I have just started my build and at the point where I need to decide which way to go I have the Escort diff, but am not set on the live axle. I will be using the car for fun drives no racing, whats the verdict?

Live axle everytime

They're simple, robust and give great handling.

The IRS set-ups usually give a better ride but not much else unless you really know how to set them up and are driving 10 tenths on a race circuit IMHO of course

Locost too.

i'd always go live axle, but irs does have distinct advantages, but only if your really going for it, i racing i think.

With live axle you can always convert to De Dion later without major work.

have a look back and them are massive debates on what to go for etc they all have advantages and disadvantages it all depends on your budget, needs and skill

quote:

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Originally posted by britishtrident
With live axle you can always convert to De Dion later without major work.

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IRS would need a cage building, wishbones, hubs etc.

De-dion reuses the trailing arms. In theory you 'just' need to attach the diff (brackets 15ish quid from MNR) and get / make a dedion axle.

done.

Yup, do a search, it's been beaten to death over and over, with no definite conclusion. It's all about what you want, what you can afford, and your abilities.

Live axle and a bit of padding under your a*se.

David

The definite conclusion there is no conclusion except live axles aren't that bad on smooth surface but aren't as good as IRS or De Dion.

Build two,
One live axle one IRS.
Drive the **** out of them and decide....

I would go live axle. Its simple, light, cheap and you will not really notice the difference over an IRS.

However......... put effort into getting as much axle movement as possible then you can run long soft springs........ thats the secret with a live axle.

I gather it depends on the quality of your roads and whether you want to race 750 or not. No matter how bad you think your UK roads are, they will not be anywhere near as bad as here due to the weather - extreme cold and extreme hot.

RK is exactly right, a quick breakdown is as follows:

LIVE AXLE:

+ great handling on smooth roads, generally easy to find useful diff ratios, brakes etc. 7's were designed for live axle and the chassis has nodes in the right places to take the loads from this setup.

- bouncy on bumpy roads, with wheelspin coming and going as it does so. Needs decent dampers and wisely weighted springs to control it, due to the sprung to unsprung weight ratio at the rear of the car being unfavourable

WISHBONE IRS

+ good wheel control over bumps, can be set up to give good tyre temps at any track, gives dampers an easier life (so can generally use cheaper ones)

- more expensive, harder to get good diff ratios for irs type diffs, much harder to set up, easy to cock up the setup, HEAVIER (IRS has less unspring weight but is actually heavier in terms of overalll weight)

DE-DION

+ all the plus points of live axle, especially pointing out that fact that the 7 type chassis was designed to have the forces fed in where a live axle (or de-dion) is mounted, wishhbone irs generally needs less than ideal structures to feed the loads in nicely. The lightest setup of all. low unsprung weight, simple to setup, easy to build.

- ............none really. Maybe a slight lack of adjustability, but who needs it??????


In case you think I am biased, I actually have a wishbone IRS setup, but if building from scratch would go de-dion.

and he keeps pushing me down de-dion

(despite the fact i've got live axle ready to do in and de-dion needs some minor mods + the de-dion axle welding up!)