead of the axle centerline, and rear Steering Gear Mountings-Regardless of whether
steer means they are behind it. If all the compo you have front steer or rear steer; manual or power;
nents in the steering system, including the frame rack-and-pinion or worm-and-sector; the rigidity of
mounting, were made rigid and free of play, it would your steering gear mounts is extremely important. If
not matter whether a car had front or rear steer. The your rack-and-pinion uses rubber mounting insula
driver input and response would be the same. tors, replace them with solid ones. If your frame
In the real world, however, components are not flexes where the gear is mounted, reinforce it.
always free of play, and they bend or deflect when Whenever the steering gear can move under load
they are subject to load . These deflections can have ing, the car will react differently from what the driv
a significant effect on how the car reacts to the driv er expects, and he will not be comfortable driving it
er's input. Understanding how these deflections can at the limit.
affect the car's steering response is the secret to You can test the rigidity of your car's steering gear
making your car feel comfortable during cornering. mounting by turning the steering from lock-to-lock
In general, a front-steer car will be more comfortable while the car is parked on the concrete. If the frame
to drive, because any deflection of the control arms bends and the steering gear moves under loading,
(which are higher loaded than the steering gear) will you need more rigid mountings.

58
Like most pans of a high performance car, the effectiveness of a stabiliz er bar system is dependent on the rigidity of the mountings and
linkages that connect it to the suspension.

arm will be twice as stiff as a bar with a 12.00-inch

Stabilizer Bar & Linkage lever arm. The practical limit on shortening the
In order to take advantage of soft spring rates and lever arm length is about 6.00 inches. Any shorter,
a low roll center, your front suspension will need a and the angularity of the linkage system will not
very effective front stabilizer bar to limit the roll allow full suspension travel.
angle. Limiting the roll angle will also reduce the Links & Mounts-The stiffest stabilizer bar will not
need for excessive camber gain, so you will be able be effective if its links and mounts are not rigid and
to use a long swing arm length. A long swing arm tight. Any movement of the bar that is not immedi
length will give smooth and consistent transitions. ately transferred to the suspension will be lost and
There are four factors that are important in building the bar will not be effective. Use tie-rod ends for
an effective front stabilizer bar. your linkage, and mount the bar to the frame with
Bar Diameter-The torsional stiffness of a stabilizer aluminum blocks and nylon sleeves.
bar increases with the diameter to the 4th power Mounting Location on Control Arm-Just as the
(see page 15). This means that a l.OO-in. dia . bar will wheel rate-to-spring rate ratio is determined by
be 16 times as stiff as a 1/2-in. dia. bar. You can also where the spring acts on the control arm, the effec
use a 1 1/2-in. dia . bar made from 1/4-inch wall tub tiveness of the stabilizer bar is also dependent on
ing, which is lightweight yet offers good stiffness. It where the link attaches to the arm. The front stabi
is also easy to fabricate. lizer bar's effectiveness is increased as the link
Lever Arm Length-The torsional stiffness of a sta mounting point is moved closer to the lower ball
bilizer bar increases as the lever arm length is short joint. Mount yours as close as is practical to make
ened. This means that a bar with a 6.00-inch lever your total system as effective as possible.

59
 LIVE AXLE REAR
SUSPENSION DESIGN
tI
live axle rear suspension is one where advantage for an independent rear suspension. In

A both rear wheels are mounted on a rigid

axle. Because the whole axle moves as a
unit, and because it moves whenever
either wheel hits a bump, it is called a live axle. Live
rear axles are used on front-wheel-drive cars and on
the 1980's, the SCCA allowed its Trans-Am cars to
run either a live axle or an independent rear suspen
sion. The cars raced on relatively smooth tracks
and there was no apparent performance advantage
. for cars with independent rear suspension.
rear-wheel-drive cars. Obviously, a differential is
needed on a rear-wheel-drive car (Figure 9-1). Disadvantages
The major disadvantage of a live axle is its inabili
Advantages ty to allow each rear wheel to follow the contours of
The advantages of a live axle are simplicity and a rough road. Most of this inability comes from the
rigidity. This translates into less cost and an easier unsprung weight of the differential. Some cars use a
installation. The other advantage of live axle rear de Dion rear suspension, which is a live rear axle
suspensions is that they have been around longer, with U-jointed drive axles, so the differential can be
so there is more information available on how to mounted on the chassis to solve this problem
make them work correctly. A well-designed and (Figure 9-1A). This system is even more complex
well-developed live axle will beat a poorly designed than a regular independent rear suspension, so it is
independent rear suspension, even on rough roads. not widely used. While a live axle rear suspension
On smooth roads, it is usually difficult to see any might not be the best textbook solution, it can be

In the 1980s, SCCA rules in the Trans-Am series allowed for the use of either a liv e axl e or independent rear suspension. At smooth tracks,
such as the now-defunct Riverside Raceway in California, cars equipped with IRS did not appear to have any performance advantage.
Photo by Michael Lutfy.

60

 LIVE AXLE ARRANGEMENT

DE DiaN TUBE

TOP VIEW

FRONT VIEW

DIFFERENTIAL

;I
Figure 9-IA. A de Dian rear suspension is basically a liv e rear axle
with U-jointed drive axles, so the differential can be mounted on
the chassis. The complex ity of this system, howev er, mak es it
SIDE VIEW impractical for high performance use.

Figure 9-1. A live axle is really a beam axle at the rear that
includes the differential. It is called "li ve" because the whole unit Lateral Control & Roll Center Height
bounces in its entirety in relation to the fram e. Although it is a sin Lateral control is simply how the rear axle is kept
gle device, there are a variety of ways to connect it to the chassis.
in side-to-side alignment with the chassis as the rear
suspension moves through its travel. There are a
made to work very well on smooth roads. And, number of ways to provide this control, and the fol
because it has been so well developed , you can lowing are some of the more popular ones.
install one without too much trouble. Panhard Bar-A Panhard bar is simply a link
between the axle and the frame which controls the
side-to-side location of the rear axle. The advan
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS tages of a Panhard bar are that it is simple, effective
Before discussing the various types of live rear and lightweight. The disadvantages are that it must
axle suspensions and their advantages and disad be as long as possible to minimize the slight side-to
vantages, let's first evaluate the design criteria, side variations that result from the arc scribed by
which will help make selection easier. There are a the bar (Figure 9-2). This slight variation has no real
variety of ways to design a rear suspension using a adverse effect on the car's cornering capability, but
live axle. the driver does feel it so it can affect his perfor
mance. When a long Panhard bar is used, it must go

AXLE SIDEWAYS MOVEMENT

WITH PAN HARD BAR

TOP VIEW

FRONT VIEW

SIDE VIEW Ir~~~~~f111

PANHARD bAR

Figure 9-2. One of the ways to locate a live rear axle in the chassis When using a long Panhard bar with extended bracketry, you must
is with a Panhard bar. One end of the bar atta ches to the axl e mak e sure the brackets are strong, rigid and yet lightw eight. This
housing and the other end is connected to the frame. This is a sim means using high quality materials and inv olves excellent fabrica
ple and effective solution and the slight sideways motion is not a tion sk ills. Also, the bar should be mounted as Iow an the axle as
problem if the bar is kept as long as possibl e. possible, to achie ve a low rear roll center.

61
 AXLE SIDEWAYS MOVEMENT

WITH WATTS LINKAGE

TOP VIEW

FRONT VIEW
WATT'S LINKAGE

Figure 9-3. A Watt's link provides stra ightl ine, vertical movement between the axle housing and the fram e, This precision means a more
comp lex system that is probably not much of an improvement over a simp le Panhard bar.

around the differen tia l, and this requires extended large rod-end joint at the axle, because it alone must
bracketry. Making these brackets strong, stiff and carry the loads, especially when in bending. This
lightweight is an engineering problem. arrangement is good from the design standpoint if
The roll center of a rear suspension that uses a you can make all the parts strong enough.
Panhard bar is at the height where the bar attaches Lower Angle Arms-The same geometry and con
to the axle. A lower roll center at the rear makes a trol characteristics of a lower A-arm can be achieved
car handle more consistently, so I recommend by using two lower arms angled to meet at the axle
mounting the bar as low as possible. centerline (Figure 9-5 & 9-6) .
Watt's Linkage-A Watt's link eliminates the slight The advantage of this system is that the rod ends
side-to-side variations that happen with a Panhard are loaded in shear rather than in bending. This sys
bar (Figure 9-3). Because a Watt's link gives straight tem also provides some opportunity to adjust the
line control of the axle, it is a better system from a height of the rear roll center.
design standpoint.
However, it is a more complex system, and Bump & Roll Steer
because the roll center height is at the main pivot Bump steer and roll steer are really the same
point, it is more difficult to arrange the mechanism thing. What they refer to is the amount and direc
at the best height. It is also more difficult to change tion that the rear axle might cause the car to steer as
the rear roll center height because the whole mech
anism must be moved. If the Watt's link is mounted
behind the axle, the bracketry must be very strong SINGLE LOWER A-ARM FOR
SIDEWAYS AXLE LOCATION
and stiff to absorb the loads without bending.
Remember the loads on any rear axle lateral control
TOP VIEW
system can be over 2000 lbs ., with peak loads as
high as 10,000 lbs .
Lower A-Arm-One way to provide lateral control of
FRONT VIEW
the rear axle is to replace the normal lower control
SIDE VIEW
arm with a larger lower A-arm (Figure 9-4) . This
design gives the axle straight-line location, while
providing some of the linkage needed to locate the
axle fore and aft. It provides a low roll center, Figure 9-4, The rear axle housing can be located sideways to the
frame by using a single large A-arm as one of the fore-aft links.
although it does not allow for changing the height of This is a simple and effectiv e system, but it requires a very large
the roll center easily. This design requires a very joint at the axle housing to absorb the cornering forces.

62
 left as the body rolls to the right and vice-versa. On
a left turn, the body of the car will roll to the right.
With the correct rear suspension geometry, this
should cause the axle to point to the left, which will
make the car turn right. This is called roll understeer,
because it makes the car turn less as the body rolls.
With roll oversteer, the car would turn more as the
body rolls, and the two factors would augment each
other to the point where the driver would have to
steer away from the turn to keep on his intended
path. In general, a rear suspension will have roll
understeer if the roll axis tilts down at the front
(Figure 9-7).
Figure 9-5. This photo shows the use ofangled lower arms to locate Rear Axle Steering & Alignment-The alignment
an axle housing sideways in the car. This system is simple and and steering characteristics of a car's rear axle can
lightweight. Various versions of this basic system are used on
many production cars. have a dramatic effect on how the car handles and
on how well it gets the power to the ground. If you
it moves through its travel. Even slight changes in have ever driven a forklift truck or if you have tried
the alignment of the rear axle will cause big changes to race in reverse gear, you know first-hand how sen
in the direction the car will go. The preferred design sitive a vehicle is to changes in the steering angles
characteristics are very little roll steer, and if there and alignment of its rear wheels. Just because your
is any, it should be in the understeer direction. To car has a heavy-duty solid axle doesn't mean that
accomplish this, it is necessary to arrange the rear the rear wheels don't steer your car. It is normal for
suspension links so that the rear axle points to the rear-wheel toe-in and camber to change between

TWO ANGLED ARMS FOR

SIDEWAYS AXLE LOCATION

~-----+-~--+--TOP VIEW

FRONT VIEW

() ()
SIDE VIEW

Figure 9-6. The use of angled lower arms serves the same functi on as a large low er A-arm except it can be done with simple parts. The
advantage of two angled lower arms instead of a large A-arm is it eliminates the need for a large high-strength joint at the axle housing.

63
 raise the rear of the car will need to have an equal
REAR SUSPENSION TO and opposite force pushing against the pavement,
PROVIDE ROLL UNDERSTEER you can use anti-squat to increase the tire loading
during acceleration. If anti-squat can increase the
tire loading without adding to the weight that must
- --Htt-+ TOP VIEW be pulled around the corner, you will have more
available cornering power at the rear of the car.
With more cornering power at the rear, the driver
FRONT VIEW can get on the throttle sooner without oversteer.
This will result in faster cornering, so having more
anti-squat characteristic is desirable.
SIDE VIEW Calculating Anti-Squat-You can determine the
amount of anti-squat your suspension has by mak
ing a scale drawing like the one shown in Figure 9-8.
Figure 9-7. By angling the effective control arm system in the side You can determine the fore-aft location of your car's
view , it is possible to steer the rear axle as the body and chassis
rolls in relation to the axle housing. It is usually best to make the center of gravity by measuring the front and rear
rear axle steer to the left on a left-hand turn, because this mak es weight. It is more difficult to find the height of the
the car turn less for roll-understeer.
center of gravity, so for most analysis, it is accept
able to assume a known center of gravity height
one and two degrees as a car moves down the road. based on other cars. Production cars usually have
The basic problem is that the solid rear axle is not the center of gravity between 20 and 22 inches
really rigid. The rear axle housing can flex just like above ground. A typical oval short-track race car
any other member. If you recognize that the flex will have its center of gravity between 18 and 20
problem exists, you can take its effect into consider inches above ground. The wheelbase dimension
ation when designing and setting up your car. and the locations of all the rear suspension pivot
The best rear suspension design is only effective if points can be determined by measuring your car. Be
all the parts are strong and rigid enough. Any deflec sure to put them on your drawing to scale so the
tions, or looseness of the parts, will have a greater relationships remain true. After the points are
effect on the car's handling than will its design established, connect the control arm pivots and
geometry. extend the lines forward. Where the upper and the
lower arm lines intersect is the instant center of the
Anti-Squat rear suspension in the side view. The instant center
When a car accelerates forward, there is weight is that point around which the linkage can be
transfer from the front of the car to the rear. This assumed to react. This point changes as the sus
weight transfer is dependent on the weight of the pension moves up and down, but at any given
car, the height of the center of gravity and on the instant, this is its effective center. If this point is on a
length of the wheelbase. Because of the springs, the line connecting the rear tire contact point with a
weight transfer can often be seen at the rear of the point where the center of gravity height meets the
car as it "squats" during hard acceleration. front axle centerline, your car has 100%anti-squat; if
It is possible to arrange the rear suspension links the intersect point is below this line, you have less
so that the driving force of the rear axle counteracts than 100% anti-squat; and if the intersect point is
this squatting force. This characteristic is called above this line, you have more than 100%anti-squat.
anti-squat. Anti-squat can counteract the squat force The amount of anti-squat is proportional to the
to keep the rear of the car level, and it can be made height above and below the 100% line.
strong enough to actually raise the rear of the car Chart 9-1 is an example of how anti-squat would
during acceleration. An example would be most change rear tire loadings, cornering power, and trac
drag race cars, which have enough anti-squat char tion available for acceleration. You can see that if
acteristics built in to actually raise the rear of the the rear tire loading can be increased with anti-squat
car under acceleration. Because any force that can effects, there will be more rear tire traction available

64
 Chart 9-1
Without Anti-Squat With Anti-Squat
Left Right Left Right
Rear Rear Rear Rear

Static Weight on Tires 750 750 750 750

3000 Ib car
)I
50% weight
on rear _
50% left side weight

Weights Due to Cornering 250 1250 250 1250

Load Weight Transfer
C.G. Height: 20 in

Track Width: 60 in

Cornering at 1.0 gs

Weights Due to Acceleration 400 1400 400 1400

Induced Weight Transfer
C.G. Height: 20 in.

Wheelbase: 100 in

Acceleration of .50 gs

Weights Due to Anti-Squat 400 1400 500 1500

Effect
Assume 200 Ibs.

Tire Traction 600 1200 700 1250

Available
From Sample Tire Curve
page 2

Total For Rear of Car 1800 1950

Tire Traction Needed

to Corner at 1.0 gs 1500lbs 1500lbs

Tire Traction Available

for Acceleration 300 450

65
Most drag racing cars have enough anti-squat characteristics built into their car that the rear actually raises under acceleration. Photo by
Michael Lutfy.

for acceleration coming out of the corners. This swing arm of the rear suspension is too short, rear
means that the car will be able to use more throttle axle hop during braking becomes a problem.
without inducing power oversteer. The advantage of When the swing arm gets short, the axle housing
using anti-squat to tune corner exit handling is that torque needed to resist the braking forces can raise
it does not require losing any corner entry speed to the rear wheels off the ground. If the wheels are off
achieve it. All racers know that the sooner the driv the ground, the brake forces go to zero and the
er can put the power to the ground coming out of a wheels return to the ground. This violent cycling,
corner, the faster the car will be down the straight off and on, produces brake hop. Based on our expe
away. Using anti-squat allows this to happen sooner. rience, a swing-arm length of at least 42 inches is
The type of rear suspension and its adjustment needed to prevent rear axle hop. As Figure 9-9
determines how much anti-squat a car has. shows, this swing-arm length also restricts how
much anti-squat can be had.
Swing-Arm Length & Brake Hop
In attempts to gain more and more anti-squat, it
soon becomes apparent that the effective swing-arm TYPES OF LIVE AXLE REAR
length of the rear suspension will become shorter SUSPENSION
and shorter. Like most adjustments on a car, you Now that we've established our design require
reach a point of compromise. When the side-view ments, let's take an indepth look at the types of live

66
 ANTI-SQUAT OF REAR SUSPENSION

LESS
ANTI
SQUAT

Figure 9-8. The location of the instant center of the rear control arm in the side vi ew determines how much anti-squat the rear suspension
has. More anti-squat permits the driver to apply the throttle sooner coming off a corner.

axle rear suspension to see how well they meet this Many cars do not have room to position the springs
criteria. Anyone of the following types can be in their proper location and this limits their applica
designed to provide satisfactory results. Usually, tion in favor of other configurations.
the quality of the design and installation is more Adding Spring Leaves-Since rear leaf springs are
important to the quality of handling than the type of also used to transmit acceleration and braking
rear suspension used. forces, their positioning and configuration is critical.
These forces cause the axle housing to twist, and in
Hotchkiss Drive doing this the leaf springs tend to wrap up and dis
A Hotchkiss drive rear suspension is one where a tort. To counteract this condition, it is necessary to
longitudinal leaf spring is used on each side of the increase the number of leaves or the thickness of
car to locate the rear axle (Figure 9-10). These the leaves to give the spring enough stiffness to
springs also support the rear vehicle weight, so it is resist these forces. Unfortunately, adding leaves or .
a very simple system. Since it is a carryover from making them thicker also increases the spring rate.
the horse-and-buggy days, it has been well devel To solve this conflict, leaves can be added only at
oped over the years. In 1970, Chevrolet found that the front of the leaf spring to provide the spring with
placing one of the shocks ahead of the axle and plac the stiffness it needs in the front half to resist the
ing one of them behind it would eliminate torque axle torque reaction, while not increasing the spring
induced wheel hop under acceleration and braking. rate as much as if a full leaf was used . Most leaf
This fairly recent development has allowed the springs on high performance cars have extra leaves
Hotchkiss drive to stay relatively current. The only on the front of the spring for these reasons.
major disadvantages of a Hotchkiss drive rear sus Spring Eye Height-The height of the front spring
pension are the weight and size of the leaf springs. eye primarily determines how much anti-squat the

67
 SWING ARM LENGTH AND BRAKE HOP

i
BRAKE HOP FORCE

Figure 9-9. Shortening the swing arm increases the force to pull the rear wheel off the ground for a given axle torque during braking.

rear suspension will have. The higher the spring be mounted behind the axle. Under extreme condi
eye, the more anti-squat. Generally, heights tions, traction bars and/or telescoping brake rods
between 10 and 15 inches above ground give the can be used to provide additional torsional control
best results. If you get the front spring eye too far off of the axle on a Hotchkiss drive rear suspension.
the ground, you will get brake hop, so there are lim Leaf Spring Bushings-The design and materials
its. If you are building a new chassis, make the front used for leaf spring bushings is an important con
spring eye height adjustable, so you can tune your sideration when selecting them for your application.
chassis in this area. The height of the rear spring For normal use, the stock-type rubber bushings are
eye also affects anti-squat, but to a much lesser best. High-performance driving can be improved
extent. Adjustable-length rear shackles usually allow with a spherical bearing in the front spring eye.
for fine-tuning the anti-squat and the ride height. Under no circumstances should you use urethane
Because of the stiffness of the leaf springs in the lat bushings on the front spring eye, as they will bind up
eral direction, it is unnecessary to use a Panhard bar and prevent the body from rolling in relation to the
or a Watt's link to locate the axle sideways in the car. axle.
Shock Mounting-Mounting the shocks on a rear
leaf spring suspension requires special considera Link Type
tion. If one shock is placed in front of the axle, and With a link-type rear suspension, the live axle is
one shock is placed behind the axle, their dampen located both longitudinally and laterally with link
ing effects do a good job of controlling the violent type members. The arrangement of these links can
torsional rotation of the axle during power hop and be used to provide different characteristics, so there
brake hop. This configuration is so successful that it are a number of possibilities.
eliminates most of these problems without any Four-Link-A four-link rear suspension uses four
other devices. There is no preferred way of mount longitudinal links to locate the axle fore and aft, and
ing the shocks, so either the left or right shock may to control the axle torque loads due to acceleration

68
 HOTCHKISS DRIVE REAR SUSPENSION

LENGTH
ROLL CENTER

Figure 9-10. A Hotchkiss drive rear suspension utilizes a leaf spring at each end of the axle housing to locate the housing and to pro vide
the springing medium . There is no need for any other members to locate the axle sideways in the car, because of the stiffness of the springs
in the lateral direction.

and braking (Figure 9-11). Lateral location of the steer is possible, but it results in a very short side
rear axle is controlled by the use of a Panhard bar, a view swing arm length. Remember, a short swing
Watt's link or similar device. Four-link systems work arm causes brake hop when it gets too short in
best when the links can be long and when a mini length.
mum of anti-squat is required . It is difficult to get In order to get roll understeer with a three-link
roll understeer with an anti-squat geometry on a rear suspension, you usually need to place the front
four-link rear suspension. In order to allow the body of the lower arms lower than the rear of the arms.
to roll in relation to the rear axle , the links on each Unfortunately, this conflicts with the anti-squat
side of the car must remain parallel with each other. requirements. The compromise is usually to mount
This severely limits the geometric variations possi
ble , so I recommend using the other types of link
rear suspension. 4 LINK REAR SUSPENSION
Three-Link-A three-link rear suspension uses only
three links to locate the axle longitudinally in the car
(Figur e 9-12). With the three-link system, there is I I
more opportunity to get the optimum roll steer and FJ
anti-squat characteristics without restricting the roll
TOP VIEW
angle between the axle and the car. Many short
track race cars use a three-link rear suspension, so
the system obviously works very well for high-per
formance applications. r-,
The height of the brackets that attach the links to r---'

the rear axle housing are usually about 5 inches from I I

the centerline of the axle shaft. You can make them
sh orter, but then the forces in the links get higher
and th e Heim joints will wear quicker. If you make
them longer, packaging becomes a problem. Any
dimension between 3 in. and 7 in. will probably work
okay.
With a normal three-link rear suspension, it is pos
sible to get over 100% anti-squat. Unfortunately, this
amount of anti-squat is difficult to get with roll
SIDE VIEW
: (~-
Figure 9-11. A 4-link rear suspension uses four control arms to
understeer, because the linkage arrangements are locate the axle housing fore-and-aft in the car. Since these four
arms provide no lat eral contro l, a Panhard bar or similar device is
different. A high degree of anti-squat with roll under needed.

69
 the links on a four-link system. This is a very simple
3 LINK REAR SUSPENSION
solution to the problem, and if these links are
arranged correctly, it is possible to get both good
roll steer and good anti-squat characteristics. The
best arrangement of the angled arms is called a
Satchell link rear suspension. This configuration
places the angled arms below the axle with their
TOP VIEW front pivots pointing toward the center of the car.
The advantages of this arrangement are low roll cen
ter, good anti-squat, good support of the axle hous
ing ends, and little need for extra frame bracing. The
system is also compact so it can fit many types of
cars. Of all the link-type rear suspensions, the
Satchell link has the most benefits (Figure 9-13).

Torque Arm
A torque-arm rear suspension uses a long arm to
absorb the rear axle torque reactions ( Figure 9-14).
SIDE VIEW
Other suspension members are needed to locate the
rear axle laterally and longitudinally, as well as to

SATCHELL LINK REAR SUSPENSION

Figure 9-12. A 3-li nk rear suspension is similar to a 4-link , except it

is a bit more simple. It has the advantage of allowing more roll
angle between the axle and the chassis while still providing some
anti-squat characteristics.

the lower arms parallel to the ground for a minimum TOP VIEW
of roll steer and then set the upper arm angle to pro
vide the best anti-squat with a long enough side
view swing arm.
For low- and medium-powered cars, this compro
mise can be made to work well. For high-powered
cars, or for the optimum in performance handling, it
is necessary to decouple the three-link system so
that each of the elements can be optimized without
affecting the other elements. This decoupling action
is what makes the torque-arm rear suspension
attractive, which is discussed next.
Angled Arms-One disadvantage with the three-link
and four-link rear suspensions is the need for a SIDE VIEW
device to control the lateral location of the axle in
the car. A Panhard bar or a Watt's link is usually
used for this purpose. A Panhard bar is simpler and
therefore more commonly used. But the bracketing
needed to rigidly mount a Panhard bar to the axle Figure 9-13. A Satchell link rear suspension is a variation of the 4
and to the chassis is heavy and takes up space. link and the angled arm suspensions in that it only usesfour links.
The advantages of the Satchell link are that it pro vides consider
The need for extra links to locate the rear axle lat abl e anti-squat with roll understeer and a low roll center. It also
erally in the car can be eliminated by angling two of supports the ends of the axle housing very well.

70

b
provide the springing medium. Torque-arm rear sus critical to the anti-squat function. This
pensions were used on Fords in the 30's and 40's, on means that they can be arranged to pro
Chevy trucks in the 50's and 60's, and most recently vide some roll understeer without the
on Chevrolet Vegas and Camaros. Torque-arm rear usual compromises.
suspensions can be packaged efficiently and when
correctly designed, they can be tuned to provide 3. As I mentioned previously, the real advan

good overall performance. The interaction of the tage of a torque arm is its ability to absorb

torque arm, the rear suspension and the chassis are the axle torque reaction as an independent

more complex than it seems, so it is sometimes diffi component. A torque arm can be a rigid

cult to get optimum performance without extensive member mounted to the chassis by a sepa

testing and development. >' rate spring-shock unit, or it can be a flexi

The same design factors that are important to a ble arm such as the type used on Reese

three-link are important to a torque-arm rear sus equalizer trail hitches.

pension: Reese Bar-The use of a Reese bar spring torque

arm allows the loads to be applied to the chassis in
1. Lateral location must be maintained with a a smooth and progressive manner. Other types of
low roll center to provide consistent and springs, like fiberglass, can also be used. The stiff
predictable handling. You can use a ness of the spring determines how much axle hous
Panhard bar or a Watt's link. ing rotation there will be for any given torque. The
action of a torque arm under acceleration is similar
2. Axle housing support is again important, to the traction bars used in drag racing. The short
but since the axle torque reaction is er the torque arm, the more anti-squat it will pro
absorbed by the torque arm, the two lower duce. Making the arm too short will obviously cause
control arms can be raised to axle center severe angles and limit the free motion of the sus
line height, because their only require pension in the vertical direction. From a practical
ment is to transmit the driving forces fore standpoint, you should probably not run a torque
and-aft into the chassis. Moving these arm much shorter than about 30 inches. Raising the
links up prevents the driving forces from torque arm in the car will not cause a significant
twisting the axle housing. Since the out change in the amount of anti-squat.
board links do not need to absorb the axle Decoupling-When a torque arm is connected
torque reaction, their position is not as directly to the chassis, the braking torque of the rear

TORQUE ARM REAR SUSPENSION

I I
C]

TOP VIEW

<,

I I

SIDE VI-E-<Il'w===========1~ _

Figure 9-14. A torque arm rear suspension uses a separate member to control axle torques relative to the chassis. Other control arms are
needed to locate the axle housing in the car.

71
 DECOUPLED TORQUE ARM REAR SUSPENSION

Figure 9-15. Decoup/ing the torque arm can help to eliminate brake hop. The arm is mounted so it contacts the frame durin g acceleration,
transmitting the axle torque to the frame, yet it is free during braking. By separating the braking and accelerating absorbing functions, it
is possible to optimize each without comprom ising the other.

axle can cause the rear axle to lift off the ground tion during acceleration and its short length pro
because it can pivot about the torque arm drop link. vides a lot of anti-squat. The telescoping link
This action is the same as when the side-view swing absorbs the axle torque reaction during braking and
arm is too short, so brake hop will result. its effective linkage is long enough to prevent brake
A solution to the brake hop problem is to decou hop.
ple the torque arm so that the axle torque from Establishing the optimum spring rates of the bush
acceleration is absorbed by the torque arm, and the ings, and finding the correct amount of preload for
axle torque from braking is absorbed by a different the total system, might take some testing. If you
member. One way to do this is to let the front of the arrange the links as shown in Figure 9-15, you will be
torque arm contact the frame only in the "up" posi pretty close to achieving the right setup. Figure 9-16
tion. This allows it to be free from the frame during shows a decoupled torque arm with a telescoping
braking while allowing it to transmit the axle torque upper link mounted on a late-model Camara axle.
reaction to the frame during acceleration. A rubber
bumper can be used to soften the impact when the
torque arm contacts the frame .
Because the torque arm is disconnected under
braking, another suspension member will be needed
to absorb the axle torque during braking to elimi
nate brake hop. A good way to solve this is with a
telescoping upper link. This lets you optimize the
torque arm configuration without having to compro
mise it with brake hop characteristics. A telescop
ing upper link should be arranged so it bottoms out
when the axle rotates because of the braking torque.
When this happens, the upper link acts like a solid
member and together with the lower links, estab
lishes parallel linkages with a very long side-view
swing-arm length. This long swing-arm length elimi Figure 9-16. A telescoping upper /ink can be used with a decoupled
nates brake hop, so you have the best of both condi torque arm to absorb the axle torque reaction during braking and
its effective linkage is long enough to prevent brake hop.
tions. The torque arm absorbs the axle torque reac

72
 INDEPENDENT
REAR SUSPENSION
DESIGN
n independent rear suspension (IRS) differential mounted to the chassis. This reduction

A design is one where each rear wheel is

not connected to the other wheel. On a
rear-wheel-drive car, this means that the
differential is mounted solidly to the chassis with
some type of drives haft going to each wheel. (Figure
in unsprung weight allows each rear wheel to follow
a rough road surface better, because the differential
does not have to bounce as far with the wheels. If a
wheel can follow the road more of the time, it will
maintain its traction more of the time, and this will
10-1) . increase its road-holding capability. The other
advantage of an independent rear suspension is that
Advantages it can take up less room in the car.
The main advantage of an independent rear sus
pension is that it provides for a smoother ride, espe Disadvantages
cially over rough pavement. This advantage, how The main disadvantage for an independent rear
ever, does not occur automatically. This was demon suspension is that it is more complex, so it costs
strated by the 1984 Corvettes, which used a very more. The other disadvantage is that because of
stiff rear spring and therefore had very poor ride this complexity, it is more difficult to design one cor
characteristics, even though they had independent rectly. On production cars, like the Corvette, the
rear suspension. Most of the smoother ride , and designers need to simplify the system in order to
potentially better road-holding, advantages of an save cost. This often results in a compromised
independent rear suspension come from having the design which does not provide optimum geometry
or deflection characteristics.
Independent rear suspensions offer the advantage of a smoother Another major disadvantage of an independent
ride and better traction over rough pavem ent. However, because
of its complex ity, it is difficult to design one properly, as some rear suspension is its ability to deliver power to the
model-year Corvettes have demonstrated. Mandates to control ground. The basic geometry of an IRS is such
costs have forced Corvette engi neers in the past to
compromise the design, which led to problems like
poor camber control and deflections. However, '84
and later Corvettes have been steadily
improved, especially those from
1988 to present.
that only small amounts of anti-squat can be used, Anti-Squat
so high-powered cars without a rear weight bias will Our previous analysis of live axle rear suspensions
have problems getting optimum performance and in Chapter 9 has shown that one of their advantages
handling. is that they can be designed to provide a fair amount
of anti-squat, which can be used to get a lot of power
to the ground. This is a real advantage during high
LIVE AXLE VS. INDEPENDENT REAR SUSPENSION performance driving, so you should try to incorpo
rate this feature into the ideal independent rear sus
- ,-----:
,-1
pension. Unfortunately, this is a very difficult thing
I
-i; ~ - --
to do, since the differential torque reaction is not
transmitted through the suspension members on an
<, ../ \ independent rear suspension. By properly locating
L_
the rear suspension members, it is possible to get
LIVE AXLE some anti-squat, but a value of about 25% is the
practical limit (Figure 10-2). This compares to a
well-designed live axle rear suspension, which often
has over 100% anti-squat.
Because independent rear suspension systems do
not have as much anti-squat, they are not as good as
r--'
I--
r a live axle in getting the power to the ground on high
r--
performance cars. This problem is not too bad with
r \
..
_ -r, a rear-engined car, because of the rear weight bias.
On front-engined cars however, it is a distinct disad
~
vantage.

INDEPENDENT REAR SUSPENSION

Rear Suspension Geometry
The type of suspension geometry required for an
Figure 10-1. An independent rear suspension has each rear wheel
controlled separately from the other. This arrangem ent requires
independent rear suspension system is not too dif
jointed drive axles to transmit the power from the differential to ferent from that required for an independent front
the wheels. suspension. On a front suspension, roll understeer
is obtained by having the wheels toe-out as they go
up into jounce. On a rear suspension, roll under
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS steer is obtained by having the wheels toe-in as they
The design requirements for an IRS are similar to go up into jounce. As shown in Chapter 4, under
those for a live axle rear suspension. Basically, the steer at the front is accomplished by placing the
rear wheels need to be kept pointing in the right steering gear ahead of the axle because of deflec
direction at all times, and the camber and roll center tions of control arm rubber bushings. With indepen
need to be positioned as consistently as possible. dent rear suspension, deflection understeer is
To do this, you will need to make the components accomplished by placing the steering rods behind
rigid and secure so they don't move under loading, the axle.
and you will have to use suspension geometry that I believe that it is good design to use a long swing
produces smooth and consistent wheel motions. All arm length and a low roll center on an independent
of these factors are based on attaching the rear sus rear suspension, just as on an independent front
pension to a frame that is torsionally rigid. Without suspension. These factors result in smooth and con
a rigid frame, the precision of the suspension is sistent wheel motions which give the driver confi
obliterated by chassis flex. Frame design and build dence and better control. Roll angles can be con
are covered in Chapters 12 & 13. trolled with stabilizer bars, front and rear, so there
The following aspects should be considered when isn't the need for the roll resistance that a high roll
designing an independent rear suspension. center gives. Camber gain should be positive, but

74
 ANTI-SQUAT FOR INDEPENDENT REAR SUSPENSION

100% LIVE AXLE

REAR
SUSPENSION
o

100

PRACTICAL
LIMIT

25% INDEPENDENT
REAR
SUSPENSION

Figure 10-2. Since the differential is mounted to the chassis, the axle torque reacti on is not absorb ed by the axle housing and rear suspen
sion. This has the effect of reducing the anti-squat of the rear suspension, because the only vertical force available for this purpose comes
from the angle, if any, of the wheel hub control arm s, which do not see any torque reaction during acceleration.

again the stabilizer bars will limit the roll angle so Corvette
aggressive camber gain is not needed or desired. The Corvette IRS design suffers from a variety of
Springs & Shocks-Spring and shock rates, and geometry and deflection problems.
mounting locations, on an independent rear suspen The early Corvettes up through 1987 had a roll
sion are similar in design as a front IRS. The major center height that was too high. This condition
difference is the need to offset the springs and/or resulted in a jacking problem, wherein the cornering
shocks to clear the drive axles at the rear. This usu force from the outside tire would cause the rear of
ally requires offset mounting brackets, rocker arms the car to raise up. This increase in rear height
or mounting the springs/shocks above the rear would change the camber of the outside tire, so it
knuckles. The more complicated the system, the lost cornering force. The result is a car that must be
more it will cost, and the greater will be the need for set up with an excess of understeer in order to keep
additional maintenance. From a handling stand the average driver from spinning out during hard
point, it doesn't matter so long as the wheel rates cornering.
and wheel travel are the same. Even with perfect suspension geometry, a car can
exhibit inconsistent handling behavior if there is
excessive deflection of any of the components. The
TYPES OF IRS early Corvette design provides many places where
To help demonstrate these design requirements, I deflections can result in poor handling. Some of
will do a brief analysis of three popular types of these are:
independent rear suspension. Camber Control-A lower camber rod is used to
maintain the camber angle of the rear wheels. On

75
Figure 10-3. The early Corvette IRS design suffers from a variety of geometry and deflection problems. Chief among them was a high roll
center height, wh ich caused jacking and a loss of cornering force. Photo by Michael Lutfy.

paper, this design looks good but since this rod uses itive camber during hard cornering. Even more
rubber bushings, its effective length can change deflection is introduced to the system where the dif
under cornering loads. This change in length pro ferential mounts to the chassis. Rubber mounts are
duces positive camber on the outside wheel, which needed to isolate the axle gear noise, but they also
also reduces its cornering power. Reducing the cor allow the differential to move in relation to the chas
nering power of the outside tire during hard corner sis during hard cornering, because all the lateral
ing, when you need it most, is not conducive to good loads are fed into it.
handling. A similar problem exists where the drive Toe Control-The '63-'82 Corvettes used a single
axle attaches to the differential. Since the drive axle trailing arm on each side to locate the axle hub fore
is actually the upper control arm, any wear or loose and aft on the car. These arms also provided the
ness of the differential side-gears also results in pos- rear-wheel toe control. Although these trailing arms
are well located by design, the rubber bushings used
where they attached to the frame allow toe deflec
OLD STYLE CORVETTE
tion when the power or the brakes are applied
REAR SUSPENSION
(Figure 10-4). These changes in direction do not
result in consistent handling.
The '84-and-later Corvettes use two trailing arms
on each side together with a rear tie rod to effective
ly eliminate the torque steer problem of the earlier
design (Figure 10-5).

Jaguar
As the Jaguar independent rear suspension design
Figure 10-4. The first Corvette independent rear suspensions were
designed with an eye on cost-saving. The simplicity of the system
uses the drive axle for the upper arm and a lower
required some comprom ises in camber and toe control that result arm to control the camber, like the Corvette, it
ed in peculiar handling under certain circumstances.

76

 POSITIONING A REAR SPOILER

~ DOWNFORCE

Figure 14-5. Note the critical positioning of this rear spoiler. If a Figure 14-6. Ifthere is nothing behind the rear spoiler, the low pres
rear spoiler is mounted as far back and as high as possible, the sure behind it will not have a horizontal surface to act upon.
high pressure ahead of it will act downward on the horizontal sur Placing a rear spoiler at this location adds to the rear downforce
face of the deck lid. Photo by Michael Lutty. because it only adds positive pressure to the top of the car.

more efficient when it operates in clean air, so it through the radiator and the oil cooler, so how this
should be mounted where this condition exists. air is managed is important to both the drag factor
Sometimes we see wings mounted directly above and the downforce factor. From a drag standpoint,
other body panels. This is not a preferred location, you want to let the minimum amount of airflow
because any low-pressure area that is acting against though the grille opening and to the coolers. This
the bottom of the wing is also acting against the top means that it is important to be sure that any air that
of the body panel adjacent to it. The net effect is does go through the grille opening also goes through
obviously diminished since the two forces tend to the radiator or the oil cooler. The best way to
cancel each other out (Figure 14-7). accomplish this is by building an airtight duct to
guide the air between the grille opening and the
Radiator Air Inlet & Exhaust coolers. Since the grille opening is smaller than the
About 20% of the airflow affecting a race car goes radiator, it is better to mount the radiator at an angle

WING FOR OOWNFORCE

Figure 14-7. A wing on a race car also acts to produce positive pressure on top and negative pressure on the bottom. Many factors such as
the size of the Wing, its shape, and the angle of attack affect how great this pressure differential will be at any given speed.

102
 the radiator air inlet disturbs the air behind the
front spoiler. Cars that have this arrangement usu
ally require a second spoiler behind the radiator to
cause a high pressure area to feed the radiator.
Since this spoiler is also behind the front of the car,
it causes a high-pressure area under the car which
can reduce the down force or even cause lift.
Even the radiator air outlet or exhaust is impor
tant, because dumping this air into the low-pressure
area under the car can reduce the downforce. It is
better to exhaust the radiator air out the side of the
car through the wheelwells, since this will have no
effect on the pressure levels below or on top of the
The end plates on this rear wing are there to keep the high pres car. Ducting can be used to guide the radiator air
sure on top of the wing from spilling over the ends and diluting the exhaust to the wheelwells. Keeping the radiator air
low pressure underneath . Photo by Michael Lutfy.
exhaust away from the engine can help reduce the
air temperature at the carburetor inlet (Figure 14-8).
so the air doesn't have to bend up to hit the top of Carburetor Air Inlet
the radiator. The engine will produce the most power when it
Where the radiator inlet is positioned can have a breathes the coolest, highest pressure air. At
big effect on front-end lift or downforce. If the radia speeds below 100 mph, the cool air is more impor
tor air inlet is above the front spoiler, it will see pos tant than the high-pressure air. If the radiator air
itive pressure and there will be nothing to disturb ducting is effective in keeping the heated air away
the low-pressure area behind the front spoiler. If from the carburetor, more power will result.
however, the radiator air inlet is behind the front NASCAR prohibits using carburetor ducting, but it is
spoiler, two problems exist. One is that the radiator possible to feed cool, high-pressure air from the
inlet is in a low-pressure area, and the second is that grille opening to the top of the engine so the carbu
retor can draw it in.
An alternative to this
design is to feed air
from the base of the
windshield to the car
buretor. At the center
of the car, there is a
small high-pressure
area where the hood
meets the windshield,
called the cowl.
However, with a sloped
windshield, this area is
smaller and at a lower
pressure, so it is less
effective than bringing
the air in from the front
of the car (Figure 14-9).

Top Fuel dragsters need very efficient wings to keep the front end from lifting during 300 mph runs.
Photo by Michael Lutfy.

103
Note the radiator duct built on the nose of thi s Camara Trans-Am racer. Where the radiator inlet is positioned has a big effect on the front
end lift or downforce. Photo by Michael Lutfy.

RADIATOR INLET AND OUTLET

+
+

Figure 14-8. You should place the radiator inlet in a high-pressure area and the outlet in a low-pressure area. It is a good idea to exit air
out the front wheelwells, because this does not upset any low-pressure area that might be acting on the bottom of the car.

104
 CARBURETOR AIR INLET DUCT

Figure 14-9. Since the engine will de velop its maximum horsepower when it breathes high-pressure, cool air, it is best to plumb the car
buretor air inlet ahead of the radiator. This location provides the coolest, highest pressure air available.

Balancing Downforce for Handling to reduce the rear-end downforce in order to get the
If a car has a front and a rear spoiler, or a front and car balanced.
rear wing, it is possible to use the front-to-rear There are as many aerodynamic tricks and tech
downforce balance to alter the way a car handles. At niques as there are chassis ones. Each car must be
very high speeds, the downforce balance can have a tuned and developed to realize its optimum perfor
greater effect than chassis-balancing techniques. mance. You don't need a wind tunnel to correctly
The basic procedure is to use more-or-less down locate your spoilers, but of course, one would be
force when more-or-less tire loading and cornering helpful to optimize the airflow around the entire car.
force is needed. Adding front-end downforce will Use some good judgment, and try to analyze where
increase the front tire loading and give the front tires the high-pressure and low-pressure areas will be. If
more cornering force. When there is no more front you do this, you'll make progress toward increasing
end downforce available, it is sometimes necessary your car's downforce.

At very high spee ds, such as those gen erated by Indycars, the downforce balance can have a greater effect on handling than chassis tech
niques. This is especially true at tracks like Indianapolis and Michigan. Drivers and crew constantly tune front and rear wing angle to get
the most cornering pow er.

105
 ROTATING INERTIA

OSt car enthusiasts know that reducing wheel that had most of its weight concentrated

M weight will increase acceleration with

the same horsepower. What is less
well-known is that if the weight, and its
distribution, of the driveline components are
reduced, the improvement in acceleration can be
around the rim, it would have greater resistance to
revving quickly than a flywheel that had its weight
concentrated around its center.
Obviously, a lighter flywheel would be even better
because it would not only weigh less , but it would
much greater than that which would be realized for also have less rotating inertia. Many enthusiasts are
just reducing the car weight. The weight and its dis familiar with this concept, so it is interesting to look
tribution of a driveline component about its center at an example to see just how much effect rotating
of rotation is called its rotating inertia. This resis inertia has on a car's ability to accelerate.
tance to rotational acceleration is called rotating
inertia, because its effect is seen when the parts are CANNON BALL VS. DUMBBELL
accelerated rotationally. The easiest way to picture
ROTATIN G INERTIA
this condition is to compare how hard it would be to ,----.... <::

rotate two objects that weigh the same, as shown in

Figure 15-1 .
Because of the distribution of weight around the
rotational point, it would be much harder to quickly
rotate the dumbbell in Figure 15-1 than it would be
o C 0

Figure 15-1. This comparison shows that it would be easier to

to quickly rotate the cannon ball. Both of these
rotate a cannon ball than it would to rotate a dumbbell. The rea
objects have the same weight, but the dumbbell has son for this difference is the dumbbell has a higher moment of
much greater rotating inertia. If your car had a fly- rotating inertia.

As shown by the examp le work ed out

in the text, even a slight decrease in
rotati ng weight can have a signi ficant
effect on acceleration.

106
VEHICLE ACCELERATION , example, let's find the acceleration of a 3000-lb. car
that has 300 lbs-ft. of engine torque, a 5-to-l gear
Car enthusiasts know that their car will go faster if
ratio and rear tires with 13.5-in. static radius. We can
its weight is reduced. Less weight increases accel
find the force available to accelerate the car by:
eration with the same available driving force . The
formula for acceleration is: Engine torque x axle ratio
Force =
Force
Rear tire static radius
Acceleration =
Weight
300 lbs-ft, x 5.0 x 12 in.
Force =
Weight = Mass x Gravity 13.5 ft.

If we measure acceleration in terms of g-force,

Force = 1333 Ibs.
there is no need to convert weight into mass. For an
This assumes 100% driveline efficiency and no
rotating inertia in the driveline. To find the accelera
tion of the car:
Force
Acceleration =
Weight

1333
Acceleration =
3000

Acceleration = .444 g's

VELOCITY
Velocity is equal to the acceleration multiplied by
the time. If we assumed a constant acceleration for
a period of five seconds, we could tell how fast the
car was going at the end of the straightaway. For
explanation, we have chosen a speed at the start of
the straight of 64.00 mph @ 4000 rpm.

Velocity = AxT

.444 g's x 32.2 ft. x 5 sec x 60 mph sec

Velocity
g's x sec 2 x 88 ft.

Velocity Change = 48.74 mph

Velocity at end of straight = 112.7_4 mph

If we reduce the weight of the car by 15 lbs (.5%),

This comparison shows that a V6 crankshaft will have less rotating the same engine output would allow an acceleration
inertia than a V8 crankshaft because it has less total mass and its of .446 g's. This acceleration over the same five sec
distribution about the centerline of rotation is similar. For the
same horsepower output, the V6 engine will be able to accelerate
ond period would give a speed at the end of the
the car quicker. straightaway of 112.95 mph, an increase of .21 mph.

107
This photo of a Tilton clutch and flywheel shows the efforts made to reduce the rotating inertia on these parts that operate at engine speed.
Space-age lightweight parts are used to reduce rotating weight .

CHASSIS ROTATING INERTIA IS-lb. weight reduction on the rest of the car. The 15
All the rotating parts in the chassis have inertia lb. reduction in chassis rotating weight was
which resists angular acceleration. These parts assumed to be a 12-inch diameter steel disk of con
include the tires, the wheels, the brake rotors, the stant section mounted on the rear axle drive flanges.
hubs and the ring gear and the differential. To show
the effect of the rotating inertia on these parts that
turn at wheel speed, we used the same example car DRIVELINE ROTATING INERTIA
but with a IS-lb. reduction in these parts. Under the The rotating parts of the driveline include the
same test conditions, the IS-lb. reduction in rotating crankshaft, the flywheel, the clutch, the transmis
inertia would allow the car to accelerate to 113.34 sion gears and the driveshaft. Since these parts
mph for a .60 mph improvement. This shows that a operate at a much higher rpm, the effect their rotat
IS-lb. reduction in rotating inertia on the chassis ing inertia has on acceleration is much greater. If we
rotating parts will have three times the benefit of a reduced the rotating inertia of the flywheel on the

This Jerico transmission only has two forward gears. Removing Even a driveshaft can be designed and built that has less rotating
gears that rotate at engine speed reduces the rotating inertia of the inertia. This type of refinement indicates that racers have found
transmission, which permits the car to accelerate faster. that reducing rotating inertia really improves acceleration.

108
example car by 15 Ibs., it would allow the car to to be a 13-inch diameter steel disk of constant sec
accelerate to 115.70 mph under the same test condi tion mounted on the crankshaft flange.
tions for a 3.0 mph improvement. This shows that Another way to put numbers on the effect of
the effect of reducing rotational inertia on driveline reducing rotating inertia is to compare the horse
parts has 15 times the benefit of just reducing the power equivalents as shown in Chart 15-1. The
weight of the car. These examples show why there is important thing that this Chart shows is that it is 15
so much emphasis by race car component manufac times as important to reduce the weight of compo
turers on reducing the rotational inertia of driveline nents that rotate at engine speed than it is to reduce
parts. Actual racing experience has proven the ben the weight of other components of the car.
efits suggested by the above examples. The IS-lb. Components that rotate at axle speed are 3 times as
reduction in driveline rotating weight was assumed effective as non-rotating components.

Chart 15-1

Less 15 Ibs. Less 151bs.

Baseline Less 15 Ibs. Rotating Weight. Rotating Weight
Car Weight Total Weight @AxleSpeed @ Engine Speed

Weight 30001bs. 2985 2985 2985

Acceleration Force .444 g's .446 .450 .474

Speed @
start of straightaway 64.0 mph 64.0 64.0 64.0

Speed @
end of straightaway 112.74 mph 112.95 113.34 115.70

Speed Change - .20 .60 3.00

Equivalent Horsepower 428.41 430.55 434.83 460.51

Horsepower Change - 2.14 6.42 32.10

Improvement Factor - 1 3 15

109
 VEHICLE TESTING &
TUNING
ll of the design {nd build inform ation we direction that was taken. The following techniques

A have available is based on many years of

testing by thousands of racers , engi
neers and car enthusiasts. Testing shows
us what works and what doesn't. As the testing of a
particular aspect of chassis design indicates what is
are often used to test and tune a high-performance
car.

WHEEL ALIGNMENT
the best configuration, this information is then con It is impossible to do any meaningful testing or
sidered as the best approach. Over time , the best tuning unless you know that the front and rear
approach changes from one design to another. We wheels are aligned correctly. Here are some tips on
call this progress. This changing base of knowledge how to align your car's wheels.
tells us there is no right or wrong way to design a
chassis. Each car, and its use , is a specific problem Setting Front-End Alignment
that needs a specific solution. Regardless of the Many car enthusiasts regard alignment as a black
design approach taken, the final judgment is based art. The truth is, setting alignment is nothing more
on how well the car performs. than pointing the wheels in the right direction. If
The initial testing of any car often indicates areas you happen to have a mega-dollar rack at your dis
that can be improved with modifications to the posal, you're home-free. But if you're like most
basic design. The development of these test enthusiasts, you have to improvise. Since you're
inspired ideas is called chassis tuning. Experience doing the work yourself, on your own car, the results
has shown that testing and tuning is more important can be superior to the flat-rate workmanship some
to the overall performance of a car than the design times encountered at uninspired alignment shops.

Figure 16-1. Now that the design and manufacture of yo ur chassis is comp lete, yo u need to test it to mak e sure it wo rks! It's an ongoing pro
cess that requires patience and careful analysis of the data .

110
Figure 16-2. You can use a protractor-level to get a fairly accurate measurement ofyour car's camber and caster. Measure the front wheels
and the rear wheels to determine the camber angles of each wheel. Be sure the car is on level ground.

So how do you set your car to our specs when the repeat the measurement with the wheel turning full
alignment shop wants to use the factory setting? left. The difference between the two readings close
Simple. Do it yourself. Perfectly satisfactory results ly approximates the caster angle. For the left-front
can be achieved with quite ordinary equipment. wheel, positive caster is indicated when more nega
Camber-To measure camber, a protractor level tive camber is produced when the wheels are turned
(available at any Sears store) works well. With the right. For the right-front wheel, positive caster is
car parked on level ground and the front wheels indicated when more negative camber is produced
straight ahead, place the level against the tire side when the wheels are turned left. To increase caster,
wall, avoiding raised lettering and other sidewall tilt the upper control arm rearward in the car.
irregularities. Centering the level's air bubble will Toe-In-Measuring toe-in is a snap. Two blocks of
indicate the camber angle. For the negative camber, wood or oil cans, an 8-foot length of rectangular tub
both front tires should tilt in toward the center of ing, and a tape measure are all that's required. In a
the car at the top (Figure 16-2). pinch, you can even substitute a straight 2 x 4 for the
Caster-Caster is the inclination of the front spindle. tubing. Set the tubing on top of the two oil cans as
Positive caster-the rearward tilt of the top of the shown in Figure 16-3, with the tubing just touching
spindle-is essential for high-speed stability. A fair the front tire sidewalls. Again, avoid raised letters
ly accurate measurement of caster can be made by which may disrupt the measurement. The oil cans
taking two camber readings. First, record the cam are there to raise the straightedge above the tire
ber when the wheels are turning full right, then bulge. Make sure the steering wheel is pointed

111
straight ahead and be certain that the door is closed
firmly. Sight or measure between the rocker panel
and the straightedge. If the rocker panel and the
tubing are parallel, the front wheels have zero toe-in.
If the straightedge is closer at the front of the rocker
panel than at the back, the front wheels are toed-in.
Since the rocker is about three times as long as the
tire diameter, the offset should be three times as
great as the recommended toe-in specifications.
Thus, if the front wheel has the desired 1/16-inch
toe-in, the difference between your measurements
from the straightedge to the front and rear of the
rocker panel will be 3/16-inch. Toe-in is adjusted by
turning the threaded sleeves which connect the Figure / 6-3. A straight piece of tubing on a couple of oil cans can
inner and outer tie-rods ends. be used to get an accurate measurement of your car 's front and
rear toe-in. The cans are used to raise the straightedge above the
Setting Rear End Alignment tire bulge. Comparing the straightedge to the rocker pan el eli mi
nates the possibility of having the rear axle crooked in the car.
IRS-The techniques for measuring rear-wheel
alignment are the same as those for measuring front
wheel alignment. Experience has shown that cars
with independent rear suspension work best with
between 1 and 2 degrees of negative rear-wheel cam
ber. They also need between 1/16-in. and 1/8-in. of
rear-wheel toe-in. The procedure for setting rear
wheel camber and toe-in can be obtained by con
sulting the service manual for your car. When set
ting toe-in , it is best to compare each wheel inde
pendently to the car rocker panel or door rather
than to the other wheel. Using this procedure will
prevent setting th e car up with a "dog track" condi
tion where the rear wheels won't follow in line with
the front wheels.
Live Rear Axle-Rear-wheel camber and toe are as
important on a car with a live-rear axle as they are
on a car with an independent rear suspension. Since
the rear axle is fairly rigid, it must be bent to change
the rear-wheel camber and toe. One way to do this
is to heat the axle tube red-hot so that it shrinks
when it cools. This procedure, shown on page 81,
can produce up to about 1 degree of negative cam
ber and toe-in , which is what we recommend for
most applications.
When setting the rear-wheel alignment on a car
with a live rear axle , it is very important to be sure
that the rear axle is in the car at 90 degrees to the car
centerline. An easy way to determine this is to mea
sure the toe-in of each rear wheel in reference to the
car's door or rocker panels. If both of these mea
surements are the same, you know your rear axle is
in the car squarely.

112
Tire temp eratures can help determine the correct tire pressure, camber setting and give an indication on tire survival.

READING TIRE TEMPERATURES

All of the temperatures are recorded as if the view
er is looking at the car from above and from the
Unless you understand how it's done, reading tire
driver's seat. The right front tire 's temperature is
temperatures is a black art. The information that
logically at the right front and equally important, the
you can determine from reading tire temperatures
outside tire temp is recorded at the outside edge of
includes:
the tire . This pro cedure must be strictly followed ,
Optimum tire pressure or you won't be able to make any sense of the data.
Optimum camber setting
463C 6 (2 84)<:
If the tire will survive GOOO/yEAR

To a limited extent, the chassis set-up DATE CAR _ _ TIME

DRIVER
The key to understanding tire temperatures is to
recognize that if one section of the tire is working
harder, its temperature will be higher. Tire tempera
tures are usually read on the inside, the middle and I 190 I 230 I 195 190 I 220 I 240 I
the outside of the tread. Readings should be made LF RF
as soon as the car comes off the track, since the vari
ations in temperature will normalize the longer the
car sits still. Tire temperatures are measured with a I 200 I 210 I 210 250 I 220 I 260 I
pyrometer. When interpreting tire temperatures, LR RR
you have to also take into consideration factors
such as a banked track vs. a flat track; a long straight
vs . a short straight; track temperature and driver Figure 164. Tire temperatures and pressures must be taken as
soon as the car comes off the track. Be careful to record each tem
skill. It is best to write down each temperature for perature in its correct location because a mix-up can lead to the
each tire as shown in Figure 16-4. wrong analysis. Goodyear Tire & Rubber will provide temp shee ts
like this, as long as you ron their tires, of course. Courtesy
Goodyear.

113


Here is a brief explanation of how you can use tire was spinning coming off the corners. This can be a
temperatures to optimize suspension settings. problem on short tracks with very lightweight and
Optimum Tire Pressure-If we accept that the sec powerful cars. If there is no other remedy, such as a
tion of the tire that works the hardest will run the larger tire or a harder compound, the driver might
hottest, too high an inflation pressure will be indi have to modulate the throttle a little to keep from
cated by the center temperature being significantly smoking the right rear tire. An overly hot right rear
hotter than the edge. tire can also be caused by an oversteering chassis
A significant temperature variation is usually set-up. If too much of the car's cornering force is
above 10 F. On the example data sheet (Figure 16-4), being generated by the right rear tire, it will run hot.
the left front tire is obviously running at too high a The driver should obviously notice this condition to
pressure since the middle temperature is consider confirm the analysis of the chassis set-up. Ifyou set
ably hotter than either edge. Tire temperature dis up the car for more understeer, the rear tire temper
tribution is not the only way to determine optimum ature will drop and lap times should improve.
tire pressure, but it is an important factor to consid The left rear tire on the sample tire data sheet
er. If we dropped the pressure in the left front of our shows the type of temperature distribution that is
example car, I would expect to see a more equal tem normal and desired. The inside edge is slightly cool
perature distribution similar to 210-220-220 degrees. er because the car never leans on it. The outside is
This type of analysis is the same for oval track cars at the same temperature as the middle so the tire is
as it is for road-racing cars. working near its maximum efficiency.
Optimum Camber Setting-Tire temperatures can
be used to optimize camber settings using the same
logic as was used to optimize tire pressure. If the
tire temperature for the right front tire is as shown
on the sample data sheet, the car does not have
enough negative camber. This can be seen by the
fact that the outside edge is running much hotter
than the inside or the middle. If the outside is run
ning hotter, it's working harder, so there is not
enough negative camber. If more negative camber
was adjusted into the right front, all of the tire would
share the load equally, and the tire temperature dis
tribution would look more like 210-230-230 degrees.
This change in camber setting would also probably Portable scales can help you determine individual wheel weights
result in faster lap times, and less push, since the to determine static loads, which will help you balanc e the tires'
right front tire would be working at a higher efficien vertical loads during cornering.

cy. A similar analysis is used to set up a road-racing

car or an oval track car. In either case, the tempera
tures of the tires on the outside of the turn are most BALANCING UNDERSTEER &
important. OVERSTEER
Tire Survival-Most racing tires work best in the
200-250 F. range. If a tire sees temperatures above We know from our understanding of a tire's cor
this level in practice, they are sure to fail under the nering efficiency (Chapter 1) that its cornering
continued loads that are seen during the race. If we power can be changed by adjusting how much verti
observed tire temperature, as shown in Figure 16-4, cal load it sees during cornering. Making a car cor
at the right rear of the example car, something ner at the highest possible speed requires that all
would have to be changed to prevent burning up the the tires work at their highest efficiency. This means
tire . Chances are the tire is already gone if it has then that you need to balance the tire's vertical
seen this level of temperature, even for a few laps. loads during cornering. From prior chapters, we
Chassis Set-Up---Since the right rear on the car is know that the following chassis elements can be
running hot, I would ask if the driver has noticed if it adjusted to accomplish this.

114
Achi eving an acceptable balance between oversteer and understeer can only come from hours of testing and tuning. Experimenti ng with
di fferent front and rear stabilize r bars, and different spring rates, is the first step. Photo by Michael Lutfy.

Stabilizer Bars of th e later al weight transfer from co rne ring to be

In Chapter 3, we showed how using a front and/or absorbed by the outs ide front tires . The amount of
rear stabilizer bar can affect the front-to-rear distri lateral weight transfer absorbed by the front tire
buti on of the lateral weight transfer during corner was th en more than it would see from just the weight
ing. When a front stabilizer bar was added to the on th e front of the car. Changing the roll stiffness of
example car, its resistance to body roll caused more the front and /or rear of th e car can be used to alter

If the driver comes in and says the car is understeering going int o a corner, you can try to add a more effectiv e rear stabilize r bar and/or
lower the front spring rate. Photo by M ichael Lutfy.

115


how much of the total lateral weight transfer can be absorb more of the total lateral weight transfer.
distributed between the front and the rear outside When the rear tires are asked to carry more weight,
tires. their cornering efficiency goes down and the car will
Because front and/or rear stabilizer bars can be have more oversteer. Since the tires' cornering effi
used to change the roll stiffness of the front and/or ciency is very sensitive to vertical loading, even
rear of a car, they are quite effective in changing the small changes in front or rear spring rates can have
understeer/oversteer characteristics. A more effec a significant effect on whether a car understeers or
tive front stabilizer bar will cause more understeer, oversteers.
because it causes the outside front tire to absorb
more of the total lateral weight transfer. If the out Front & Rear Roll Center Height
side front tire carries more vertical load, its corner If the roll center of the front suspension is raised,
ing efficiency will be reduced and the front-end will it has the same effect as increasing the front roll stiff
lose cornering power. ness. This means that more of the lateral weight
transfer will be absorbed by the outside front tire
Spring Rates and the car will understeer more . Raising the front
In addition to front and/or rear stabilizer bars, roll center height also reduces the amount of cam
changing spring rates can also be used to alter the ber gain, which causes even more understeer. The
understeer/oversteer characteristics. Higher spring combined effects of more roll stiffness, and less
rates at the front will increase the front roll stiffness camber gain, can cause a considerable loss in front
vs. the rear roll stiffness. As was the case with the end cornering power.
front stabilizer bar, more front roll stiffness causes
more of the lateral weight transfer to be absorbed Frame Stiffness
by the outside front tire , which results in more If you want to alter the roll force distribution of
understeer. Stiffer rear springs have the opposite your car to fine-tune its understeer/oversteer char
effect, because they make the rear outside tire acteristics, you can do it most easily by changing

If the car overstee rs coming out of a turn, the driver won 't be able to get on the throttle as quickly, which is especially important when com
ing onto a straightaway. To reduce corner exit oversteer, start by using a less e ffective rear stabiliz er bar, and/or use higher front or lower
rear spring rates. More anti-squat is a good solution to this problem . Photo by Michael Lutfy.

116
the diameter and/or swing-arm lengths of the front More Effective Rear Stabilizer Bar-Since we want
and/or rear stabilizer bars. In order for these to transfer some of the cornering load from the front
changes to have a significant effect on your car's outside tire to the rear outside tire , a more effective
handling, the frame stiffness must be good enough rear stabilizer bar will help . A less effective front
to transmit the load from the front of the car to the stabilizer bar will also help, but this will cause an
rear of the car. This requirement is called torsional increase in roll angle , which leads to more under
stiffness, which is discussed in Chapter 12. If you steer. This is obviously not the preferred option.
find little change in handling when you change sta Lower Rate Front Springs-Since the front springs
bilizer bars, the likely problem is inadequate tor contribute to the roll stiffness, and therefore, the
sional frame stiffness. amount of roll force the front tires absorb, a lower
rate front spring will result in less understeer. Many
people have trouble with this recommendation,
APPLICATIONS because they think a 400 lbs-in. spring will handle
All of the above information can be applied to any more load than a 300 lbs-in. spring. With our under
given car to determine how best to improve its han standing of tire characteristics and vertical loading,
dling and cornering speed. Because the application we know this is a false concept. Another option is to
of all of these elements can become complex, here increase the rear spring rate, which will also
are some examples of applying the information to a decrease understeer.
real car with real handling problems.
Corner Exit Oversteer
Corner Entry Understeer Another common complaint from race car drivers
A common complaint from race car drivers is, is, "The car oversteers at the exit of a turn. What
"The car understeers at the entrance of a turn. What can I do to improve this condition?"
can I do to improve this condition?" Experienced racers know that how well a race car
Before getting into the specific things that can be hooks up on turn exit is th e key to better lap times.
done to improve corner entry, it is best to try and The sooner the driver can get the throttle wide
analyze why a car wants to understeer on corner open, the faster the car will get around the track.
entry. When a car enters a corner, there is some Because of lateral weight transfer during cornering,
weight transfer from the rear of the car to the front the outside rear tire is the primary element in get
of the car. Even if the brakes aren't used, just back ting off a corner quickly.
ing off the throttle causes deceleration, which trans An analysis of why race cars want to oversteer on
fers weight forward. The transfer of weight forward corner exit might be a good way to find ways to
and the transferring of weight from the inside tires solve this problem. When a race car exits a corner
to the outside tires (due to the cornering loads) there is weight shifted from the front of the car to
causes an increase in the outside front tire loading. the rear of the car because of accel eration. Since
As shown by the tire curve in Chapter 1, increased there is also weight transfer from the inside tires to
tire loading causes a loss in tire cornering efficiency, the outside tires , the outside rear tire will see more
so the front-end of the car will have less cornering weight than it would und er static co nditions.
power than the rear-end of the car. Less cornering From the tire performance curve, you know that
power at the front causes understeer. Also, if the an increase in loading will cause a reduction in cor
driver uses the brakes on corner entry, some of the nering efficiency. And from the Circle of Traction
tire's total traction will be used to decelerate the car. concept, we know that if some of the rear tire's total
Since this leaves less traction for cornering, there traction capability is used to accelerate the car,
will be even less cornering power available and the there will be less availabl e for cornering loads. Both
car will want to understeer even more. of these effects result in less cornering power avail
From the above analysis, you can see that a car's able from the right rear tire, so the car will oversteer.
turn-in performance will improve if the weight on If you reduce the dynamic weight on the outside rear
the outside front tire is reduced during cornering. tire, it will improve its cornering efficiency, and
Here are some ways to reduce the load on the out there will be more rear cornering power, so the car
side front tire during cornering. will not oversteer as much during corner exit.

117
 SISAPA

Ifyou have comer entry understeer and com er exit ooersteer, the best solution is to set the spring rates and stabilizer bars for neutral steer,
which is perfect cornering balanc e in the middle of the tum. Dialing in more anti-squat and more rear aerodynamic downforce will help
reduce corner exit oversteer. Photo by Michael Lutfy.

Here are some ways to reduce the load on the out the steady-state cornering condition, this will pro
side rear tire during cornering. vide the highest cornering speed. This is called neu
Less Effective Rear Stabilizer Bar-Since we want tral steer.
to reduce the load on the rear outside tire during If a car is set-up to have neutral steer in the middle
cornering, a less effective rear bar is needed. A of a corner, it will also be reasonably good for turn
more effective front bar, of course, will also help this in at the corner entrance. If we can improve the cor
condition. ner exit performance of a neutral steer car, the result
Higher Front or Lower Rear Spring Rates-Both of will be excellent handling. The following are some
these changes will have the same effect because suggestions to achieve this.
they will transmit more of the roll force to the front Anti-squat-From our knowledge of the anti-squat
outside tire away from the rear outside tire. feature of a rear suspension, we know that it will
increase the loading between the rear tires and the
Balance pavement during acceleration. Since we want to
The above indicates that what helps corner entry accelerate at the corner exit, this temporary
problems hurts corner exit problems and vice-versa. increase in vertical load will provide the outside rear
This is the balance problem most race car drivers tire with extra cornering power to give the car the
experience. A typical complaint is "The car under forward thrust without losing any of the cornering
steers on turn entry and oversteers on turn exit. power it needs to keep the car from oversteering.
What can I do to improve both conditions?" The application of anti-squat designs and adjust
This combination of problems results from the tire ments are the primary means of getting a neutral
loading changes that occur when a car goes from steer car to hook up and accelerate out of a corner.
turn entry to turn exit. We have found that the best Aerodynamic Downforce-Since aerodynamic
so lution is to set the spring and stabilizer bars for downforce can be used to increase the tire vertical
perfect cornering balance in the middle of the cor loads with the resulting increase in cornering loads,
ner. If the car has no understeer and no oversteer in balancing th e front-to-rear aerodynamic downforce

118
...

 can also be used to tune a car's ~n d ers teer/over r ear tires to push o n the car with a forc e equal to
steer characteristics. More aerodynamic downforce one-half of the weight of the car.
at the rear of the car will increase the rear wheel Since g-forces give us a good way to measure race
loading and the cornering power of the rear tires. car performance (around corners as well as for
More cornering power at the rear reduces oversteer, acceleration and braking), it would be helpful if we
so this technique can also be used to help a car could measure them while the car was actually run
accelerate out of a corner. Obviously, the effects of ning. The aircraft industry has had devices to mea
aerodynamic downforce will not help much at low sure g-forces for many years. But, since their equip
speeds. ment is very expensive, not too many enthusiasts
have been able to use it. A less expensive means of
measuring and recording g-forces is provided by a
MEASURING G-FORCE device called the g-Analyst.
The forces acting on a car are measured in terms The g-Analyst provides a high degree of accuracy
of g-force . If a car is cornering at 1.0 g's, the tires are and versatility in a smail , rugged package.
providing a cornering force that is equal to the Automotive enthusiasts, and especially racers, can
weight of the car. If a car is accelerating forward at now measure and record the g-forces their car expe
.50 g's, the engine is providing enough force at the riences on the track (Figure 16-5).
The g-Analyst
The g-Analyst is basically a g-meter that is married
to a tape recorder. The g-meter measures the g
forces and the recorder provides an eight-minute
tape of these measurements. After recording the g
forces that your car experiences on the road or track,
you can playback th e data when the car is stopped.
The g-Analyst includes a small screen which can be
used to display the test results . These results can be
analyzed individually (lateral g's are cornering power
and fore-and-aft g's are acceleration and braking) or
together to show the Circle of Traction.
For a more detailed analysis , the g-Analyst can be
combined with a personal computer and a printer to
provide a data presentation as shown in Figure 16-14.
The g-Analyst is easy to install in any car that has
a 12-volt power supply (Figure 16-6). It is also easy
to calibrate and to operate, so most enthusiasts
should be comfortable using it.

Using the Data

With a g-Analyst, an enthusiast can collect the min
imum of useful data and then analyze it quickly. If it
is used in a test session, more specific information
can be recorded that can be analyzed in depth . After
a little experience, it is possible to quickly review the
g-Analyst screen to get an overview of how a car is
performing. Whenever the driver turns the steering
wheel , applies the throttle or the brakes, he causes g
forces to be applied to the car. Since the g-Analyst
Figure 16-5. The g-Analyst consists of a di splay head, the transduc
er, and the connecting wire s. A 12-volt pow er source, like a
measures and records these forces, it can be used to
cigarette lighter, is required. optimize a car's performance.

119
Measuring Acceleration Forces--The g-Analyst
measures how well a car accelerates and records
that data in the form of g-forces. If a car has a .50 g
force applied at the rear wheels, it will accelerate at
a rate equal to one-half of the pull of gravity. In engi
neering terms this is described as:
Driving Force
g-Force =
Weight

f
The g of acceleration increases as the driving
force goes up and/or the weight goes down .
The force that causes the acceleration comes from
the engine and is applied to the car at the driving
wheels. Therefore, you need to know your car's
weight, peak torque, transmission and rear axle
ratios, and the rear tire radius. The following is an Figure 16-6. Mounting a g-Analyst in a car is fairly simple. The
example of how this power is transferred into an transducer must be mounted flat and in line with the car's center
accelerating force. Let's assume .our car has the fol line as described in the operation manual.
lowing specifications:
axle is more efficient than in a Ford 9-inch axle, but
Car Weight: 30001bs. there is the added loss of the transfer gears. Rear
Peak Engine Torque: 400Ibs-ft. axle overall efficiencies usually range from 90% to
Transmission Ratio: 1.31 95%. In addition to the losses experienced through
Rear Axle Ratio: 4.11 the drivetrain, the actual car acceleration rates will
Rear Tire Radius: 13.0 inches be less , because all the rotating components have
rotational inertia, which absorbs some of the power
If the peak engine torque is 400 lbs-ft. going into before it gets to the rear wheels.
the transmission, we will have 1.31 times this With a g-Analyst, you can compare the maximum
amount coming out of the transmission (400 x 1.31) g-forces during acceleration to determine if your
or 524Ibs-ft. With a 4.11 axle ratio, the torque at the engine is running up to par. When comparing data
rear wheels would be 2154 lbs-ft. (524 x 4.11) or from one event to the other, you will need to correct
25848 in-Ibs. At a static tire radius of 13.0 inches, the for transmission ratios, axle ratios and tire radii.
force applied by the tire to the pavement would be Because the g-Analyst records data every 1/10 of a
1988 lbs. This is the force that causes the car to second, it can also be used to measure your engine
accelerate. torque curve. Peak torque only occurs at one rpm
level, but because the g-Analyst measures continu
1988 ously, the g-forces it shows during acceleration are
g'5= directly related to the torque output from your
3000
engine. It is possible for the driver to trigger the g
g'5 = .66 Analyst at any point during the acceleration to mark
the screen so you can read the g-forces at any spe
The above example assumes 100% efficiency for cific engine rpm (Figure 16-7).
the transmission, clutch, driveshaft and rear axle. In Measuring Braking Forces-Since the g-Analyst
the real world this is never the case. A transmission measures forces in all directions all the time, you
in high gear might be 99% efficient. In the interme can read the amount of braking forces your car expe
diate gears it might be only 97% efficient. Rear axle riences with the same data record you used to read
efficiency is dependent on the set-up and the type of the acceleration forces . The data from a g-Analyst
axle. The ring-and-pinion in a Quick Change rear can also be helpful in training a new driver because

120
 Loads, 1,2,6-7, 114
Plates, shear, 85-86

suspension, 78
Plunge, 84

Lotus's , 91
Pontiac Trans Am, 19,37,60

Lower A-arm, 62
Positive camber, 3

Power-hop, 36

M Protractor level, 111

MacPherson struts, 40-41

Mean coil diameter, 28

Members, rigid, 77-78

Mid-Ohio road-racing track, 123

Quick-change axle, 80

Midgets, 38

Mounting shocks, 68-69

Mounts, 59

Racing cars, drag, 66

Mounts, rod-end type, 36

Rack & pinion vs. worm & sector, 58

Radiator

air inlet & exhaust, 102-103

N inlet and outlet, 104

NASCAR
Rate , spring, 25-29

roll cage, 90-91

Rear axle

Winston Cup car, 47,79

camber & toe-in, 81

Negative
housing, 79-80

camber, 3, 13-14,42
steering and alignment, 63-64

offset, 55
steering on short tracks , 82

Neutral steer, 118

Rear coil springs, 30

Nyliner inserts, 23-24

Rear deflection steer, 21

Nylon bushings, 23-24

Rear leaf springs, 30

Rear shocks

with leaf springs, 36

o with coil springs, 36

Offset
Rear stabilizer bar & links, 83

negative, 55
Rear suspension, See also Front suspension;

zero, 55
Suspension.

Oldsmobile Toronado drive axles, 83-84

de Dion, 60-61

Oversteer, 6, 20, 22
Satchell link, 70-71

balancing, 114-117
Rear suspension design, independent, 73-78

deflection, 21
advantages, 73

Oversteer, balancing, 114-117

design requirements, 74

disadvantages , 73-74

geometry, 74-75

p types, 75-78

Rear suspension design, live axle , 60-72

Panhard bar, 61-62, 69-71

advantages, 60

Patch, tire, 3

alignment, 63-64

Peerless Engineering, 49-50

anti-squat, 64-67

Percent anti-dive, 52

brake hop, 67

Percent understeer, 52

bump & roll steer, 62-64

Pivot point, determining, 27

130

 disadvantages , 60-61
5

lateral control, 61-62 .

Satchell link rear suspension, 70-71

lower A-arm, 62
Scales, portable, 114

lower angle arms, 62

SCCA, 60, 90

requirements, 61-67
Scrub radius , 41, 45-46

roll center height 61-62

Seating location, 92

steering, 63-64
Shear

swing-arm length , 67
panels, 91

types, 67-72
plates, 85-86

use of Panhard bar 69

Shimmy, tramp & bump steer, 38-39

Watt's linkage, 62
Shims, spring, 33

Rear suspension links , 82-83

Shock absorbers , 34-36

Rear suspensions, building, 79-84

dampening of, 34

live axle , 79-83

front, 34-36

live axle, rear axle housing

mounting, 34-36

Rear suspensions, building, independent, 83-84

rear with coil springs, 36

bushings, 84
rear with leaf springs, 36

control arms , 84
rubber insulators with, 34

differential, 83
Shock dampening curves, 34

drive axles, 84
Shocks, 25-36, 57-58, 75

knuckles , 84
mounting of, 68-69

Rear-wheel , toe-in and camber, 63-64

Skidpad testing, 5

Reese Bar spring torque arm, 71

SLA front suspension geometry program, 50

Ride height, adjusting, 33-34

SLA (short and long arm), 37

Ride and noise characteristics, 24

Slip joint, 78

Ride quality, 39
Snouts, front & rear, 95-96

Riverside Raceway, 60
Spherical bearings, 24

Rivnuts , 95
Spoilers

Rod-end type mounts, 36

front & rear, 100-101

Roll
positioning a front, 101

angle, 13-18
workings of, 100-101

cage, 90
Spring

center height, 14
bushings, 69

force distribution, 16-18

eye height , 68

oversteer, 63
leaves, 29, 67

steer, 62-64
load,25-29

stiffness, 15-16
lowering, 33-34

understeer, 63, 64
sag, 33

Roll center height, 51-52

shims, 33

change, 48
Spring rates, 15,25-29, 116

front & rear, 116

at the wheel, 25-26

Roll center movement , 48

change with jounce bumper, 31

Rotating inertia, 106-109

coil , 27-29

Rotational inertia, 79
leaf,29

Rubber bushings, 22, 77,84

andload,33

deflection of, 19-22

131
 for oval tracks, 32
heavy unsprung weight of, 38

for the street, 32-33

rough ride due to, 39

Spring, selecting a, 31-33

shimmy, tramp & bump steer, 38-39

aerodynamic effects, 31
space requirements of, 39

effects of too much spring rate, 31-32

strength and rigidity, 38

spring rates left-to-right, 31

Suspension geometry, computer analysis of, 48-52

Springs, 25-36, 57-58

camber angle of both wheels, 48

front , 29-30
caster angle, 49

lower rate front , 117

roll angle of car, 48

mounting, 29-30
roll center location, 48

rear leaf, 30
Suspension parts, deflection of, 3

and shocks, 75
Suspension system, springs & shocks, 25-36

variable rate, 31-32

Swing arm length, 47

variable-rate, 30
and brake hop, 67-68

Springs and shocks, coil-over, 57

Swing Axle, 39-40

Sprint cars, 38

Squat, anti, 64-67, 74, 118

Stabilizer bars, 15-16, 115-116

T
and linkage , 59
Telescoping upper link, 72

diameter, 59
Testing and tuning of vehicle, 110-125

length, 15-16, 59
Tilton clutch, 108

mounts, 59
Tires 55

rear, 117, 118

cornering efficiency, 1

Steer
factors, 3

bump & roll, 62-64

load, 1-3

front vs. rear, 58

patch,3

neutral, 118
performance curve, 2, 6

torque, 21-22
preload inside, 9-10

Steering, gear mountings, 58

Steering angle, 21
scrub,51

Stiffness
survival, 114

beaming, 88
Tire characteristics, 1-5

torsional, 88
efficiency of, 2

Strut-type front suspension, 41

input-output, 1

Suspension, See also Front suspension; Rear sus loss of relative taction, 1-2

pension.
output, 1

building a front, 55-59

traction vs. load, 1-3

building a rear, 79-84

vertical load, 1

design of front, 43-54

Tire load, vertical, 8

design of independent rear, 73-78

Tire pressure, optimum, 114

design of live axle rear, 60-72

Tire temperatures, reading, 113-114

geometry, 13, 19,43-48

chassis set-up, 114

strut type, 40-41

optimum camber setting, 114

trailing link, 40

optimum tire pressure, 114

types of front, 37-42

tire survival, 114

Suspension, beam axle, 37-39

camber control of, 38

132

 Toe
reading tire temperatures, 113-114

change. 51
wheel alignment in, 110-112

control,76
Velocity, 107

Toe-in, 81-82, 111-112

Vertical

rear, 21-22
load, 1,2,6-7

rear-wheel, 63-64
load factor, 36

Toe-out, 22, 54, 82

tire load, 8

Torque arm, 81
Volkswagens , 91

decoupling, 71-72
Beetles, 39, 40

rear suspension, 71-72

VSE,56

Torque steer, 21-22

Torsion, 86-87

Torsional stiffness, 88, 96-97

W

crash protection related to, 97

Watt's linkage, 62

Track
Wedging, 12

front , 44-45
Weight

width,14
bias, 10

Traction
distribution and dynamics , 6-12

circle of, 3-5, 117, 119, 125

formula, 107

loss of relative, 1-2

sprung, 25-26

tire, 1-3
unsprung, 25-26

Trailing link front suspension, 40

Weights, static and cornering, 10

Tramp, 38-39
Wheel

Trans Am cars, 5, 19,37,60,92

& brake pilots, 56-57

Transmission, Jerico, 108

rate, 26-27

Tubular rear suspension links, 83

Wheel offset, 44

Tuning of vehicle, 110-125

measuring, 56

Wheels, 55-56

Wings, 101-102

U Winston Cup cars, 30, 47,79

U-jointed drive axles, 60-61

Worm & sector, 58

Understeer, 6, 10-12,82

balancing, 114-117

corner entry, 117

X

deflection, 21
X-brace, 89-90, 93

Urethane bushings, 22-23

V
Zerk fittings, 24

Valentine Research, 123

Zero

Variable-rate springs, 30, 31-32

camber angle , 3

Vehicle acceleration, 107

cornering power, 31

Vehicle testing & tuning, 110-125

Zero offset, 55

applications, 117-119
backspacing for, 55

balancing understeer & oversteer, 118

measuring g-force, 119-125

133
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MAXIMUM CORNERING POWERI

In most forms of racing, cornering speed is the key

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power, both on and off the track.
Sections include:
Tire Characteristics
Weight Distribution
Roll Angle & Roll Force
Bushings, Springs & Shocks
Front Suspension Design & Building
Rear Suspension Design & Building
Frame Design & Building
Aerodynamic Downforce
Vehicle Testing & Tuning
Chassis Engineering gives you the
inside edge on how to apply the prin
ciples of suspension and chassis
design for any application. Go
ahead-enhance the cornering per
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Top: Courtesy Chevrolet. Middle: Michael Lutfy. Bottom: Michael Lutfy. Engineering is a must-have reference
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