NS Dev
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| posted on 5/4/04 at 11:20 PM |
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Anybody made their own de-dion rear axle?
I'm going round and round in circles at the moment. I can fabricate stuff and have most of the kit and know how but no time!! Been looking at
what's available, and decided pretty firmly that I want a de-dion rear end on my Locost. Anybody built their own? If so, can you post a few pics
or a link or two so I can have a sneaky peek for a few ideas! I like the de-dion idea as it feeds all the stresses into the areas that the chassis was
originally designed for, and also is pretty much the lightest option (or at least joint lightest!)
Cheers for your help!!
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craig1410
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| posted on 5/4/04 at 11:28 PM |
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Hi,
Check out my website, I have made my own albeit most of the parts were already laser cut and I just had to weld them together. There are fairly
detailed design schematics on my website too.
However, if I was doing it all again I would buy a ready made axle from Darren at GTS Tuning. It costs about £150 IIRC and bolts straight on to an
almost standard chassis.
Cheers,
Craig.
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ned
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| posted on 6/4/04 at 08:23 AM |
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I've bought the gts dedion tube and its very well made imho. if you do want to make it yourself, though personally i can't see the point
when its only £150 to buy then get hold of a copy of the locost cdrom, there are plans on there for it.
Ned.
beware, I've got yellow skin
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James
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| posted on 6/4/04 at 08:51 AM |
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The GTS De-Dion looked really nice at the Detling show. For £150 including trailing arms, panhard rod, bushes it's a Barry Bargain! 
James
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mackie
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| posted on 6/4/04 at 12:28 PM |
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It includes trailing arms? Cool. Do they accept rubber or poly bushes or either?
I guess we can sell out bluebird ones then...
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NS Dev
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| posted on 6/4/04 at 07:06 PM |
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only thing is, I don't want the wide track of the GTS dedion setup (though Darren has informed me that they are doing a "book" track
dedion axle too)
also, why is the chassis below the axle lowered? Surely the dedion axle sits no lower than the live axle?
Have Stuart Taylor ever done a dedion axle version.
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craig1410
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| posted on 6/4/04 at 07:32 PM |
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NSDev,
I have a slightly different de-dion design originally from MK Eng and it too says that the chassis should be lowered. However, unless I am missing
something I have not had to do this on my chassis. I didn't even know about it until I'd already finished my chassis to be honest but I
don't see the problem. I just set my shock absorbers (GTS ones) such that they hit their limit before the de-dion hits the chassis.
Of course I may yet discover why this is done... 
Cheers,
Craig.
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rash
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| posted on 6/4/04 at 08:17 PM |
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de-dion
i made my own de-dion not to difficult have a look in my pictures hope its sof some help to you ???
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NS Dev
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| posted on 7/4/04 at 04:50 PM |
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Very nice, what did you do the make sure that the ends of the axle were parallel, i.e. the toe is spot on, also, what is the diameter of the de-dion
tube that you have used, looks quite small (i.e. I have some nice 45 x 3mm CDS and a suitable pipe-bender so if it's less than 45mm I'm
ok!!!)
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NS Dev
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| posted on 7/4/04 at 04:54 PM |
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Craig, I can't see anything wrong with the chassis where it is, surely whether de-dion or live axle, the axle still moves in much the same place
(I suppose it it a bit further back on the de-dion and therefore a bit more "uphill" on the rear chassis section) but I cannot see a real
problem.
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craig1410
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| posted on 7/4/04 at 07:41 PM |
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Yes I agree, the only tangible difference I can see is the diameter of the large tubes through which the driveshafts pass. These are probably a bit
bigger than a typical live axle.
I'm happy and if it works then I'll be even happier...
Cheers,
Craig.
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rash
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| posted on 7/4/04 at 07:46 PM |
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de-dion
The assebly was positioned on the chassis then attach a straight edge to the flat of the hub and measure down the side of the chassis ensuring both
sides are the same. the vertical axis were done in the same manner but by using a spirit level instead of a straight edge.Then tack weld at opposites
ensuring nothing has moved, abit of a steady job i agree. The de-dion tube itself is what we call 1 1/4 red band steam pipe which is 1 1/4 bore with
an o/d of 1 5/8 hope this helps
[Edited on 8/4/04 by rash]
[Edited on 8/4/04 by rash]
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NS Dev
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| posted on 8/4/04 at 10:10 PM |
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Thanks Rash, that's a great help
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Peteff
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| posted on 9/4/04 at 12:13 AM |
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Cool. Do they accept rubber or poly bushes
No it has to be a cheque or visa .
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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craig1410
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| posted on 9/4/04 at 11:26 AM |
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I aligned my de-dion by laying the large tubes (one's with driveshafts through) out on a couple of parallel pieces of 1" square ERW which
itself was lying on my building surface which had already been levelled to within the thickness of a hacksaw blade. This basically ensured that the
two tubes were concentric. Since each hub carrier attachment plate had already been welded to the end of each large tube and was perfectly
perpendicular to the tube, this meant that all I had to do was get the two large tubes concentric.
However, I wanted a little bit of toe-in (only really so that I can be sure of not getting ANY toe-out through natural accuracy and measuring errors)
so I did some geometrical calculations and ascertained that the desired toe angle could be achieved by using a couple of hacksaw blades between the
large tube and my guiderails to effectively deflect the inboard edge of the large tubes upwards (or "backwards" once fitted to the car) .
Once this was all set up and spaced apart at my desired track width I clamped everything down and measured it one more time before placing the
previously assembled de-dion tube and "ears" on top. I aligned this according to the desired brake caliper mounting position and tack
welded it all together. I then measured it again before getting it professionally welded with a nice big Mig.
Once I assembled the axle onto the car I checked my angles and it all seems to be close to what I was aiming for. I'll only really know when I
get it all aligned properly.
I hope this helps,
Craig.
[Edited on 9/4/2004 by craig1410]
[Edited on 9/4/2004 by craig1410]
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