Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/03/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Frank, There is an axle setup that had a mixed bag of advantages and disadvantages of the live and swing axles. I had a DeDion axle on my 1953 Allard J2X. Unfortunately, Sidney Allard used a swing axle in the FRONT, with enormous positive camber. What the car needed was about zero front camber and slight negative camber in the rear. Jerry Frank Dernie wrote: > Hi, > these Mercs were not good, just not as bad as some others :-) > Swing axles have excessive camber change by conceptual necessity. Even > the heavy, complicated systems where the swing axle pivot was almost > right over the other side of the car are poor in this respect. Whilst > lowering the pivot reduces jacking it risks expensive bottoming damage > and making a stiff enough system with a low pivot is heavy and > technically inelegant due to the high point loads. Anyway - on road > cars for typical drivers any old system will work - lets face it in > some places there are still a large number of live axles being > manufactured (!). For enthusiastic drivers swing axles should be > avoided IMHO. > In the days before the swing axle was sensibly abandoned racing cars > did not have much, if any, downforce so the additional problem of > camber change with ride height was less of a catastrophe than it would > be today. > Frank > > > On 30 Mar, 2007, at 18:12, Photo Phreak wrote: > >> >> There were a great many Mercedes-Benz sedans and sports cars that >> successfully used a low pivot swing axle. It is all a matter of good >> engineering. >> >> But good engineering and accountants in high authority positions >> seem to be contradictory... >> >> ================================================================== >> Frank Dernie <Frank.Dernie@btinternet.com> wrote: The strength and >> weakness of Swing Axles is simple physics. >> >> Strengths:- >> >> Cost (on a rear engined car) >> >> Weaknesses:- >> >> Everything else. Why anybody would use it on a front engined car is a >> mystery. Live axles are even cheaper and, though really poor are not >> as bad as swing axles. >> >> There are ways to disguise the shortcomings but they are a bandaid on >> an amputation. >> >> Frank