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All right... new thing.
Independed rear suspension on street vehicles.

I have what's called a live axle... maybe you've heard of it. It's where you have a differential that doesn't have useless moving parts in it that complicate things and add weight.

Note: I said street vehicles. Rock climbers are not street vehicles. Thank you.

i have seen up to -1.5 to -2 degrees of camber on a solid axle. solid axles arent too bad.

Solid axles cause a harsh ride, and if one wheel goes over a bump, the other is suddenly given a considerable amount of positive camber relative to the road. The advantages are low cost, and the fact that body roll does not influence wheel camber.

DeDion axles are similar to solid axles, in that they're cheap, and body roll does not influence wheel camber. Unfortunately, they also camber both wheels on bumps. However, the difference here is that the differential is attached to the body, rather than being a part of a big, solid axle, so unsprung weight is reduced, and ride is improved somewhat.

Swing axles are amusing. The differential is attached to the body, and the wheels are independent of one another, making this design the first independent suspension, but bodyroll, changes in weight, and bumps/hills greatly affect camber. Cars with swing axles handle very unpredictably (read: oversteer-happy). But hey, they're independent, and offer a better ride than non-independent suspensions.

Double-wishbone suspensions offer the same consistent wheel geometry as solid axles do, while also greatly improving ride, allowing one wheel to move independently of the other, and offering more adjustability. However, they're costly and quite large.

MacPherson struts are small, cheap, and independent. However, they are relatively tall, and just like swing axles, body roll, changes in weight, and bumps/hills affect camber, but to a much lesser extent.

Trailing-arm suspensions prevent camber changes from taking place due to changes in weight or bumps/hills, but bodyroll still induces camber changes. This leads to understeer.

Semi-trailing-arm suspensions are an altered version of trailing-arm-suspensions, and combine the understeer of trailing-arm suspensions with the oversteer of swing-axles, resulting in near-neutral handling. However, like with MacPherson struts, bumps/hills and changes in weight affect camber, and ride quality is poorer than that of other independent suspensions.

Torsion beam suspensions are a very small, simple, semi-independent design, and are sort of like a cross between a MacPherson strut design and an anti-roll bar. It's hard to describe, but handling and ride is inferior anyway, so there isn't much of a point in desribing it anyway.

Multi-link suspensions are defined as any independent suspension design with 3 or more control arms. They come very close to offering the superior handling of a double-wishbone design, but they're smaller and less expensive. They also provide a very refined ride. The only drawback is that they're far from being the cheapest or smallest design around.

Sub-frame mounting is when the suspension and chassis are not directly connected to one another -- rather, the suspension is connected to a lightweight frame, which is in turn connected to the chassis. The frame absorbs a good portion of noise/vibration, contributing to a further refined ride.

You pull my transfer case out and fix it then J, in -2* weather and snow on the ground.

AS for Stang's comment about IRS on street cars: Indeopendant suspension on the rear of street cars is more driver prefrence, I guess. because both Solid axles and IRS work fine with a little refinement.

have you worked in cold weather? your hands like freeze to the tools. ratchets start skipping from the cold. hands freeze off. bad s**t happens. i cant work unless its like 30 or more out.

Heh, that about sums it up Yozsi. Don't forget everything hurts more when it's cold.

I like the cold, it's WAY better than hot. You get all sweaty and you get headaches. Just wear gloves and keep your tools close. You don't have to if you don't want to though.

J, let me describe something for you:

There's cold, and then there is Really cold.

Cold, like 15*C is nice. You don't get sweaty, and it's nice. Hell, even down to about 8*C is perfectly fine.

But right now, it is between -3*C and 2*C. and that is Miserable cold. Wrapping up means that you have less mobility, and gloves don't protect against bashed knuckles and crunched fingers.