<VV> Swing Axles

[Ken Campbell]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "airvair" <airvair at richnet.net>
Subject: Re: <VV> Swing Axles


> 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.
> -Mark
***************
Oh No, another anecdotal thread ... but after all, these are more fun ...
Anyway, I have to disagree .... anecdotally speaking ... we have 2 Ford 150
type long wheelbase vans, both with about 400+ K miles on them ....   the 76
needed front end re-aligning right out of the box ( you use shim washers,
took 30 minutes  ) but then here we are 30 years later and that same van has
never needed any repeat alignments ... our 79 about the same story ... no
adjustments and both drive steady as a rock with/without a full load, go
thru snow drifts just fine, flooded highways just fine, pull a fully loaded
trailer steady, and are actually capable of doing a bit of crushed rock road
boy racer stuff .... predictability is important on loose rock ...  and
prayer at times ...
........ we were so impressed we actually made a couple of toy competition
cars with a swing front end ( yep, long arms, )... One car had a traditional
unequal a-arm fully independent rear end, the other a modified ( aren't they
all? ) de Dione box rear ....one car won a couple national championships,
the other a regional champ or two, it cornered fine, and was stable under
acceleration , but suffered from *bad* handling under braking, might have
been the swing arm design, or a zillion other things also ... cars are like
a box of chocolates ...
*************
just some thoughts, ken campbell, deltawerkes




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