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Off in another tangent!

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kellysguy said:
Yep. I just checked, same co (stickers exact) but I don't have the extra bracing at the pin but I do have double zerks. Double zerks don't matter cause it's still gonna squirt outta the biggest gap anyway.

g.
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I figured that if you drove a interference fit pin in the trunnion that you may be able to keep the grease from squirting out the path of least resistance. I would be afraid that the pressure produced by a grease gun might dislodge the pin and cause more damage though.

Kurt.
 
aeronca65t said:
To see an extreme, racing version you can click on ~This Link~. There are more photos of this race-car on Curtis's website ~HERE~. Honestly, even most vintage racers just run the regular, standard setup but with an offset upper bushing and a spacer under the lever shock to a increase negative camber. It would be nice to add some caster so that the front end would work better with modern tires, but that's crazy hard. If you fully rebuild a Spridget front suspension in the normal fashion and grease it regularly, it will last a long time, especially with typical use of these car today.
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Nial, Curtis Jacobson does a really nice job on his site's. To blow my own horn he has put my midget up on his British V8 site. No V8 but its modified!

Kurt.
 
Well, think about it for a minute. A straight pin will have less surface area to wear which means it will wear quicker. Secondly, I bet you it will get noisy in short order once it does. I think the threads are a good idea, they increase surface area and keep the pin located which should reducie rattling. I think the best way of solving the problem for a street car is buying a Miata. While this particular set up isn't ideal, nothing else on the car is either. :wink: I'd think about ditching the entire thing and start from scratch. Instead of building a better mouse trap, figure out a way to keep them from being alone in the dark for too long. :angel2:
 
Billy, I agree on the surface area with threads, but they only use about 2/3 to 3/4 of the surface area available. I use hollow high strength bolts in high stress areas of my boats and boat lifts and while its more static pressure it works well and stays lubed under extreme saltwater conditions. Just looking at ideas that might be a cost effective improvement. I'll know more once I visit my machine shop...he may say I full of BS, but it won't be the first time.
Rut
 
Miata, ain't that the truth! I just like to tinker with 'things' and 'improve' them...Rut
 
Update...as previously suggested steel will need to be used for the bushings and will be reamed to match the ID of the king pin. There is a lot of wasted space inside the A arm where the fulcrum pin resides and this can be used to spread the stress. I'm lucky in that the machine shop owner likes to tinker and his son is restoring an MGA and knows his stuff. They do a lot of work on big diesels, but have an affinity for British iron. I am using an old cracked A arm to practice on so not much invested $ wise. Looking at machining down a used valve guide for the bushings that the 'new' fulcrum pin will ride in. Any suggestions are welcome!
Rut
 
Rut,

Biggest concern would be your safety in reinventing the wheel. A failure at this critical joint could cause you some serious issues. Just be careful. Having the wheel fall off due to a component failure usually is not good. We want to keep you around the list.
 
Rut, One other thing. Did you review this page. https://the-mite.com/mite9.htm as well as page 10. Work has been done before and there are some good Pics here and a step by step. Could save you a lot of time.
 
Jim, yes I'm familiar with the Mite and looked into his A arms, but way too complicated for me. My goal is to take a well used but servicible stock A arm and make a simple, safe,and affordable upgrade. We will have to mess around with it for awhile, but there's got to be a better way than the stock fulcrum pin. Even if it ends up with a grade 8 hex head bolt turned down and threaded to fit the original holes, so be it. I'll keep fooling around and posting my results.
Thanks, Rut
 
Trevor, thanks for the link! That is very similar to what was going on in my head, but I really want to find a way to incorporate the original A arms, threaded or reamed with a different fulcrum pin configuration. Once we measured the gap and the necessary support area the top hat style bushing we needed would be too long to fit in the space for the kingpin and be too weak as well. The help I have locally is applying different technology and experience to try to develop a very simple solution. Keep those ideas coming cause I'm taking the to the shop tomorrow.
thanks again, Rut
 
It's been done before, here's our coil over front suspension we did for the SCCA prod calls race car, we used a stock type spindle , but made a new steel king pin that pivoted on high misalignment hiem joints.

acmefrtsusp2.jpg


Here's another way to do this, this was done on a SCCA Limited Prep HP car, where rules stated the lever shock and coil spring must be retained , it too turns on high misalignment hiem joint and for the coil spring they used a coil over kit minus the shock, so you could adjust the ride hieght

ChuckPitt-Spridget-CD.jpg
 
Just a thought, not a criticism.
This comes up every now and then, and what I notice is that very conscientious people are spending a lot of effort to overcome what is a non-issue with conscientious owners. The fail is in the abusive non-caring previous owner who didn't grease, didn't clean, didn't pay attention the the odd squeak when and if it should occur. I hate to see folks over-correct a perceived deficiency in design or materials, when in reality the problem is mis-use. I don't mean we should baby our cars, but they do require more than a Miata's maintenance schedule.

Peter C
 
Peter, thanks for the comments and I understand what you are saying. I went down this road with the clutch system against good advice and finally decided to heed that advice. The thoughts I have on the front suspension may or may not be improvements, but I really like playing with it. Little things like upgrading to LEDs for the instruments with a dimmer, RVC tach in a Bugeye assembly, Slip Plate between the springs, etc. are all fun projects that I enjoy because they will make the driving experience better for me. My interests are varied and I use some gun smithing talents, some boating experience, and so on to bear on my car hobby.
Rut
 
I like that one too, but my goal is much simpler and more cost effective. Modifications to the original A arm look possible while improving overall performance, simplicity, and cost.
Rut
 
The reason I like Mikes setup is because you have all three axes to set up. However being that my car is not a full racecar I decided to use the reinforce twin zerk control arms with Nylatron bushings and lighten calipers in conjunction with Mr “C” performance shocks.
 
I did the same for my Bugeye and have a Peter C front end, suspension, brakes, shocks, etc. This project is an exercise to satisfy my need to modify or 'improve' the front suspension.
Thanks, Rut
 
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