What are the options for front suspension ball joints? I would not like to use the joints from the book wich are
bolted to the wishbones. I wouldn`t also use spherical bearings because the car is for road use.
I have been thinking about taking the ball joints from some common car(ie. some european compact car like ford,
vw or peugeot etc.). I think the most ball joints are pressed with hydraulical press to the machined bore in the suspension arm?
I assume you have the ability to;
a - machine the necessary parts
b - press them together
What hubs would you use, or would you also be machining the hubs (I think this required anyway if you are using Sierra hubs)
Any particular reason you are considering this?
Sean
[Edited on 31/3/09 by londonsean69]
quote:
Originally posted by hexxi
I would not like to use the joints from the book wich are
bolted to the wishbones.
Vw front are bolted in with 3 bolts at least upto mk3 golf
If you don't want to use the clumpy great Cortina lower ball joints then use the 2 bolt Maxi ones that MK and many others use - you'll need to ream the taper in the Sierra upright to suit though.
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
If you don't want to use the clumpy great Cortina lower ball joints then use the 2 bolt Maxi ones that MK and many others use - you'll need to ream the taper in the Sierra upright to suit though.
I`m not exactly doing a Locost. The vehicle will be a one off single seater.
I want to define the suspension geometry myself and therefore also the uprights will be one of ass will the wishbones also. I will design them with
CAD program, do the drawings and find some company to manuafacture them as I don`t have all the equipment needed. Or probably I will do some of the
work myself and let company do only the machining.
All this because of the joy of engineering
Make sure you understand the suspension arrangement of any donor your are considering using the ball joints from. The vast majority of FWD cars use a McPherson strut, so the lower ball joint is not designed for the kind of pull-out forces it would see in a locost type arrangement.
So you're building a single seater but won't use spherical bearings? Mmmmm.....
I`m designing (not yet building) a three wheeler with 2 wheels up front and one at the back...and of course a motorbike engine. Something like the Campagna T-rex but the seat in the middle...
MikeRJ,
Are you referring to the spring forces acting through the lower wishbone, instead of directly onto the top of the upright? I could see this resulting
in a 'non-designed' force trying to separate the ball joint.
Has anybody experienced a lower ball joint failure because of this change to the designed load path?