I was wondering if bike/quad shocks will work on my car? i've read a post on locostusa where they suggested it, someone even suggested two at each corner cos they are so cheap
They would work really well if you used pushrod/rocker type suspension to get the loads just right....
But IMHO...I would design the suspension around the car, not the car around the suspension!
have a look at chrisf car/photos he has done just this at the back and it works.
I have bike shocks on my car and The ones on the front which are two monoshocks off a Suzuki RGV 250,on the back I have some Hagons intended for the
back of a Harley Davidson, the front ones are great well dampened and a perfect spring rate but the back ones are a little under damped and need
slightly heavier springs. Not that this has stopped me having lots of fun in the car, and after about 6000 ks I dream about better shocks on the back
but I don't feel any need to rush into getting any.
I tried designing them in and they wouldn't work for me. Basically you start with about 4cm of travel and 270kg spring rate. Since they installation ratio is squared, I couldn't get both the 15cm travel and 67kg wheel rate. I can see them working for a BEC, however.
Thanks guys,I think I'll try and use those monoshocks in the front if I can get some and try to get some long travel ones for the back setup. two
at each corner. How do I work out the rates for the shocks? Maybe if I have one at hand I can Calc its effects on my 3D model
chrisf's car, matt black rocks!
[Edited on 20/5/08 by Gakes]
I think that the La Bala used R6 shocks with rockers.
There's no reason why you can't use bike shocks on a car. Plenty of people have done so succesfully. Apart from the cost (assuming you buy
them from a breakers) they will often feature separate compression and rebound adjustment as well as spring preload adjustment.
You should be aware though that there are all sorts of different bike shocks around. From cheapo "twin shocks" (on bikes with two rear
shocks strangely enough) which will have a stroke of around 100mm and spring rates generally around 100-130 lbs/in to sophisticated three way
adjustable monoshocks. Due to all the different linkages and installations these can have from 45mm to 100mm of stroke and springs which can vary from
275lbs/in to 1300lbs/in.
The trick, fairly obviously, is to use a shock which will give you the wheel rate you are looking for. The only other dodge which can be useful is
that you can reduce the stroke if needs be using a solid packer over the damper rod. One thing that should be avoided is a radical change of spring
rate. Shocks are valved to control a certain spring rate. Violent changes of rate will cause over/under damped suspension.
Any recent sports bike will generally be fitted with a reasonable quality shock. The best quality jap shock is the Showa as fitted to most Hondas.
Avoid however the Showas on BMWs. Same name, but I believe, made in Europe and ess aitch one tee.
All this IMHO of course.
One advantage of going for car shocks of course if that there's almost an embarassement of choice when it comes to spring rates. I'm not sure you'll find quite the same degree of choice if you decide your bike-shoked car is under / over sprung....
As Kimini said, it is a right pain in the ass. When I designed my bike-damper suspension, I had tons of time and little money. The situation has since
reversed, and if I were doinf it again, I'd likely just go with car shocks.
That said, my bike dampers work perfectly. They have about 1 hour total track time and they repond very well.
Thanks for the comment on the car color. It wasn't easy to do!
[edit] Those stripes are just black reflective vinyl. They are black in light and silver when headlights hit them.
--Chris
[Edited on 20/5/08 by chrisf]
Regarding spring rate choices, providing you are using shocks with 2.25" ID springs, which most of them are, you will have just as much choice of
alternative springs as with car units.
These guys have a reasonable range
http://www.dfaulknersprings.co.uk/
Thanks for the valuable input guys, but like Chrisf said: I had tons of time and little money.....Likewise with me, In South Africa, a decent
set of coilovers cost about R9000,or about 620 pounds.
Chrisf, About your colour, I absolutely adore it
How did u go about getting the matt finnish. It was one of my choices, but heard its high
maintainance and needs special care. is this true?
this forum rocks
quote:
Chrisf, About your colour, I absolutely adore it
this forum rocks
FYI I use 2003 Yamaha R6 shocks front and back on my car with rockers. It rides quite well and works as I designed it.
A good place to find springs of many sizes and rates on my side of the pond (USA for those of you searching the forum for information like this) is
http://www.bluecoilspring.com/
Thanks for the tips guys, I'm definately having matt black somewhere on my car. As for shocks, thanks Sgraber, I will try and source a set. What does ur car way, and what engine are u running at the moment, is it still the 4AGE?
quote:
Originally posted by Gakes
Thanks for the tips guys, I'm definately having matt black somewhere on my car. As for shocks, thanks Sgraber, I will try and source a set. What does ur car way, and what engine are u running at the moment, is it still the 4AGE?
It all depends how much suspension travel you want. I don't want less than 15cm total, so they wouldn't work for the 1820kg fully loaded
weight. While I could have swapped in some super-stiff springs, I didn't want to go there.
Don't forget that the installation ratio is squared when you work through the numbers!!!
quote:
Originally posted by kb58 1820kg fully loaded weight.
Oops, dang units! I also quoted weight of the Mini, which never did use bike shocks. Let me try this again:
Total loaded weight is 680kg.