Jeffrey,
Sounds like my car. Do you need to use spacers on the front
wheels? Mine needs them to keep the wheels from touching the calipers.
I have no spacers on the back and hear a rubbing sound each time I
change lanes. I've decided it's the tires touching the leaf spring. It
looks like I'll need spacers or a panhard back there. (more likely spacers).
All the books I read recommend a traction bar, which is as you describe.
Yes, the stiff springs make it rough as a cob on a bumpy road.
Mine car has an anti-roll bar on the back, but I will remove it since
it is said to make the car oversteer. (I think it's on there because the
car was autocrossed.)
John Cowan
At 10:08 AM 8/9/2000, you wrote:
>Hi, Folks,
>
>thanks for all the feedback.
>
>I was wondering why everyone was telling me ( correctly ) that panhard rods
>do not control axle tramp ( they don't ) and then I went back and re-read
>my post. I see now that my wording implied I was simply looking for a
>means of controlling axle tramp.
>
>To clarify, I'm am interested in BOTH controlling axle tramp and the
>lateral movement of the rear axle.
>
>I believe that Kas Kastner made mention in his tuning manual that for
>racing ( the TR4 ) he highly recommended a linkage assembly that connected
>at the plate that goes underneath the axle and connects to the frame.
>
>This would control the axle tramp of course, but not locate the axle
>laterally.
>
>The lateral control of the axle would be left to the panhard rod or watkins
>link.
>
>Someone mentioned traction bars. They do neither. They attempt to shift
>more weight onto the rear axle on your typical American behemoth with a
>70/30 front/rear weight distribution.
>
>I'd be interested in what those folks autocrossing and \ or roadracing
>their cars have to say on the subject of live axle rear end preparation.
>
>It is entirely possible the panhard rod is not needed, but I've seen them
>fitted to many other cars larger and smaller with a live axle and was just
>curious if anybody out there had one on their solid axle TR.
>
>I don't have any American iron under the hood putting undue stress on the
>suspension or rear end, rather, I simply want to employ as much modern
>suspension technology that has evolved over the last 38 years since my TR
>originally hit the road.
>
>To date, I've done the following:
>
>Installed 205/65 15 Pirelli P600s on a set of 5.5 x 15 minilite knock-off
>rims. ( the ones Moss, TRF and VB sell )
>
>( The tires fit and look great in the rear. I'd go with 195s in the front
>if I had it to do over again because of clearance problems, though they can
>be eventually solved. )
>
>Installed Koni shocks up front
>Re-bushed the front end with urethane bushings
>Installed an Addco swaybar up front
>Modified ( shortened ) the upper a-arms to change the front wheel camber
>from about 1.5-2 degrees positive to about 1.5 degrees negative.
>
>The car drives completely different from before the fitment of the above
>items. Beforehand it was running on 165 SR 15 Michelin XZXs on the stock
>steel disk wheels.
>
>I talked to a few racers who discouraged me from increasing the spring rate
>if I was going to drive the car on the street, so for now I'm doing all of
>this based around a stock spring rate.
>
>Thanks for all the feedback, it's a hoot to talk to folks who don't look at
>you funny when you tell them you're working on a 40 year old Triumph.
>
>-jeffrey
>
>
>
>
>
>Jeffrey J. Barteet, System Administrator
>National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
>735 State St., Santa Barbara, CA
>barteet@nceas.ucsb.edu 805.892.2508
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