On 10/04/2010 06:19 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:43:54 -0700, Tim
wrote:

On 10/04/2010 12:36 PM, Leon Fisk wrote:
On Sun, 3 Oct 2010 18:00:03 -0500
wrote:

snip
It would be a lot easier that way , without drive components complicating
things . If you can find that snapshot I'd appreciate it ! My reply-to is
good ...

It took some digging...

This is the web page that Wes made:

http://garage-machinist.com/BuckleyOldeEngineShow/2008/

Take a look at the first four pictures. Not quite how I remembered it
but maybe it will give you some ideas...

It sure looks cool!

I would have done the same thing with a double wishbone suspension, and
maybe little car tires. If you go that way, keep in mind that the
geometry that's right for a single motorcycle wheel may lead to
horrendous bump steer and other difficulties on a vehicle that will
essentially handle like a car.

But it sure looks cool.
Put a "bug" front axle on it. You can narrow it easily - and lighten
the torsion rods (or remove them and install coil-overs)

There's a lot of options there. Just about anything from out of a car
would be hard to make look good. Whomping up a dual-wishbone IFS from
tubing would look good -- even painted it'd look good -- but would take
some time in jigging, and you'd be at the mercy of your own ignorance
with the handling. You could do a straight axle, at the cost of some
really horrendous and hard to control oversteer. You could do a "1960's
Ford pickup" style front axle, i.e. a straight axle that's been split
and the ends overlapped, for a simplified, but probably still
prone-to-oversteer front end.

So Snag: When it comes to oversteer vs. understeer, does your wife
prefer to go into the pucker brush front-first, or back-first?

Spindles would be an issue, wouldn't they? You could make 'em, and take
the "wannabe" out of your tag line when you're done. Or you could try
to find a suitable donor car (egad).

Other than the bug I can't think of many really small rear-wheel drive
cars, unless you want to cruise the junk yards looking for Toyotas &c
from the early 70's. Or maybe something like a Honda or Mazda rear
spindle could be adapted? I have Absolutely No Clue (TM) how much of a
pain this would be -- you'd almost want to have a spindle part that you
kept, then machine off all the features on the back and bolt it to a
backing plate/steering adapter with the same bolts that would normally
bolt the brakes on.

Motorcycle spindles wouldn't work 'cause they're designed to hang the
axle on both sides.

Etc.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html