Fixing the rear geometry once and for all...

[matt]

Well, let me finish my own car first... then we'll talk about selling it.

This is a looooooooooong term project.

[xLibelle]

while at work today, i remembered the idea i had regading a plausable rear suspension design. its close to what i tried explaing earlier but i dont know why i forgot ...

lower control arm is exactly like that of our semi trailing arm, 15 degrees and all. this variation will manipulate the toe as it does normally but thats all it will have an effect on, other than keeping the toe in control.
instead of being a solid mount, from the arm to the hub, it would have one pivot angle. that angle is parallel from the front to back of the car at bottom of the knuckle. So if the arm were held in place the hub could angle in and out of the wheel well.
The top of the knuckle would be held by a single control arm with a ball joint at each end to allow for the camber, caster and toe movements.

obviously the upper tie rod length is greatly important regarding the camber due to the fact the lower arm doesnt move in the same parallel but this can be a good thing where if set low enough, it could have an impressive effect on cornering traction.

[matt]

So you'd use the stock trailing arm for toe control but add a link to control camber? Might as well just change the whole thing.

On the advice of my engineer friends, I am going to get started on putting together the front first, then design the rear around that. Widetrack (note, I didn't say widebody or wide-tire ) 5-lug here I come...

[matt]

I am leaning toward e36 rear hubs BTW. Mostly for availability.

[e304me]

can you post some drawings of what your doing on the front?

[matt]

Not at the moment. I don't have any.

It's going to look a lot like the stock setup, except where it's different. :p

[e304me]

any updates?

[matt]

Project is on hold for a bit while we move into a new shop. Maybe later next month I'll get back to work on it.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Did this pull off what you guys where going for?

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=93923

[e304me]

no. nice looking car though

[matt]

The front setup is very similar to my plans in a lot of ways.

[matt]

Well, I've made some progress with this...

I'm going to use e36 hubs. Easy to get, cheap, and you can put all kinds of brakes on them.

The rear subframe will probably look a lot like an e36 one also... but that's still in the works. I'm also still thinking about cutting up e36 rear trailing arms for the uprights, but I'm dead set on using the hubs and wheel bearings and such.

Hopefully I'll have some time to get started tearing into the chassis I'm going to use for this soon.

[Mike B.]

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

[matt]

I think I've changed my mind about this.

I've found something else that may work a little better and be a lot easier than a whole custom rear suspension.

Sorry to keep posting nothing but teasers... I'll try to get some pictures to post soon.

Here's a big picture.

[Mike B.]

How close is the rear shock / tower mount placement compared to the E30?

Looks like a Miata rear unit. I've been looking into one as a fun little DD.