<VV> Springs WAS Camber Compensator

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

>I was speaking of the Corvair as the factory produced it ...
>

You need to close those gates BEFORE the horse leaves the barn

> the item everyone refers to as a 'Camber Compensator'
>

Does that mean I am not part of the Everyman Group?   Yea!  So you meant 
to say  "everyone else", or just "many"?
Even I will buy one for $10 at a swap meet, though it is labeled "camber 
compensator".

>The point was the understeer condition can be altered by changing springs ONLY.  Chevrolet could have changed the spring rate and made up for the softer spring by making it longer.  The transverse spring is quite a costly addition to ONLY change the degree of understeer.  Yes, that spring does carry part of the weight of the car 
>

I can only go by what it was that you said, so it is nice to have you 
clarify yourself -- "that spring does carry part of the weight" vs "It 
is not necessary to add this transverse spring to carry the weight of 
the car ...".  All I can say is that apparently someone at GM thought 
it  was necessary (and convinced others it was, too), noting your 
comments about expense.

Making that soft coil spring long enough to support he weight takes us 
back to 1963, but with soft, mushy springs & I don't think that would do 
much for the "problem" -- there were probably assembly line, as well as 
serviceability issues, that limit the length of the spring -- also, too 
long and too soft and the coils will collapse onto themselves before you 
hit the suspension stops -- the LM suspension was the way to go, but it 
too was a compromise because the drivetrain was in the way of using a 
full Corvette style suspension.  The transverse leaf et al was just a 
Band-Aid that happens to work rather well.  I am willing to concede that 
the leaf does more than just change the ride height, but not being a GM 
suspension engineer from the 60's I am not "in the loop", so to speak -- 
meaning it is 'Snake Oil' to me -- I do know that GM had reasonable 
experience with transverse leafs and independent rear suspension, albeit 
with a fixed central mount, ala Corvette, fwiw.  I also know that the 
swing axle Porsche drivers did not find their factory transverse spring 
to be nearly as effective as the Corvair's, as a handling improvement.

Bill Strickland