Solid Axle vs. Independent Suspension
<HTML>Hi Everybody,
Terry Williams looked at my latest steam page [
www.angelfire.com] and asked me under the Stanley Hotel thread why I am planning to use a solid rear axle instead of easily-available independent rear suspension components. I'm starting a new thread for this topic, in case anyone is interested in discussing it. What are you guys planning or running in the final drive/suspension department?
Hi Terry,
I hear ya on available IRS components. I have two complete spare VW Type 1 transaxles & suspensions in the shop -- can't get more available than that! I spent a couple years looking at this way and that way to adapt them (and some other IRS systems) to steam. Ended up choosing between high-speed engines and redundant gears, both with too much friction and design/fabrication difficulty for my taste. A better way would be cutting off the gearbox and/or making a whole new IRS diff housing, but that raises problems too and isn't much easier, if at all, than building a custom solid axle.
Keep in mind that I don't have decades of experience building and running steam vehicle engines, boilers, etc like you and the other accomplished steam developers, so I am trying to keep my first project as simple and basic as possible. So far I've only designed/built a couple toy boilers & engines, and experimented with small vaporizing burners. Long way to go before I can start untangling the mysteries of IRS and other modern equipment. Solid axles are the choice of most first-project novice hot-rodders for similar reasons. Instant rear wheel alignment, and "so simple even I can do it". At least I'm not using some heavy axle for 3-ton trucks like they do.
Which, come to think of it, makes me wonder about the US automakers. A huge percentage of the hottest-selling new American vehicles in this age of SUVs now have solid axles; what's _their_ excuse? I thought they were only dummies when it came to steam cars. Now Detroit can't design IRS systems anymore either?
Current plan is to use the axle shafts, differential, bearings, etc, of a swing-axle VW IRS system, mounted in a custom solid axle housing instead of in the original IRS transaxle/suspension with gearbox. I may use different innards for the axle, but it's nice to use running equipment which is on hand whenever possible.
This approach is far from ideal, but it allows isolating the engine from the car frame, so that a Stanley-type engine (based on available tested plans) can be used without excessive vibration. That way I can cut out a lot of engine design work and get smooth running sooner.
No approach to building a steam car is anywhere near easy, including this one; this one just seems less difficult & time consuming than the others. I've spent many years on false starts and projects killed by engine design problems before I ever got to the shop. Wish I'd taken this approach 10 years ago; I'd probably have a running car(s), more design/fabrication confidence, & road experience by now, and maybe a second generation design (possibly with IRS), instead of just first-try ideas, blueprints, and mockups. Then again, I've learned a LOT in the past 10 years -- thru extensive historical and theoretical study, I think I've finally reached the very bottom of the even steeper _practical_ learning curve. It's like climbing the Matterhorn to get to the foot of Mt. Everest. :)
Peter</HTML>