Maybe I am stupid but I have to ask. Going to build a rear suspension from the exelent plans by Rorty. When i bend the tube 11 degrees as it say I would like to cut the ends about 5,5 for the wheels to run paralell with the chassi. In the plan Im told to do so but only 5,3 degrees. I dont think the welding will do the job for the last 0,2. Probably Im overlooking something. Grateful for any help.

KR bogol

Without looking I would guess that Rorty has done that to give a small amount of toe in on the rear wheels, which can then be shimmed to give exactly the setup you want.

What you certainly don't want is toe out, which I would guess is why he has done it the way he has.

As a fellow de-dion builder I would agree with this hypothesis. I certainly built some toe-in and a small amount of negative camber into my setup to aid stability. You don't need much negative camber on de-dion axles due to the inherent design but a small amount will help grip. Toe-in helps to keep the back end in check on the limit by effectively "steering" the back axle inwards as the weight transfers to the outside wheels while cornering.

Cheers,
Craig.

Where did the Rorty plans come from? I'm very interested but can't find them on his site. Any idea where i should look?

I am hosting them for him. You can download them from my site, in the downloads section

David

Thanks guys. Perfectly natural and a good reason as well.

bogol