Imitation Leaf Spring Suspension

[Ras_Al_Ghul]

One of the biggest problems for technic builders is that there are no parts that work very well for leaf springs, which are common on real vehicles. There are a few parts that work fairly well (soft axles, for one) but still not real great.

Here's my idea for a solution

The hardest part was getting a solid axle but this seems to work pretty well.

go ahead and leave comments, however, please do not comment on the color scheme as these were the parts that were easiest to find when I built it

brickshelf folder when public

Edited November 18, 2008 by Ras_Al_Ghul

[Buttons]

That is very impresive. But what about steering?

[TechnicJuan]

Crowkillers kinda already beat you to this idea when he did his 67 Mustang earlier this year..

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=305058

Pretty slick if you ask me.

[TechnicJuan]

Here is a short video from youtube that shows the suspension in action(Sort of)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYQkJLH9ZgM

I met the crowman in person a few months ago at a toy show and he had his Mustang on Display with a few other cars(Lets just say Crow's models were the highlight of the show) I got to play around with the Mustang a little bit, it is AWESOME! The Automatic doors are neat. Oh yeah his Camaro was there too. But not with the chromed wheels.

Crowkillers is my Idol.

Edited November 19, 2008 by TechnicJuan

[Ras_Al_Ghul]

Crowkillers kinda already beat you to this idea when he did his 67 Mustang earlier this year..

Yeah I know, I have yet to see a builder exceed crowkillers' skill at this kind of stuff. His was actually the inspiration for mine, but I wanted to try to make it work for smaller wheels - even down to the wheels from 4404:

[Meatman]

Here's my idea for a solution

Well then how can this be YOUR idea for a solution to a problem that was solved by crowkillers?

You basically designed a crappy version of what was already perfected and tried to pass it off as your own design. Then admitted that he "inspired" you to build it?

[Ras_Al_Ghul]

That is very impresive. But what about steering?

I didn't add steering for two reasons:

a) this is my first try at something like this

b) realism. Have you ever seen a real-life vehicle with steering on a leaf sprung axle?

Well then how can this be YOUR idea for a solution to a problem that was solved by crowkillers?

You basically designed a crappy version of what was already perfected and tried to pass it off as your own design. Then admitted that he "inspired" you to build it?

I saw this on BS a while ago and thought it was pretty nice, except that it was too big. I designed a version on my own that would work in smaller MOCs. If you really look at it, the only real similarity is the two soft shock absorbers; other than that, they're totally different.

[Spidubic]

b) realism. Have you ever seen a real-life vehicle with steering on a leaf sprung axle

Yes. Big rigs have leaf springs on the front axle and steer. Lots of vehicles use to use leaf springs on the front. Some heavy duty pickups still do.

[Mortymore]

Well then how can this be YOUR idea for a solution to a problem that was solved by crowkillers?

You basically designed a crappy version of what was already perfected and tried to pass it off as your own design. Then admitted that he "inspired" you to build it?

Leaf spring came at least from Middle Age times, so no one's idea here.

Crowkillers made is LEGO version, and Ras_Al_Ghul is own. And even if inspired, they both seem different enough to me, to say they are alike.

Regards

PS: And by the way... none of them are actualy leaf springs are they? I see springs, but not the leafs :P

Edited November 21, 2008 by Mortymore

[Guss]

PS: And by the way... none of them are actualy leaf springs are they? I see springs, but not the leafs :P

lol ^^

nice leaf-springs Ras_Al_Ghul ^^ I also like the Crowkillers's mustangs one , you two did a nice job ^^

which are common on real vehicles.

on trucks maybe, on some, but I don't thinks that Europeans cars that I see here have spring leaf... at least for the past 30 years...

[Ras_Al_Ghul]

on trucks maybe, on some, but I don't thinks that Europeans cars that I see here have spring leaf... at least for the past 30 years...

I don't know about European cars, but here in the US almost all cars have rear leaf-springs.

[Meatman]

I don't know about European cars, but here in the US almost all cars have rear leaf-springs.

Maybe cars from the 60's and 70's..

I rebuild transmissions and I am under cars all of the time and maybe 1 out of 50 cars that I work on has leaf springs.

That is probably why crow used that technique on a car that was from the 60's.

Not trying to be rude to you on your build, but give credit where credit is do.

I see that you are trying to build a smaller, but yet sturdy version, good luck! :)

[Buttons]

b) realism. Have you ever seen a real-life vehicle with steering on a leaf sprung axle?

Come to think of it? No I haven't

[Freddie]

I don't know about European cars, but here in the US almost all cars have rear leaf-springs.

Passenger cars are bound to have some sort of coil-sprung suspension, front and rear, regardless if its the US or the EU. The newest Corvette is an exception, altough I wouldn't call its rear suspension for "leaf springs", since its far more advanced. I'm guessing you're thinking of larger SUVs and pick-up trucks - these are trucks, not cars. ;) It's the same in europe, work-trucks and vans are usually fitted with leaf-spring suspension because it's a cheap, sturdy construction capable of higher loads compared to coil springs (but both are inferior to hydropneumatic suspension, which outperforms all suspension types in all categories!).

Personally, I would think of your first design (first post in this thread) to be closer to the principles of leaf spring suspension compared to Crowkiller's. That's because the technic axle, of which you fitted the coils, would flex whenever there's some tension put on the coils. The axle flexing is the very core function of leaf springs supension.

I would advice you to only use this method if you're willing to sacrifice the axles, but replacing the coil-springs with axles would be a much more realistic approach to leaf-springs. Reinforce by spreading the tension across more axles. Then you'll have real leaf springs.

[Guss]

you're right Freddie, but I don't think that lego parts are flexible enough to make it really works :/

[Ras_Al_Ghul]

The axles in this pic are only for the picture. When I put the system on a chassis, I had a bunch of liftarms and such spreading between the shock absorbers. I never took pictures of the chassis because I couldn't get a few things to work and I lost interest in it. When I decided to take pics of the suspension I just put the axles on to hold the shocks in the right position. Sorry for the confusion. Before this I tried to improve crowkiller's design and build a kind of leaf spring using 2 x 16 plates; needless to say I lost a few plates that day I realized that this was the next best solution and I just tried to make it smaller.