Adjustable Spoiler Braces, Can any of our manufacturers make these Options

[Rough_Rider]

Since joining you guys i've tried as much as possible to buy through folks in the club, well now i've got a need for one of these. But the longacre & other racers store offering are not quite right.

I'm looking for them to be adjustable from 5" to 7"
Ends need more than the 90 degree of freedom in the curent design.
Cost approx $20 each.

The tarett sway bar links are close in design but way over engineered for this application.
Any takers??

[McMark]

Cross post in the Garage for more hits/eyes.

[914forme]

Easy:

Couple of Rode end bearings, and a tube.

Peguases Racing sells alium, tie rods that should fit the bill. Rod ends can be had cheaper else where:

Cheaper Rod end bearings, for this app, should not be an issue. I would not use them in a true Tie Rod, but for a simple piece that is not critical ( Life or Death) this should work fine, and save a few $$$

What kind of laod are you expecting? Turnbuckles while not in the cool factor range costa lot less.

BTW, you can get a forged turnbuckle for about $10-22 depending on the range and load.

[drgchapman]

Trev, what are you up too? I'm keeping an eye on you. Are you thinking of doing some DE stuff? Or are you making a huge low speed spoiler to gain a thousandth on me......that is all I beat you by last time. Guess I better get in the garage and get busy......

[Rough_Rider]

Thanks Stephen, thats pretty much what i figured i'd have todo.

Gary, i'm thinking of making an adjustable table so i've always got somewhere for you to put your drinks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

It'll look something like this when done.

[drgchapman]

I'm looking into a 4"x4" rear spoiler for my car for DE events. Just a little sumpin' to settle the rear down at speed, she gets a might light over 100mph. Keep us posted, like to see what you come up with.

[jhadler]

...
but for a simple piece that is not critical ( Life or Death) this should work fine, and save a few $$$
...

I dunno, have you seen what happens to a formula car that suddenly looses the rear wing??? I doubt it's much fun to be the passenger on that one. I say passenger, 'cause once that wing departs company with the car, that's all you are....

-Josh2

[sixnotfour]

Home Depot close line turn buckles , this pic is about 12years ago

[sixnotfour]

allstar all23023 is 6inch ,but is hex stock with no tapers, can be easily trimmed to length and retapped, 180 pivot on ends. of course its 22.00 bucks also.
http://www.pitstopusa.com/detail.aspx?ID=55349

[914forme]

...
but for a simple piece that is not critical ( Life or Death) this should work fine, and save a few $$$
...

I dunno, have you seen what happens to a formula car that suddenly looses the rear wing??? I doubt it's much fun to be the passenger on that one. I say passenger, 'cause once that wing departs company with the car, that's all you are....

-Josh2

Yep I have been there done it, saw the wreckage etc.... Point being I would not use the Pegusas stuff for a tie rod arm on our cars, they are made for the formula car crowd, but with enough of them they should work for a small wing. I do use them for saybar drop links tough, and they seem to hold up just fine. But then I also don't track this car (only auto-x), and have also seen what a broken drop link can do for you in a turn. So its all inherinat risk.

But, After all he said he is making an adjustable table. A couple of wooden dowels and a piece of duct tape will do that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

But then I tend to disagree with you on the passengar comment, it sounds like you give up once the part brakes. I have walked many a pair of boots in my life. If I gave up I would have been died a long time ago. Never give up, there is allways something you can do to make the outcome a little better, especially for others. You might be dead, but if you can avoid taking others with you, your a better man for it in the long run.

[jhadler]

But then I also don't track this car (only auto-x), and have also seen what a broken drop link can do for you in a turn. So its all inherinat risk.

Yup, I had a rear sway bar drop link buckle on me at an autox. The result wasn't pretty.... End of car. It wasn't the drop link failure though that did the car in, it was my response to the failure that really did it in.

But then I tend to disagree with you on the passengar comment, it sounds like you give up once the part brakes. I have walked many a pair of boots in my life. If I gave up I would have been died a long time ago. Never give up, there is allways something you can do to make the outcome a little better, especially for others. You might be dead, but if you can avoid taking others with you, your a better man for it in the long run.

What I meant was, when the rear wing of an aero car breaks away, Isaac Newton takes over, and there isn't much the driver can do besides hang on. Here's an extreeme example: Modern formula cars can generate over 1000 lbs of downforce. The cars themselves weigh about that much, so the spring rates are very high (sometimes up to 1000 lbs). So should that downforce suddenly go away, the car will quite litterally launch off the ground. At that point, the car becomes a projectile... And yes, the driver is then rendered a passenger...

That's all I meant...

-Josh2

[914forme]

Yup, I had a rear sway bar drop link buckle on me at an autox. The result wasn't pretty.... End of car. It wasn't the drop link failure though that did the car in, it was my response to the failure that really did it in.

Sorry to hear that. That is why I auto-x, it is to find the limits of the car and see what if anything I can do about it. Sometimes you spin off course, other times you save it! Either way you learn about you and the car. Some times you break stuff hopefully you walked away un harmed, except maybe a knock to the ego. and we all need that every now and again.

The cars themselves weigh about that much, so the spring rates are very high (sometimes up to 1000 lbs). So should that downforce suddenly go away, the car will quite litterally launch off the ground. At that point, the car becomes a projectile... And yes, the driver is then rendered a passenger...

That's all I meant...

-Josh2

Yep, I understand that better now. I am not sure in this instance that the wing will be generating 1000s of pounds of down force, if it does he will have more problems than a link failure, actually the link failure might be welcomed to regain suspension travel.

This banter does bring up a good point here. Like everything on our cars its about balance and tradeoffs. So if your adding downforce to the rear, be careful not to exceed the capabilities of the front, and cause a worse reaction. If the front starts to lift at speed you might find yourself flying. So don't forget to balance out the front force also. Nothing worse than a light front end, to instill confidence for you. I would rather have the rear dance about a little, and be able to steer that have the front dance and loose control. And as you build the car to become more stable at speeds, it becomes less of a tolerant car a low speeds.

Case in point, knew a guy that had a 944 Turbo Cup car. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Car felt like a rabid dog at low speeds, darted here and there could not track straight to save its soul. But once you got it well above legal speeds, it calmed down and drove well. The areodynamics kicked in and the suspension started to work, because of the higher spring rates etc... At speed it was a synphonic orchestra, driving around town, it was like the fingers on a chalk board.