Beam attachment

[gbmetcalf]

I have a quick question about the uprights that the front beam is attached to.
In some designs the uprights are raked back at a 2 degree angle, and some are at 90 degrees with shims being used to obtain that angle.

Which is the most often used? and why?

Ok that was two questions.

G.

[Doug FST 5]

That angle sets the caster of the front end. The caster built into the ball joint beam is more than the link pin beam. We had to shim some out on our FV conversion as the steering effort was too high.


Doug FST 5

[gbmetcalf]

If that's the case. What angle is the ball joint to be set at?

[Doug FST 5]

My car isn't on its wheels and won't be for a while. I can measure the angle of the beam relative to the floor of the chassis. Cars differ in the rake of the chassis which will enter into the total caster angle. The angle I measure should give you a good start though.

Doug FST 5

[Bill Bonow]

Brian,

The best bet is to minimize caster. The British guys are running 90 degrees and rotating the camber/caster pill to minimize caster. The ball joint beam has a ton of caster built in. When we first tested the Committee Car, we had FV type caster (&7 or 8 degrees) and had "pop-eye" fore arms by the end of the test day.

[Doug FST 5]

I didn't get the measurement last night but I believe our beam mount is 90 degrees to the floor and the adjusters set to minimize caster as Bill said in the last post.

Doug FST 5

[gbmetcalf]

Thank you guys 90° is a lot easier to do for me.

G.