An international forum for people interested in modern high performance road going sidecars. Forum Index An international forum for people interested in modern high performance road going sidecars.

 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

hub center steering design specifics

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    An international forum for people interested in modern high performance road going sidecars. Forum Index -> HPSidecar Technical Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
arbalest



Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 93
Location: Windham

PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 6:12 pm    Post subject: hub center steering design specifics Reply with quote

Blackbird Bill, these questions are for you. I have been looking over your Blackbird fabrication photos and have a couple of questions:
1: what did you use for upper and lower ball joints?
2: it appears you changed the design of the steering geometry over the course of the photos; can you elaborate on the changes to the steering arm (that connects to the upright), specifically, is there a bearing or a bushing at the connection point to the upright? It also appears that you changed the geometry of the (don't know the term) that connects the triple tree/forks to the steering arm. Can you elaborate on the final design and why you changed from the initial design?

Thanks,

Mike Lydon
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bmcsheehy



Joined: 22 Jan 2005
Posts: 991
Location: Massachusetts USA

PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



The original design for the steering arm used two tie-rod ends as the up & down pivot.
The fender bracket is mounted to the steering arm.
The tie-rod ends are manufactured with springs pushing down against the ball to take up any play and or wear.
When I added the leverage of the fender and fender bracket, the fender could be moved left to right very easily.
Causing the fender to rub the tire.
The current design uses ball bearings as the up and down pivot. There is no movement in the fender now.

The wishbone, original design if you can see in the photo, had tabs welded on either side of the fork tubes.
The alignment was less than perfect due to the welding operation. As a result there was minor binding and it was very noisy, a creaking sound.
The new design allowed me to run a reamer through the wishbone and straighten any alignment issues after the welding operation.
Also like the look of the new design, looks cleaner to me.



Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
arbalest



Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 93
Location: Windham

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bill, none of the photos came through. Could you email them to me at mwl @ montalvo . com(remove the spaces)? Also, can you tell me what you used for the upper and lower ball joint?

Thanks,

Mike Lydon
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
arbalest



Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 93
Location: Windham

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bill, photos came through this time.

Mike
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    An international forum for people interested in modern high performance road going sidecars. Forum Index -> HPSidecar Technical Discussion All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group