Some questions.
Some questions.
(OP)
I starting to design a car so naturally I have a lot of questions. I am planning on using 5 inches of ground clearance but I don’t know if there are any regulations pertaining to how much clearance is required. I will use a unequal length double a-arm design for the front and rear with coilovers. I am planning on a 100 inch wheelbase with an overall width of 75 inches. I want to use 13 inch wide wheels in rear with 10 inch wide wheels in front.
Is 5 inches of ground clearance sufficient for daily driving around town sometimes over bad roads? How much jounce and bounce is required because I currently don’t have much room between my tires and my wheel wells. I want the car to have tight handling even if I must sacrifice some ride quality. I was also wondering if anyone knew of some companies that supply universal knuckles?
Is 5 inches of ground clearance sufficient for daily driving around town sometimes over bad roads? How much jounce and bounce is required because I currently don’t have much room between my tires and my wheel wells. I want the car to have tight handling even if I must sacrifice some ride quality. I was also wondering if anyone knew of some companies that supply universal knuckles?





RE: Some questions.
That depends on your jurisdiction. 5 inches sounds a bit marginal, 6 is safer.
Depends what you mean by bad roads. You need to consider ramp angles as well, especially if you have an air dam at the front.
For normal road use at least 2 inches, and preferably 3 inches of jounce and at least 1 inch and preferably 4 inches of rebound, from the normal driving load.
The more wheel travel you have the less compromised your shock and spring tuning will be, but your suspesnion geoetry will have to be more accurate as well. As Colin Chapman said, any suspension can be made to work if you don't let it move.
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Some questions.