<VV> Swing Axles

[airvair]

I was talking to a tow truck driver once, and what he had to say was
very enlightening. He had two tow trucks, one a F**d and one Chebby. He
would only tow out of town with the Chebby, as the F**d handled badly
with a load at highway speeds. Seems the "swing axle" front end made for
rather squirrely handling under those conditions.

Odd thing is that it took F**d decades to finally ditch that rotten
design for a more modern and superior design, and when they finally did,
a lot of their customers got upset. Go figure.

-Mark

Padgett wrote:
> 
> At 08:03 AM 4/17/2006, mygroups wrote:
> >Swing Axle meant ALOT more cars than Volkswagen - many European cars had
> >swing axle arrangements (see Fiat for starters).
> 
> True but from an American marketting standpoint, those other cars were
> barely a blip during the '50s. VW was real competition. Anyone know what
> the 356 Porsche rear suspension was ?
> 
> >Thanks, no swing axles for me. Ford took a poor idea (swing axles) and
> >stuck it on the front of their trucks! <grin!>
> 
> The "twin I beam" front suspension had *much* longer swing arms with pivot
> points nearly to the wheel on the other side. Coupled with limited travel
> and modest performance expectations I doubt if anyone noticed. Was better
> than a live front axle.
> 
> Padgett
>