This is probably stupid... but...

[Heavy]

Ok. This probably would never work, but I'm just winging it here...

Fire up the etch-a-sketch in your mind and follow me.


What if you built a chassis like a stick,

but instead of a solid bar, you had, like, a spine?

with like 10 or 15 vertibre(sp?). Each one with a very limited up, down, twist left and right movement. Like 3 to 5 degrees.

small aluminum 3 dimentional enlongated D's about 1 inch with o-rings between them for damping.

then bolted an axle ridgedly to each end. On top of a center link mount, or smothing like that. Something that would bring the mounting point about 1/2 inch over the top of the axle

Line this: DDDDDDDDDDDDD

Of course the curve is exaggerated.


Somebody with engineering experience please tell me why it wouldn't work..

And no.. I'm not high.....or am i?


Heavy

[Mazlem]

Wouldn't that make the whole chassis act like an independent suspension? It might be good for allowing the truck to conform to the terrain but then limit the pressure on one end or the other, decreasing traction. That's just off the top of my head anyway...

[kwj48]

If you are talking about linking indvidual pieces together. (kinda like a toy snake i saw one time) I think the center would droop too much, unless the travel between the "D" 's was very little. That would be a lot of machineing. But you never know until someone tries it.

[EeePee]

I pictured the toy snake also. You hold the tail and lean it a little and it swayed back and forth. But you need it to rotate also. Put some elastomer inbetween the pieces... How would you make it rotate, and still hold it's basic shape...

[Heavy]

Yea.. I was up too late and had WAY to much caffene in me..

In the light of day, it sounds a little under thunk.


Heavy

[SR5Dave]

Where's a cadaver when you need one?!