Sliding Pillars - Any Good?

[Guest frozennorth20]

Currently (finally!) building my 2B, and notice lots of comments / mods / wishbone conversions....... - are they really that bad in use? (not bothered from point of view of comfort, but roadholding / handling) - I'd be interested in comments from people who have driven this system (particularly track use) before I start choppling them off!

 

Cheers,

 

John

[Guest Battery Bill]

John

Salty Monk (Dan) has Sliding Pillock suspension and he was wizzing very quickly round Barkston heath

[Guest salty_monk]

That'll be me then...

 

Have a look at the Barkston Heath results post by John Walton I'm pretty sure I was the only "pillock" there

All others were on wishbones or wishbones with inboard shocks (S7 monocoque tub thingy).

 

They aren't too bad & will certainly out-handle most tin tops but wishbones will obviously be better.

2 problems with them, for best handling & no bumpsteer you need to put the steering rod balljoint in from the top (which mine has - not sure if you can get away with it like this for SVA, Bob Tucker is the man to ask) & the taper is the wrong way for this I think so you need to re-drill it or be a bit creative with an insert..

2nd problem I didn't find out till I put it on the track - the bolt on the bottom of the hub can be made to actually touch the inside of the alloy wheel by giving it lots of "beans" round a very tight bend but I'm talking pretty extreme, I have only managed it on the road a couple of times since... (and I drive it quite quickly..)Only cure I have been told about for this so far is to convert to wishbones but you can alleviate the problem by tapping the shaft (only bolt head on the bottom then, no nut..)so minimising what is sticking down from the bottom of the hub & using bigger wheels (if you can get them on... I currently have 14" & have a set of 15's here ready to try on Peugeot offset but not had a chance with them yet..)

 

There must be some way of devising a bump stop to stop them being able to move that far over but as yet i have not put enough thought into it to work something out....

 

So after all that:

 

Wishbones are ultimately the way forward & it'll be easier to do them now rather than afterwards but if you don't have the dough (it's going to cost you at least £500 I would think & then you'll probably want to upgrade the rear to match so more dough...) then they aren't that bad.

 

Hope that helps

[Dave R]

rekon i have sorted the bumpstop idea

will post a picture tonight if i remember

[Guest salty_monk]

Something to look forward to when I get back then... going away for a few days

[Dave R]

he's my extra spacer for curing the bump stop problem

not as clear in the picture as i first thought. i left the spring off so you can see it but havent slotted the pillar back in at the top

 

Dan ....... have you got a grease mark on your shaft. "oeeerr missus" that shows how far the suspension travels in normal road use ?

i think the spacers if anything are too long at the moment but its hard to guess how much the bumpstop will compress

[Guest frozennorth20]

Aha, seems like the sliding pillars aren't as bad as I first thought, even if there are a few technical issues to be addressed....... think I'll leave the hacksaw to one side for the time being, and build as - is (with appropriate mods) and see how it turns out. Thanks to everyone for your feedback / comments, any other info will be appreciated!

[Guest salty_monk]

Dave - reckon I probably have or at least I can create one for you if not - if it ever stops raining!!

 

You'll have to specify what you mean by "normal driving" though I'm pretty hard on mine...

 

From what I can work out from the Picture it looks like what I have thought about myself - would appreciate more piccies & info if you have time at some stage....

[Dave R]

will do a sketch of what i got with a few sizes on tomorow

someone else pm'ed me for the same sort of thing but i have lost his email so dunno who it was!

i have used all the nylon i had making these but wouldnt be an expensive thing to get them made

 

i am also fairly hard on my tin-top so guess you better go for it if we geta dry day again this year!

[Guest salty_monk]

No worries!!

[Dave R]

here it is

sorry only a fag box sketch . was never any good with autocad!

 

nothing too critcal the main od is just a tad under the diameter of the existing mc phearson bumpstops and the taper just to make sure it dont hit the spring

 

the length looks about right for mine with 15inch alloys but may need adjusting for those with 14's. if anything i have gone to long for mine but its hard to guess how far the existing bumpstop wil squash

 

the hole is 20mm to suit the chrome shaft, mine is reamed but only cos i found a suitable reamer before i found the drill

 

 

 

on another note dan, what have you got the camber set to ? i was gonna guess at dead upright but yours seems to handle so wonder what yours is set to ?

Edited October 19, 2004 by Mat-d-Rat

[Dave R]

big enuff aint it!

[Guest salty_monk]

Yep!

 

As for Camber, I really don't know..... I didn't build it & I haven't altered anything on the suspension

 

If you're ever down this way & want to take a look then you're welcome.

 

If anyone can tell me how to measure it accurately for you I could have a go at that too...

[Dave R]

i got an engineeers vernier protractor with a spirit level bubble in it

i was gonna go by that for a first attempt

i know my garage floor is somewhere near level

then hold it on the hub/wheel face and see what angle i get

vertical seems to be with the shaft pushed hard into the top slot on mine, so guess thats where i will start

[Guest chris brown]

Dave I would expect to see -ve camber. When I was building I rang RHE and asked what the angle should be and Richards answer was 1/4 inch (yes I know it's supposed to be in degrees but trying telling Richard that) in at the top when measured at the rim of the wheel which I think worked out at about 1 degree. Which is not easy to achieve with wishbones as 1 turn of the top joint is nearly a degree but with the sliding pillars you should be able to be more accurate.