Watts Link Precision Positioning and Race Car Suspension

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• Watts
• Link
• Precision
• Positioning
• and
• Race
• Car
• Suspension

[legochuckles]

Oh my god this woman is sexy!

[EnglertRacing96]

all of you trash talkers are a bunch of jack asses MANY DIRT LATE MODELS USE THIS and call it a Z link. axle warp is controlled with a torque arm thats connected with a shock. this seperates the antisquat geometry from the rear steer geometry. this setup is more ffor dirt than street it allows different rear steer from left to right to be used without binding and also seperates antisquat and braking lift.

[TheMightyFatMan]

@thugbilt Yes, it does appear that you're right--a Watts Link _was_ usually parallel to the axle, attached to the diff, and used to control lateral movement. I didn't realize that Jeri's "sideways" use of the link was so innovative. I wonder if it is part of the race-winning chassis design that she came up with and used to build and sell? Anyway, her idea to move the whole linkage system to an entirely different field (plotter design and such) is a real inspiration to me. Thanks for the ping!

[thugbilt]

LOL - This whole thing is laughable- She doesn't understand that a Watts Link is used to control lateral movement of the axle, and has applied that profound lack of understanding to some bastardized four link setup.. Too funny.

[wiggpickle]

nice to see a smart woman talking

[nitrostreet]

This is a lot of useless irrelevant babbling, her watts link race car suspension wont work as well as the traditional 4 link, and even if it did what does it have to do with open source CNC, or precision bearings, or a loose nut on a threaded rod, or a computer straightening out an arc.

[spiffitz]

Unorthodox indeed. If the axle rotates freely inside this "birdcage", then more links are required to prevent the axle from spinning under acceleration/braking forces. That means this whole Watts contraption exists only for spring/shock actuation. The axle control links would also fight for movement against the Watts linkages and can bind.

It's a good kinematics experiment. Car suspension, no.

[originaldriver]

On a live axle system, why use the watts link to control the up/down motion during suspension travel?

It would be easier to use a 2-link control arm + tracking bar set-up to maintain differential pinion angle throughout the suspension travel. Id kinda think that the watts link would do better mounted paralell to the axle/differential to restrict transverse movement and maintain linear suspension travel.

Her design is a bit unorthodox me-thinks.

[sebairaf3]

excellent!

[IainMcClatchie]

You should explain why the motion of the center of the birdcage only "mostly linear": The top and bottom links do not displace upward by equal amounts. This is because, as the birdcage tilts away from vertical, the vertical component of its length gets smaller.