so that's why we used to see a lot of cars with a compass on the dash!!

now that's what I call "recalculating"!!

"God Bless Texas"location: Houston,TX

Although I have never actually spun, I did do a bit of driving while looking out the driver side window at El Mirage in 2009.  While I don't talk about spins much, I think about them quite often and how to deal with it.  A compass to get back on course wouldn't be necessary because immediately after straightening up I would head straight back to the pits to change my cloths.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

The floor and driveshaft tunnel are finally finished.

Same with the transmission cover and recessed firewall.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Looks good. Is that sections of bed floor?


Lawrenceville, GA

Thanks Charlie, you nailed it, when you live on the farm, you use what you got.

Here are the donors.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Hi Charlie

Great progress on the truck, you guys rock out there! 

I was a little surprised by the location of the axle joint for the Panhard rod.  I thought as a general rule Panhard rods should be as long as possible, the ends on the axle and frame should be at the same elevation, that is, the 'rod' should be horiizontal and the height of the rod determines the rear roll center.  I am not sayin' what you have wont do what you need, just wondering if that is accepted practice for LSR vehicles. 

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.

Doug, thanks for the comment.  Panhard technology is very comprehensive and specific to dirt or asphalt.  I lay no claim to knowledge of circle track suspension setups, but I've tried to follow the dirt track applications.

First off, utilizing a panhard bar with leaf springs is very uncommon in closed course race cars.  But, here I am trying to fuse everything together for a system that suites me.  Dirt cars usually have center mounted panhard bars with a 20" minimum length (mine is 21") to affect the roll equally left and right.  Attaching the panhard bar to either end of the axle affects the roll mostly in the direction of attachment.  Next the axle mount being lower than the frame mount lowers the roll center keeping it to a 2" maximum difference (mine is 1 1/2").  The effects of all this is minimized due to the fact that I will only have about 1" of suspension travel.

Having said all that, most people say that it takes lots of trial and error to fine tune the panhard bar setup, and that's too bad because all I can do is hope that the first trial is not an error.

(Now I need to get up to speed with anti-sway bar setups)

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

With the firewall finished, it is off to the paint shop with the cab.  All other parts to the truck are painted.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Good progress Charlie! Is that "round one" your new helmet at the door opening?

Is air suspension allowed at Bonneville? That would make the ride smooth and you could choose the ground clearance at seconds. Juha Kankkkunen went over 300 km/h on the ice this spring and he drove a Bentley with stock air suspension.

 Seppo from Järvenpää, Finland
www.hollowheads.net (just click the hole in the head to proceed)

Hi Charlie - nice looking truck. I was thinking about those leaf springs too......In a recent article I saw a "replacement" for a rear leaf spring, a composite. Where the forward portion of the spring was made rigid (a bar from pivot to axle) and only the rear half was a clamped on flexible spring bar attached to the rear shackle. Quarter elliptic spring?

It created a (very) short version of the "truck arm" arrangement used on the NASCAR speedway cars. 

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona