koh suspension ?

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
at 4:29 is he running a front wishbone lower?
if he is does anyone on here have more information on a front suspension like this..


also on the rear suspension his lowers look to be mounted above the axle tube..

[video=youtube;yIxKli-rZxY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIxKli-rZxY[/video]
 

cjncustoms

Well-Known Member
Location
West jordan
It looks like his front uppers are parallel therefore he's probably got a panhard bar. So it doesn't really make much sense other than to be "different" to run your suspension that way. If you want to protect the drive line you could run the lowers triangulated and the uppers parallel. Jimmys 4x4 does that on pretty much all their cars and it seems to work pretty damn good. Plus it eliminates the need for a panhard... As for his rear lowers they seem to be pretty high up on the tube but not on top. I wouldn't run them on top. You'll start getting hung up on your axle tubes. Why not mount them perfectly flush so you can just slide of your links and right off your axle? Look at pretty much every KOH/ultra4 car and I bet 99% of them are mounted flush. So if you're going for that kind car then thats how you should set them up... Go with what works and has been proven to work. That way you won't have to go back and change it all again. You'll save yourself alot of work and headache.
 
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zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
thats what they told shannon about ifs... just kidding but carl made me some brackets so i can mount it 2.5 above or i can mount it flush or anywhere in between..

i dont think he has a pan hard when i was living in moab i met some cali guy.
and they both had wishbone lowers. and slightly triangulated uppers. on front and rear

the wishbone had a skid plate so there whole rig was pretty much a skid plate .(or an anchor)
i just hand not seen anything like that since and this caught my eye

with the links i wasn't saying it was a good or bad thing i just like to watch and see what everyone is running..

thanks for your post and getting hung up on the axle tube definatly makes since.. and exposing your drive shaft..

thats why all of my rear mounts. frame and axle uppers and lowers have about 3 inches of adustment in them then if i can mess around with it a little and it wont take any work when i realize i should have listened to everyone
 

cjncustoms

Well-Known Member
Location
West jordan
I'm not saying t won't work. It obviously works but how well? Who knows... Another thing to think about is how much extra force ar you putting on that single joint instead of spreading it out between 2... Just some food for thought;)
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
lol im proabably going to end up with radius arm front and a panhard.. i have no freaking room! or i have to lift my motor 15 inches lol
or run a 120 inch wheel base
 

iamsparticus

Take your Rig to the Edge
Location
Ogden,Ut
I saw that rig and several others including the trail gear buggy running upper wishbone and some liek the one in the vid running lower wishbones, hey it protects your driveline and it must work semi good for multiple rigs to be running it
 

Gravy

Ant Anstead of Dirtbikes
Supporting Member
Bent links and high mount lowers were all the rage on cone dodgers for a few years. You definitely need a high pinion rear to do it however: because blowing your driveshaft apart pretty much negates any advantage raised links give. Also it increases rotational torque on the lower mounts by a huge number and to get vertical separation #'s that most are after you have to raise you uppers pretty high which cuts into uptravel if you're running a body.
It's all a compromise, but I loved Stumph's bent link offset high pinion rear setup he had a while back. I'll see if I can find a picture.
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
Bent links and high mount lowers were all the rage on cone dodgers for a few years. You definitely need a high pinion rear to do it however: because blowing your driveshaft apart pretty much negates any advantage raised links give. Also it increases rotational torque on the lower mounts by a huge number and to get vertical separation #'s that most are after you have to raise you uppers pretty high which cuts into uptravel if you're running a body.
It's all a compromise, but I loved Stumph's bent link offset high pinion rear setup he had a while back. I'll see if I can find a picture.

but if you dont have a body.. it gets your roll center up higher and could be kinda sweet..

but like you said everything is a compromise

i wasn't trying to start a debate or anything i just thought it was interesting


if people knew the perfect suspension set up everyone would have the same suspension...


i mean before koh this year everyone thought for sure an ifs car or ttb would win it..

i dont think there is a perfect set up.. freaking jesse haines was running a steering box with hydro assist..
 

Gravy

Ant Anstead of Dirtbikes
Supporting Member
well Jesse Haines bellcrank steering box setup is nothing new. How he applies it is, but the concept has been done before.

My priority if I was rebuilding would be to get the numbers I want, give clearance and protect the driveshaft because blowing a shaft in a comp or race ends your course/day.
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
for sure.. look at greg adler wasn't he in 3rd just a few miles out from the finish ? blew a drive line .. and i think he got a dnf but im not sure on that
 

Bob B

Registered User
Looks to me that the rear end is just your run of the mill double triangulated 4 link rearend. (could be wrong) The lowers look to be at axle tube centerline. Not uncommon. Like Cjncustoms said it helps make for a smooth "ramp" to slide on. The front just looks like a reverse triangulated 3 link. Straight uppers and a triangulated lower that only attaches in one point. I ran them front and rear on my buggy before I rebuilt it. But I ran it "normal," straight lowers and triangulated uppers with one attachment point. It worked ok. I had a bunch of rearend steer when flexed, not too adjustable and it was hard on hiems. (lots of side load for one joint) I personally don't care for the reverse Triangulated 3 link cause it makes for hang up points. Instead of having a link that runs front to rear and could be slid on, now you have and angled link that won't slide straight and has a mount point lower on the axle to get hung upon. Sure, guess it protects the d-line, but not much, if at all, better than a well placed straight link close to the d-line.
There were some people running triangulated 3 links at koh. But I did notice that it seemed that the people running them did it for packaging reasons. (once again, I could be wrong)

Check out the trailgear car, "tweaky". They are running an upper tri 3 link, but seems like they did it to fit around the motor.
http://www.trail-gear.com/tweaky/IMG_1160.JPG


All of this is JUST my .02
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
The front on that could help me with my front suspension.


I have no room but don't want a panhard.

I don't think they are running on I think you could triangulate the uppers and it would work okay .
 

Bob B

Registered User
The front on that could help me with my front suspension.
I have no room but don't want a panhard.
I don't think they are running on I think you could triangulate the uppers and it would work okay .

Ok.so if it could work for your application try it. The last sentence kinda confuses me. Are you saying the rig in the movie isn't running a trackbar, or that "tweaky" could have triangulated the uppers instead of the 3 link?

Either way, if you run the triangulated 3 link, you shouldn't/don't need to run a trackbar. It would bind. As for the "tweaky" car. They tried to run normal triangulated uppers ,but that whole space inside the 3 link is engine real estate.

Any particular reason your anti trackbar? I'm just wondering.
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
i dont like the way they handle going fast in the whoops.. the axle is moving side to side can throw you side to side.

if you notice less and less ultra 4 rigs are running them..

tweaky they could have done a 3 link with par hard like shannon and probably got there roll center closer to center of gravity but they did the wishbone to not need it..



cjn was thinkin that one in the video had a panhard front. and it could if the uppers were strait to help keep the axle under it but like you said it would bind
 

cjncustoms

Well-Known Member
Location
West jordan
Do you have any personal experience driving a rig with a properly set up 3 link w/trackbar going fast through the whoops? Or just what you have read? Just curious. There are still a lot of ultra 4 cars running them either front or rear. Look at the brand new car shannons crew built for casey currie. It's has one in the front and he finished the race just fine. Just curious why you want to go a less traveled route and not one that is used an proven to work. Do you absolutely not have any room for a 4 link? What if you ran triangulated lowers and parallel uppers?

i dont like the way they handle going fast in the whoops.. the axle is moving side to side can throw you side to side.

if you notice less and less ultra 4 rigs are running them..

tweaky they could have done a 3 link with par hard like shannon and probably got there roll center closer to center of gravity but they did the wishbone to not need it..



cjn was thinkin that one in the video had a panhard front. and it could if the uppers were strait to help keep the axle under it but like you said it would bind
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
I have only driven 3 link with panhard and steering box..

With my full hydro I could get the panhard more flat or slightly inverted and I'm sure it would help a ton.. I've just noticed side to side axle movement through whoops in movies and videos .

If I stretch my wheel base to 116 and 24 inch frame height I will have plenty of room for either set up..


I am going to be under powered under experiences under budget of most people racing so I was just trying to get every little advantage I could get ya know?

I also like no panhard for side hilling I know not a big deal but with the pan hard it can help things in load if your leaning alot changing the panhard angle


Thanks for all your post I'm bot trying to argue or stir the pot mostly just thinking out loud and enjoy hearing from you guys that have more experience then me.

I enjoy learning what works for who and why they like it and why others dis like it ya know?
 

Venture13

Active Member
Location
Layton
Welcome to the world of being a fabricator, now you are understanding how difficult it is to get low CG, adequate uptravel, bump steer, roll axis, Anti Squat. So many threads on Pirate about the suspension calculators and basic physics. To many newcomers throwing words out claiming they know what they are talking about without even testing their personal theories. Alot of racers don't share their suspension secrets, most people online sharing their stuff are not the ones building or racing.

Good times, 3-link, 4-link, what fits? Well, enough said..
 

cjncustoms

Well-Known Member
Location
West jordan
Oh I know you're not trying to stir the pot. Just curious. If I had my coilovers off I would take a measurement o how much if any my axle moves side to side from full compression to full droop. I don't really think it moves that much of any at all. I have a pretty long trackbar and decently angled trackbar. I've neve raced or hit and big whoops at more than maybe 30mph but I can say I don't ever recall my rig being tossed one way or the other from my trackbar wether it be crawling or going fast. Room is a huge issue on all builds and suspension set-ups. I have a 3 link with trackbar cause my motor would not allow a 4 link and still be able to clear the drive line. For me it has worked great and have 0 complaints. Do what you think you have room for. If you can get your front axle far enough forward to squeeze a triangulated 4 link in there that would be great. It would handle better at higher speeds. But if you absolutely can't try the other options that have been said. Either way I'm sure you'll end up with something that works. Keep at and don't get burned out;)
 

Bob B

Registered User
i dont like the way they handle going fast in the whoops.. the axle is moving side to side can throw you side to side.

if you notice less and less ultra 4 rigs are running them..

tweaky they could have done a 3 link with par hard like shannon and probably got there roll center closer to center of gravity but they did the wishbone to not need it..



cjn was thinkin that one in the video had a panhard front. and it could if the uppers were strait to help keep the axle under it but like you said it would bind

I understand the side to side movement your talking about. But it will be fairly minor. Running the whoops, or flat out in the desert, the suspension won't usually drop all the way out. Some yes, but most of it will be quick side to side articulation. Casey Beach ran a 3 link with a panhard on his ultra4 for a long time. He just recently changed to a triangulated 4 link for packaging reasons. He ran the three link in the silver state 300 (which he hit 105mph in), and all the ultra4 events he did last year. I do understand your not wanting to go with a 3 link. Its reasonable, and I'm not trying to talk you into it.

As for tweaky, there is nothing wrong with the 3 link they did. They used a uniball for the upper attachment point, which is way stronger, and more expensive, than a hiem. The way they did it works just about exactly like a triangulated 4 link. I think they didn't do a parallel 3 link w/ panhard because packaging it would he extremely hard with the gas tank, etc back there. Also if you look at the lower arms, they are slightly triangulated too, which helps locate the axle.

If I can be honest with you..... I think you are worrying too much about roll center. The only reason I say this is cause I have heard you mention it multiple times in your various threads. Did you worry about it when you built your rig the first time? It seems like you rig worked good before. I think if you worried more about anti squat, front end dive, proper articulation without bind, and over all proper geometry, the roll center would basically work itself out.
I'm NOT saying my junk is correct or great, but i will use it as an example cause I have pics of it. I concentrated on proper (in my eyes) suspension geometry. In the rearend of my buggy, I am running a double triangulated 4 link. At the axle, I have 7.5 inches of vertical separation between the upper and lower link attachment points. My lowers are on centerline of the axle tubes. At the frame, I have 7 inches of vertical sep between attachment points. The upper and lower arms are equal length (cause I didn't want much pinion roll). The front of the rig is also a double tri 4 link. The vertical sep between the axle and frame side mount points is also only about 5.-.75 inch different. I have little to no squat on accel and very little dive when braking. I have very little to zero body roll with no sway bar at speed around corners. I have had it up to around at least 60, if not faster in the dirt, and it was super stable. Ask Carl, He was with me. I guess my point is, I didn't think once about roll center when I built the suspension, I just concentrated on getting the basics "right", and (I think) it works great. All my .02, I mean no disrespect just a thought. There's a million ways to build stuff, I'm not trying to say mine is right.

My build thread if you wanna take a look, 113wb 21" belly: http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?60811-Project-Bush-Baby&highlight=bush+baby

As for the triangulated 3 link in that movie, there should be no panhard. A panhard would just be a bind point. The triangulated 3 link works almost exactly like a triangulated 4 link. It doesn't matter if the upper arms are straight, or triangulated, the lower 3rd link is what is locating the axle side to side. (having the uppers more triangulated would help)

Suspensions are fun :thumbs:
 

zukijames

Well-Known Member
Location
not moab anymore
thanks everyone for all your help.

and bob my last suspension worked great.. thats why im putting so much into this one . it would suck to rebuild a rig and have it do worse.. which it very well could in the rocks.. wheel base is longer .. and alot more weight.

but getting to the obsticals will be alot more fun with 300 hp instead of 30 :)
 
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