Suspension Literature

[phunky_monkey]

Hey all,

I'm interested in learning more about suspension setup, doing my own alignments etc. Just wondering what experience people here have with any suspension literature? Basically looking for an all in one book to teach me the ins and outs of setting up my track car, as well as my road car.

Has anyone read this?: http://www.pitstop.net.au/view/technical-c...query/plu/1734/

Cheers

Dane

[djr81]

The problem is that most books fall into two categories.

1. Too basic.

2. Too mathematical.

The one you have is probably the former, but add to the fact that it is horribly out of date also.

If you want a recommendation some of Carroll Smiths stuff is ok (But similarly dated). Try either of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Tune-Win-Carroll-Smi...9845&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Win-Essential-...9871&sr=1-4

If you want to risk an aneurysm go with Millikens tome:

http://www.amazon.com/Race-Car-Vehicle-Dyn...d_sim_b_title_4

Remember thought, the key to it is as much about understanding tyre behaviour as understanding chassis behaviour.

Edited April 21, 2008 by djr81

[phunky_monkey]

Thanks for the tips mate, much appreciated. I might look into the first two, and see what else is around.

Damn suspension, hard to learn about, let alone setup!

[djr81]

The problem is most books don't spend enough time on the implications of changing the geometry on various types of suspension. eg you wont find things such as don't lower a car with a McPherson strut front end to the point that the LCA is horizontal or inclined upwards.

This sort of thing can sometimes be useful:

http://www.racingaspirations.com/suspensiongeometry.php

[Sydneykid]

The ones I refer to most in my library;

Tune to Win - Carrol Smith

Drive to Win - Carrol Smith

Saloon Car Race Preparation - Nigel MacKnight

Performance Handling - Don Alexander

Competition Car Suspension - Allan Staniforth

Race Car Engineering & Mechanics - Paul Van Valkenburgh

I have found that there is no one book that covers it, the ones that may on the surface appear to be out of date still have lots of relevance and even the heavily scientific ones have some basic stuff that anyone can grasp even if you ultimately ignore the formulas.

Cheers

Gary

[Roy]

Race Car Engineering & Mechanics - Paul Van Valkenburgh

Good book. I have more chassis books from when i was involved with SAE, but there is a level of cross over between them all

[phunky_monkey]

Thanks fo rthe tips all, I'll have a flick through some of them and work out which is best for what I'm looking for.

The Carroll Smith books seem to have a good rep, so that might be the go. I think it will still be relevant for the type of info I'm chasing.

Cheers

Dane

[salad]

Performance Handling by Don Alexander is quite a helpful one, not too complex, not too simple. A fair amount of stuff in there on tuning with tyre temps, which I thought was pretty handy, although I'm not sure how handy it would be in real life as it's not often you come into the pits hot.

Milliken's probably a bit much for what you want, is mostly for design and endless calculations rather than anything incredibly helpful for tuning. Tyres, Suspension and Hanlding by Dixon is much the same thing.

Have you had a look at my thread?

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Su...ic-t161623.html

Might find something useful in there... Maybe...

[phunky_monkey]

Thanks for the link mate, that's exactly what I'm after! Just after some theory that is not too complex, and will aid me in being able to set my cars up myself.

[salad]

Oh, and this guy writes articles for Racecar Engineering, lot of PDFs there, decent amount of theory, and a fair bit of practical stuff too. Just found it the other night, been reading heaps

http://rejsa.nu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40875