Board logo

offroad buggy suspension design help
sippingdiesel - 1/1/11 at 09:16 PM

I have read a fair few of the traditional suspension design bibles that document sports and race car suspension design. However Im struggling to find any sources dedicated to offroad suspension design. Alot of on road cars have wishbones that sit near horizontal when viewed from the side of the car, ie the front bush sits on the same plane as the rear bush. A majority of offroad buggies, quads etc have the wishbones raked back so the front bushes are higher than the rear ones which makes alot of sense but Id like to know a little more about the theory behind it.

If anyone can recomend an offroad suspension design book or link that would be great

iank - 1/1/11 at 10:20 PM

Worth asking over here http://www.minibuggy.net/forum/

Rorty (ex of this parish) has some basic buggy suspension information on his site
http://www.rorty-design.com/content/Ed_McCannick.htm

designer - 2/1/11 at 09:22 AM

Free plans here:

http://www.minibuggy.net/forum/frame/5722-free-plans-single-seater-buggy.html

MikeRJ - 2/1/11 at 10:15 AM

quote:
Originally posted by sippingdiesel
I have read a fair few of the traditional suspension design bibles that document sports and race car suspension design. However Im struggling to find any sources dedicated to offroad suspension design. Alot of on road cars have wishbones that sit near horizontal when viewed from the side of the car, ie the front bush sits on the same plane as the rear bush. A majority of offroad buggies, quads etc have the wishbones raked back so the front bushes are higher than the rear ones which makes alot of sense but Id like to know a little more about the theory behind it.


What suspension systems have you seen this on, e.g. double wishbone or McPherson? If double wishbone was the top wishbone similarly inclined?

Having the front wishbone mounting higher than the rear would move the bottom of the upright backwards as the suspension compressed, which would reduce castor.

JoelP - 2/1/11 at 10:25 AM

i would imagine they do that on offroad buggies so that, if you hit a rock, the wheel is moving a bit back as well as upwards, so it has more time to clear a bump, rather than get knocked off.

mangogrooveworkshop - 2/1/11 at 11:12 AM

LINK

I would question the need to redesign something that already has a design.
It just delays the building process. the design needs a few tweaks and that's it

[Edited on 2-1-11 by mangogrooveworkshop]