[img]http://www.faceparty.com/image_settings.asp?img_id=8495849&acstr=Z11FCEE2[/img] i would like to no if this idea would be able to work or not. its a modified mushroon insert with a suspension bracket welded on to it. the coil over is bolted to a support which is bolted to the top of the orginal suspension mount and welded to the inner wing. will this work. plz let me no. thanks

sorry pic didn't work

[img][/img] got the pic

NO there's nothing to stop the joint between the mushroom and damper unit from just folding over, could be painful

would this work with an added steel bar
[img][/img]

that shocks gonna be poking well above the bonnet!

atb

steve

the idea is to replace the oginal long shock and spring wit the coilover shocks used in locost builds. the design fits under the wing and all i'm asking if it would work

its a pretty clear NO.

as there is no top wishbone - only the shock - the hub is gonna step out at a really crazy angle as it is compressed.


A general guide to whats possible is to look at whats been done before. I havnt seen anything like that in 4 years of building. The closest is the strange suspension used on the original robin hood 2b that uses the strut hole as a mount on a vertical slider. generally considered a crap solution



a machphereson strut is solidly mounted - not pivoted - at the connection to the hub. the strut itself rotates to allow steering movement as the strut is a pivot. I dont know if a coil over should be allowed to rotate on its piston shaft.....


atb

steve

[Edited on 13/9/04 by stephen_gusterson]

You are essentialy converting a McPherson strut to a double wishbone system. Unfortunately it's not as easy as just kncoking up an upper wishbone and finding somewhere on the inner wiong to hang it off. You need to get the length of the top wishbone, and the point of attachment on the inner wing correct to ensure you get a suitable roll center and that the camber change during bump and roll is acceptable.

You also need to consider how you are going to attach the upper wishbone to the top of the upright as well as the shock, bearing in mind it will have to be a ball joint of some description to allow steering and suspension travel.

Just to throw a spanner in the works, the standard steering rack location will undoubtedly not be ideal for the new setup and could give rise to excessive bump steer.

I'd recommend you read one of the books avialble on suspension design such as Alan Staniforths "Competition Car Suspension" which should give you a good insight to the engineering required to design or modify a suspension system like this.

[Edited on 13/9/04 by MikeRJ]

as suspension is such a really hard subject area to get right, its probably better to copy whats been done before. At least you know its gonna work.

atb

steve

cheers ppl. i'm getting a capri and going to upgrade everything. i can't find coilover suspesion for it so thats y i thought of this. does any one no of any were thats makes suspension for capri's

Surely you can get uprated struts with adjustable spring platforms etc?

tell me this would u be able to put a seirra hub and strut into a capri? or is the struts to tall out of the seirra?

Tried and tested stuff for the Capri is available from just about everywhere. Bilstein struts came with the 2.8i and are freely available, Rally Design do more spring length and strength variations than you can shake a stick at. Coilover conversions for the original struts are also available, either in DIY or as a professional mod. Leda do adjustable damped struts. If they are Capri struts other than 2.8i then Koni, Spax and other do adjustable inserts. Different top mounts are available to improve feel as well as eccentric ones to change caster/camber, as are adjustable track control arms. Double width / anti dive kits are also available to stiffen up the front end. All in all there's loads of stuff that can easily be done to a Capri front end without resorting to a double wishbone set up.

cheers ppl

I have a soliution for you but first......as has been mentioned further up, there is no need to do this to a Capri! Having owned a few, the solution is just use readily available bits, there's nothinf wrong with the 2.8i struts, all the rally escorts use them!!

If you want to use a Capri strut for double wishbone though, it has been done on many kit cars. The most common is the Sylva Striker (or Stryker) and more recently the same car as built by RAW engineering. This uses a cut down capri strut with a balljoint adaptor in the top to take a proprietary balljoint and mount an upper wishbone.