Do you soften the axle for more grip?
- Thread starter paulkish
- Start date
paulkish
old fart
Here's what prompted starting this thread. ... Would you believe a dream?
I woke up from a dream a couple of days ago and the dream was about applying a working load to the back of a staggered solid axle vehicle. The vehicle in my dream was a sprint car but it was not a sprint car. It was more of being able to look down from the back towards the rear of this vehicle and seeing a visual representation of weight being applied. By the way weight being applied to and across the back, from the left to the right across the vehicle, looks like a wide flexible muddy yellow band, about 8"s wide, by 1.5"s thick. When you watch the band, it depresses corresponding to load being applied. I think the whole point of the dream, was to present to me the though that when the band is depressed towards the center of the back, it's applying weight which can hold the LR down. ... now instead of calling the funny farm on me, try to relate or dream about how a softer axle may indeed gain you grip in the back. In the past on here, soft has often been related to slowing down weight transfer. After that many start bobbing their heads up and down with a yep yep yep, that's it. I bobbed my head to that too and then next brought into the picture for myself, that if you can slow weight transfer down, maybe by the time it does transfer, any problem caused by too fast a transfer would be mute, because you have traveled to a point on the track where the situation has changed. But now the dream is telling me, soft may not only slow down weight transfer, it actually changes how weight is used on it's way across the kart. Can you see or visualize the muddy yellow ribbon being depressed in the center as weight not only transfers across the back, but ripples and works as it goes across the back.
Ok, what do you think the next thing I thought about, after how weight may work traveling across the back?
Yep you guessed it. It made me think about talking to Greg Hodnett more then a few years ago now and wanting to ask him a question, yep I like questions. What you say, how can Greg Hodnett relate to your dream. Well Greg still likes the short torsion bars, back and front. If my recollection of his words about the why of it is correct, yep I ask everyone why not just on here, the why of it is about the bars being faster reacting. I accepted that then, if I am indeed remembering correctly from so many years back, I accept his opinion now. He is an engineer and a racer and I would like to now ask him if he now though, after listening to my long winded question on it, if he maybe thinks the short bar in the back may also relate to weight being applied down between the two rear tires. If it does, I think it's all positive in being able to help hold the LR down.
Ok, I told you my dream but I sure don't want to listen to any of your crazy dreams, who ever you may be. Nope, I'm happy to listen to your dreams of how stuff works and to comments on a dream I recently had. by the way there is no opinion involved here because the dream was real and it did for real, open my eyes. ...
thanks for reading, it was fun writing
I woke up from a dream a couple of days ago and the dream was about applying a working load to the back of a staggered solid axle vehicle. The vehicle in my dream was a sprint car but it was not a sprint car. It was more of being able to look down from the back towards the rear of this vehicle and seeing a visual representation of weight being applied. By the way weight being applied to and across the back, from the left to the right across the vehicle, looks like a wide flexible muddy yellow band, about 8"s wide, by 1.5"s thick. When you watch the band, it depresses corresponding to load being applied. I think the whole point of the dream, was to present to me the though that when the band is depressed towards the center of the back, it's applying weight which can hold the LR down. ... now instead of calling the funny farm on me, try to relate or dream about how a softer axle may indeed gain you grip in the back. In the past on here, soft has often been related to slowing down weight transfer. After that many start bobbing their heads up and down with a yep yep yep, that's it. I bobbed my head to that too and then next brought into the picture for myself, that if you can slow weight transfer down, maybe by the time it does transfer, any problem caused by too fast a transfer would be mute, because you have traveled to a point on the track where the situation has changed. But now the dream is telling me, soft may not only slow down weight transfer, it actually changes how weight is used on it's way across the kart. Can you see or visualize the muddy yellow ribbon being depressed in the center as weight not only transfers across the back, but ripples and works as it goes across the back.
Ok, what do you think the next thing I thought about, after how weight may work traveling across the back?
Yep you guessed it. It made me think about talking to Greg Hodnett more then a few years ago now and wanting to ask him a question, yep I like questions. What you say, how can Greg Hodnett relate to your dream. Well Greg still likes the short torsion bars, back and front. If my recollection of his words about the why of it is correct, yep I ask everyone why not just on here, the why of it is about the bars being faster reacting. I accepted that then, if I am indeed remembering correctly from so many years back, I accept his opinion now. He is an engineer and a racer and I would like to now ask him if he now though, after listening to my long winded question on it, if he maybe thinks the short bar in the back may also relate to weight being applied down between the two rear tires. If it does, I think it's all positive in being able to help hold the LR down.
Ok, I told you my dream but I sure don't want to listen to any of your crazy dreams, who ever you may be. Nope, I'm happy to listen to your dreams of how stuff works and to comments on a dream I recently had. by the way there is no opinion involved here because the dream was real and it did for real, open my eyes. ...
thanks for reading, it was fun writing
localidiot
New member
Makes you want to think about the Titanium Axle, 6 lbs. lighter and stronger with just a little flex in it.......only about 900.00
..............
Agreed the ti axle is much lighter but it is not stronger, and has a TON of flex. I bought one once and then got to wondering what i really bought so we did a test on a large press. We tried a thick axle, thin axle , and the ti axle. There was very little difference in the thick and thin, but the ti axle folded like a wet noodle. It "might" be ok for a kid kart but i would never put one on a jr or adult kart.
I dont have the notes in front of me but i remember that the ti axle would take less than half the load of a regular axle. Of course this is just my opinion and im sure ther will be some who wont believe it even if they do the test themselves
alvin l nunley
Site Supporter
paulkish
old fart
I think that's a great way to think of it. Al related the word damper to a shock absorber for us, which dampens chassis movement. In this thread I think your way of seeing it is totally appropriate and correct. I think it's 100% correct to say the axle can be looked at as dampening the flow of dynamic weight transfer across the back of the kart. The point I'm seeing and trying to make is weight dampened when flowing across the axle, can and is used too help hold the LR engaged with the track. Thank you for the great use and though of the word 'damper'.