ARB goes East & South

[stylussprinter]

Just making up an ARB kit for a Striker for a guy in Italy Apparently he was pointed towards clubstylus to contact me by someone but couldn't get his registration accepted so found me on Turbosport forums via a PM
It's amazing how things get around these days --- what would we do without the ' net '
So now I'm doing rear links , front lower wishbones , ARB's and panhards . One of these days I must make a jig for top rockers

[se7ensport]

What is required to widen the front track?

I know it was an original option, but unsure how much wider it was and which uprights it was designed to work with, guessing you know more about this Rob? Is this why you are considering a jig for the front rockers?

[stylussprinter]

What is required to widen the front track?

I know it was an original option, but unsure how much wider it was and which uprights it was designed to work with, guessing you know more about this Rob? Is this why you are considering a jig for the front rockers?

Yes , that's right but mine's already wider due to a combination of the chosen upright , the wheel size and offset then I made my own wishbones and top rockers HOWEVER I didn't make a jig , it was simply eye , measurement and care plus protractor I wouldn't want to repeat that process for others , better to make a jig
Once that's done then a wider track is sorted along with the lower wishbones. The upright I chose was the Raceleda design but since then have had them made in billet by Siltech racing , a friend of mine who I used to compete against. I'm not interested in making wider top rockers to fit the SSC upright though , I prefer to use a rodend in the top rocker linked to a pin in the ally upright. I use a half inch rodend in shear which I've been told by many (and in theory I agree) is technically wrong , however I've had a few shunts along with trees etc on track where rodends have snapped but never the rodend in that top rocker ----- so if making for others I'd use a half inch but with a 5/8 ths shank , seeing as my half inch has never snapped.

[MattD]

Rob

I'd be up for some tubular top rockers sometime, would the centre pivot tube still take the mini/metro needle roller kit ?
Would also be wanting the inner mounting to suit alloy spherical shocks.

Outer wise, for pure strength, I'd be think about something like this from Mc u know who:- Location: #32. Spherical Bearings , Machined Housings and Circlips
Does limit the camber & track adjustment to bottom only though, as the top is fixed width.
There must be a suitable compromise between these & top mount rod-ends, just havent found them yet

As said on text, think the V8 car will deserve some dropped rear links too at some point, just to improve comfort margin .

Matt

[stylussprinter]

Rob

I'd be up for some tubular top rockers sometime, would the centre pivot tube still take the mini/metro needle roller kit ?
Would also be wanting the inner mounting to suit alloy spherical shocks.

Outer wise, for pure strength, I'd be think about something like this from Mc u know who:- Location: #32. Spherical Bearings , Machined Housings and Circlips
Does limit the camber & track adjustment to bottom only though, as the top is fixed width.
There must be a suitable compromise between these & top mount rod-ends, just havent found them yet

As said on text, think the V8 car will deserve some dropped rear links too at some point, just to improve comfort margin .

Matt

Totally understand your choice of spherical bearings rather than the heavier shank rodend ----- however not having had one in my hand I can't work out a strong design to weld them onto the extended outer rocker Matt PLUS that would necessitate making two jigs

[MattD]

Totally understand your choice of spherical bearings rather than the heavier shank rodend ----- however not having had one in my hand I can't work out a strong design to weld them onto the extended outer rocker Matt PLUS that would necessitate making two jigs

Perhaps I'll buy one for experimenting.... 1/2" or 5/8" do you think
Something to talk about in The Links next week - r u stopping over, or flying in-out

[stylussprinter]

Totally understand your choice of spherical bearings rather than the heavier shank rodend ----- however not having had one in my hand I can't work out a strong design to weld them onto the extended outer rocker Matt PLUS that would necessitate making two jigs

Perhaps I'll buy one for experimenting.... 1/2" or 5/8" do you think
Something to talk about in The Links next week - r u stopping over, or flying in-out

I'd use 1/2 inch because there's no longer any stress to worry about in shear. YES ---- definitely stopping over or I'll either fall asleep or get nicked on my way home

[MattD]

I'd use 1/2 inch because there's no longer any stress to worry about in shear. YES ---- definitely stopping over or I'll either fall asleep or get nicked on my way home

OK, & OK

[stylussprinter]

What is required to widen the front track?

I know it was an original option, but unsure how much wider it was and which uprights it was designed to work with, guessing you know more about this Rob? Is this why you are considering a jig for the front rockers?

I know you weren't exactly asking this question Alex BUT ---- looking through all the old photos I have of the RT being developed at the factory by Tim and Chris , I realised that the RT isn't 50mm's wider as I've previously said ------ it's 50mm's each side , so 100mm's wider than the ' classic '
This just shows why Tim was so hard to catch on track , when in my Classic , even in similar bhp. Four inches wider in the same length chassis would give awesome cornering ability . If any of you remember the club trackday at Llandow when Tim was circulating pretty damn quickly , I was trying hard to pass him with my new found power (231bhp & his 225bhp) but could only stay with him just . His cornering ability was awesome , granted he can drive a bit and weighs now't but with MattD on board and lacking that extra 100mm's , I could only follow in his wake (close enough to give him hand signals though )
The evidence came in a photo showing the very first rocking arms adapted to suit the RT bodywork . The outer arm on the rocker was cut off just behind the ' tapered metal ring ' then moved out 50mm's and welded back onto the arm via 2 pieces of 20mm square tube , welded together . Obviously production rockers for the RT were made from scratch .

So ------- if I were starting in competition now I would build an RT not a Classic I gained 40mm front end width with my wishbone/rocker/upright/wheel width&offset changes plus necessary arch widening in 2005 but to get another 60mm's I'd need to widen my arches another 30mm's a side
Might look a bit like an aeroplane

[DH2]

What are your front and rear track widths? I think I have mine (in it's previous incarnation) written down somewhere...

Dave

[stylussprinter]

What are your front and rear track widths? I think I have mine (in it's previous incarnation) written down somewhere...

Dave

Don't remember Dave , I'll have a measure outside tyre wall to wall , we all have different off-sets and wheel/tyre combinations so with my mod's , that's the only easy thing to check.

[stylussprinter]

What are your front and rear track widths? I think I have mine (in it's previous incarnation) written down somewhere...

Dave

Don't remember Dave , I'll have a measure outside tyre wall to wall , we all have different off-sets and wheel/tyre combinations so with my mod's , that's the only easy thing to check.

Front track lower tyrewall to tyrewall = 1540mm's
Rear track --- ditto ---------------- = 1535mm's but with the spacers I run 1555mm's

I mentioned spacers seperately because there are none on the front ----------- although I know an RT that ran spacers up front rather than buy the extended rockers SCARY

[DH2]

Front track lower tyrewall to tyrewall = 1540mm's
Rear track --- ditto ---------------- = 1535mm's but with the spacers I run 1555mm's

Well my RT was/is 1500mm front and rear, and was running 45mm hubcentric spacers on the English axle. Can't remember what offset the wheels were...

Dave

[stylussprinter]

Front track lower tyrewall to tyrewall = 1540mm's
Rear track --- ditto ---------------- = 1535mm's but with the spacers I run 1555mm's

Well my RT was/is 1500mm front and rear, and was running 45mm hubcentric spacers on the English axle. Can't remember what offset the wheels were...

Dave

Off-set must be quite large then to keep that 1500mm Dave

[se7ensport]

What is required to widen the front track?

I know it was an original option, but unsure how much wider it was and which uprights it was designed to work with, guessing you know more about this Rob? Is this why you are considering a jig for the front rockers?

I know you weren't exactly asking this question Alex BUT ---- looking through all the old photos I have of the RT being developed at the factory by Tim and Chris , I realised that the RT isn't 50mm's wider as I've previously said ------ it's 50mm's each side , so 100mm's wider than the ' classic '
This just shows why Tim was so hard to catch on track , when in my Classic , even in similar bhp. Four inches wider in the same length chassis would give awesome cornering ability . If any of you remember the club trackday at Llandow when Tim was circulating pretty damn quickly , I was trying hard to pass him with my new found power (231bhp & his 225bhp) but could only stay with him just . His cornering ability was awesome , granted he can drive a bit and weighs now't but with MattD on board and lacking that extra 100mm's , I could only follow in his wake (close enough to give him hand signals though )
The evidence came in a photo showing the very first rocking arms adapted to suit the RT bodywork . The outer arm on the rocker was cut off just behind the ' tapered metal ring ' then moved out 50mm's and welded back onto the arm via 2 pieces of 20mm square tube , welded together . Obviously production rockers for the RT were made from scratch .

So ------- if I were starting in competition now I would build an RT not a Classic I gained 40mm front end width with my wishbone/rocker/upright/wheel width&offset changes plus necessary arch widening in 2005 but to get another 60mm's I'd need to widen my arches another 30mm's a side
Might look a bit like an aeroplane

You've hit the nail on the head, I'm trying to establish the additional width of an RT versus classic. My rear is noticeably wider than the front as I've got the di-dion with spacers behind the drums. I'll measure up on the weekend and post for comparison on here, intention is to widen the front to match, just need to work out how....