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Suspension books - recommendations ?
clanger - 17/2/08 at 01:03 AM

Hi,
Thinking ahead to my front ZX12 engined, RWD mini project and the rear chassis setup, I've been looking at buying a few books by Staniforth to get my creative juices flowing.
Race & Rally Car Source Book, and Competition Car Suspension.

I don't want to "re-invent the wheel" when it comes to my RWD setup and design from scratch, but want a good starting point in order to end up with a good handling car when its finished.

I'm planning a double wishbone IRS setup and was thinking of the following:

Using one of the book chassis designs and shrinking the track and associated suspension components down to fit Mini dimensions
or
Using the above books and alot of research to adapt some form of race car setup.

Any thoughts ?

Ta


tegwin - 17/2/08 at 01:30 AM

Buy the Kimini book....its good!


kb58 - 17/2/08 at 02:29 AM

Thanks, tegwin!

Also, check out my book list on my site.


clanger - 17/2/08 at 09:19 AM

quote:
Originally posted by kb58
Thanks, tegwin!

Also, check out my book list on my site.


I did look at your book and website

Would it be of use to me with a conventional front engine RWD setup?
You seem to concentrate heavily on the mid engine setup?

Thanks


Echidna - 17/2/08 at 10:58 AM

quote:
Originally posted by clanger
quote:
Originally posted by kb58
Thanks, tegwin!

Also, check out my book list on my site.


I did look at your book and website

Would it be of use to me with a conventional front engine RWD setup?
You seem to concentrate heavily on the mid engine setup?

Thanks


Buy the book, never mindwhat setupyou are going to build. I have it and the book learns you to think and find solutions, not just follow the instructions.
Comparing the classic "hot to build" books with the Kimini one, i would tell that the last one is the book for engineers ans the first for the fabricators.


MikeCapon - 17/2/08 at 01:28 PM

Get yourself the Competition Car Suspension book by Staniforth. There is a lot of good stuff and food for thought for your kind of project. Loads of real good ideas for all sorts of applications. You can never have too much knowledge of this subject.


JEPY - 17/2/08 at 02:21 PM

I like " How to build & modify sportscar and kit car suspension and brakes ofr Road and Track" by Des Hammill.

Covers the basics of geometry and setup and is applicable to all vehicles. Once you know what setup you're after, you should be able to design a system to fit the dimensions of you project.


indykid - 17/2/08 at 04:03 PM

get down to your local library and see if they have a copy of race car vehicle dynamics by milliken and milliken.

i'd read various suspension design books, but i think that one covers everything most thoroughly. there's a lot of maths in it, but if that scares you, if you look around the equations, there's some good text too.

don't try buy it. it's over £100 if you can find a copy, but i'm on my 3rd renewal since i got it out of the uni library.

the 2 staniforth books have a lot of similar material

tom


JB - 17/2/08 at 04:18 PM

2nd vote for Milikin and Milikin.

The first viewing will scare you because of all the maths but read it and it tells you so much. If you can understand and apply everything in that book then you can work for car manufacturers, race teams etc!

I also like all of Carroll Smiths books.


JEPY - 17/2/08 at 04:20 PM

Indykid,

Is that the book that shows you how to mock up the suspension arms (I think it's referred to as a calclutor or computer) and show what happens to the camber/castor as the suspension deflects?

James


C10CoryM - 17/2/08 at 05:30 PM

For a first read I would highly recommend "chassis engineering" by Herb Adams. Well laid out, easy to read, and simple enough to figure out.


clanger - 17/2/08 at 07:13 PM

Cheers All,
Will paying the local library a visit in the coming weeks / months.
Last time I was a member I was building my first car., should have seen the librarians face when I asked her to order the then current SVA manual

Plenty of bed time reading with that lot