Hybrid Four Link Independent Supsension

[Rudukai13]

So maybe I've been using too much superglue again, but I came up with another thought ad wanted to see what you guys think. What about build a hybrid crawler that had working independent suspension and a four link, and I'm not talking about indy front four link rear. What you would do is take the diffs and arms and stuff from a Maxx, attach four links to the diff housing, attach shocks from the a-arms to the diff housing like normal and shocks from the links to the chassis. That way the arms can flex independently and the entire thing can move up and down like a four link. Thoughts?

[YoUnG_vErSiOn]

Torque Twist!

[Rudukai13]

Huh? Care to elaborate?

[YoUnG_vErSiOn]

not really. just think about it, if one of the most common problems w/straight front axle is torque twist using a typical 4 link imagine if you added two more fulcrums(pivot points) sure it would give more flex, but flex goes hand in hand with torque twist. if you try it you'll know whether or not this is true.

[ROSS]

ok yes it would work just like a maxx crawler...as for torque twist it would be no different than a normal super shafty crawler would exterience...but the only thing is is that the indy suspension would never actually compress...all the force would carry to the four-link suspesion...or at least most of it...i did this when i originally set up my maxx crawler...all you really get is more weight on the axles from the shocks...so its doable....good luck...

[dieselfuel]

unnecessary, it would yield waaaaaayyy too much articulation. it would be uncontrollable.

[STEEL_CITY_CRAWLER]

i saw this done on a custom monster truck in a magazine once. it looked like it was EXTREMELY top heavy.

[Thorsteenster]

Your better off locking the arms in the down position and making high clearence axles. Torque twist may not increase but would show quite a bit more with the added fulcrums as young version said.
Maybe if you put stops limiting pumpkin articulation so at a point it forces the a-arms to move. Also, you could rig up some kind of forced articulation system to deal with forcing an opposite tire down.

[jbrandt]

I think the reason most, if not all rock crawlers (scale and 1:1) use solid axles is because when an IFS moves up and down, your ground clearance decreases, which would tend to make you get caught up on rocks more. Indy susp is more for fast moving rigs where you want to minimize sprung weight so the suspension doesn't have to work as hard over big bumps and jumps.

The only problem I'd see with locking the axles in the down position and making a high clearance axle would be the drive line angle during articulation. I'm sure with r/c it wouldn't be THAT big a deal, but when the axle would articulate, the pumpkin would move far to one side, causing the drive line angle to increase more than with a standard straigh axle. In a standard stright axle, the drive line is centered on the axle so the change in angle is minimized.

I think the best thing for "drive over" ground clearance and still have gobs of articuation would be to go with lowered knuckles kinda like a unimog.

[halfcab]

Originally Posted by jbrandt

I think the reason most, if not all rock crawlers (scale and 1:1) use solid axles is because when an IFS moves up and down, your ground clearance decreases, which would tend to make you get caught up on rocks more. Indy susp is more for fast moving rigs where you want to minimize sprung weight so the suspension doesn't have to work as hard over big bumps and jumps.

The only problem I'd see with locking the axles in the down position and making a high clearance axle would be the drive line angle during articulation. I'm sure with r/c it wouldn't be THAT big a deal, but when the axle would articulate, the pumpkin would move far to one side, causing the drive line angle to increase more than with a standard straigh axle. In a standard stright axle, the drive line is centered on the axle so the change in angle is minimized.

I think the best thing for "drive over" ground clearance and still have gobs of articuation would be to go with lowered knuckles kinda like a unimog.

you are kidding right, a locked out indy susp would have a perfectly centered drive line and a real world straight axle is way off set to one side

[john alardin]

I am unsure about its efficacy, but it seems interesting. I would say to install stiffer springs on the a-arms (original location) to make the 4-link part work also.