Satchell type suspension help

[jakespeeds]

Now that the front is finished on my 73 Nova I am looking at the rear suspension. I have decided on the Satchell type rear suspension for the car and have not been able to find any books describing this suspension in detail. I have also not been able to locate any software that uses this suspension either. Could anyone steer me in a dirsection that would help me with the specifics to this type of suspension.

Jake

[MuscleRodz]

Unless your are willing to eliminate the rear seat, it will not properly go. I have been trying to do this on my 68 Camaro and it just won't work. There is some info and pics on CornerCarvers.com if you must try. Good luck.

Mike

[jakespeeds]

Thanks for the website Mike. You have just pointed out one of the things that was making me think I was measuring wrong. I came to the same finding on the rear seat area but thought I was just not getting it right.

Jake

[MoeBawlz]

There is a guy on corner-carvers.com that put a satchel on his 4 door jaguar and kept the rear seat... he made a tube frame but im sure you could adapt it to your car and maintain the floor or maybe do away with some minor mods.

from what i gathered on cc.com is that the lower links converge at a 90 degree angle and the uppers are fairly long... i dont know enough about it to make any great statements about the suspension he made but it looks similar to a fox body mustang rear just switching the top and bottom links on the axle.

[boodlefoof]

This is kind of helpful for a brief overview of different possibilities.

http://www.automotivearticles.com/Suspension_Design_2.shtml

I too am considering the Satchell link... but that is a long way in the future yet.

[jakespeeds]

There is a guy on corner-carvers.com that put a satchel on his 4 door jaguar and kept the rear seat... he made a tube frame but im sure you could adapt it to your car and maintain the floor or maybe do away with some minor mods.

from what i gathered on cc.com is that the lower links converge at a 90 degree angle and the uppers are fairly long... i dont know enough about it to make any great statements about the suspension he made but it looks similar to a fox body mustang rear just switching the top and bottom links on the axle.

I have been reading these postings since this morning and working out the geometry as I understand it. As soon as I have some measurments modeled up in solidworks, animate it and see it work right I will measure up the underneath of the car and see if it will fit.

Jake

[jakespeeds]

This is kind of helpful for a brief overview of different possibilities.

http://www.automotivearticles.com/Suspension_Design_2.shtml

I too am considering the Satchell link... but that is a long way in the future yet.

I found this article about a month ago. It shows the Satchel but ne real info on its construction.

Thanks
Jake

[Mean 69]

I have been reading these postings since this morning and working out the geometry as I understand it. As soon as I have some measurments modeled up in solidworks, animate it and see it work right I will measure up the underneath of the car and see if it will fit.

That would be really cool. I'd love to see it, the Satchell is a super cool idea, very simple, but few people seem to have executed it successfully, or at least as the documentation would suggest. If you do the design in Solidworks, can you also do an FEA with COSMOS? I'd love to see the stressors.

Mark

[jakespeeds]

Mike,

I have no experince with or FEA or Cosmos.

Jake

[boodlefoof]

Please do post back with what you come up with. I took a look at that Jag on Corner Carvers before as well and it looked great. I've never tried my hand at suspension software so before taking the plunge and putting something in my Camaro I'd have to verse myself with it.

Before actually building a rear suspension setup like this for the car, I had planned to make a miniature version and putting it in a go-kart to get a feel for it. Lower arms coming in at 45 degrees or so and being as long as possible.

Question...

I've been under the impression that the longer the arms the better... but if the angled arms come in at 45 degrees the length of the arms is limited by the width of the rear... Is it better to sacrifice some of the angle (say go to 35 degrees) to get more length? If so, how much will lateral stability suffer and will a panhard be required?

Thanks, I'm trying to get my brain around it too!

[pav8427]

hey jake, check photos of a a-body chassis that i am working on in 'for sale'.
i used herb adams book 'suspension design' to get the general idea and made
it fit the confines of stock floorpans on my 65 chevelle ss.
with the right dimensions i could come up with a custom x-member and mounts
to fit your nova. this book is real informative and shows a lot on all aspects of susp. design. its worth the money.

doug anderson

[jakespeeds]

Doug,

I have the book but what he leaves out is the math that is involved. The angles on the tubes can be over angled and under angled causing strength and alignment problems under high speeds. I have just about got the basic part worked out but why did you use rectangular steel tube for the lower arms?

Jake

[pav8427]

jake,

the main reason was for machining,at the time i didnt have a mill
to reach both ends at one time. i also entertained the idea of using
a factory rear sway bar, but ended up narrowing the arms up.
my set up produced a swing arm length of somewhere in the area
of 48-50 inches when using the center holes on the lower control
arms,and the lower on the upper arms.(at about butt height from ground,as sitting in drivers seat)

doug

[Mean 69]

Doug, I just took a look at the design you are fabricating, and it looks really nice! For a first shot, this looks really great, I'd bet that it would be a viable and popular option for folks looking to modify the A-body. Now, get a body on that thing and get some testing on her!

In regards to the FEA, I might be able to get some help for you if you have things modelled up in SW. I can't do it personally, but know many people that can do this in their sleep. What it will show is where the main stress point would be, and it would be really helpful in terms of designing a cage to help alleviate those areas. You really can't be too competitive in the engineering world these days without a working knowledge of these types of software packages, they answer so many questions up front in the design phase, really great stuff. PM me if you'd like.

Nice job, keep going!
Mark