What is your interest in having a bolt-on A-Arm front suspension???

[ricola]

For me it is more a matter of liability that may stop me selling my design...

[volkdent]

I was at Laguna Seca last Mon and Tues. 034 Motorsports was there. They make HiPo aftermarket older Audi stuff. They have a 90 coupe with 450hp and all the LSD Quattro stuff done. Christian Miller(Speed Touring Car Championship Jetta driver) was slamming that thing around the track at insane speeds. They had installed a new lower control arm that they fabbed up to increase castor. Worked great for 6 sessions. Coming in to turn 2 under braking one of them let go. Tire squashed into the fender and locked up, but he was able to take it straight off the end of the track and the only damage done was related to the broken control arm.

Moral of the story, aftermarket stuff that is under load needs to be tested. Christian is a professional race car driver testing under controlled conditions. Had this occured on a freeway offramp, someone could have been killed. I'm not going to be selling my design till it has been vigorously tested by me and people like Christian. He would love to thrash my bug around the track. If something breaks there, it's within possibility. The product that I will hopefully end up selling HAS to be safe, well constructed, efficiently built, and function properly under a lot of different conditions.

I know everyone interested is chomping at the bit to get their hands on this thing, but it's not really worth it unless its done properly. Eyeball engineering has about 3 of their design on the road, but most are trailer queens. Nobody else has a design that is close to the strength built into mine, but that doesn't mean it's infallible. If anyone else cares to start this project they are free to do so, but it is a long, long road if done properly, and I think, in regards to my design, patience will be rewarded by a carefully thought out, safe, and relatively inexpensive product that can be used for many years without the fear of failure.

Jason

[Cohibra45]

Sorry Guys,

I was out of business for the last few days. My computer took a major, well, you know what I mean. :evil: I am just now getting it back together. I lost almost everything on my hard drive. Very frustrating.

I had been meaning to compile the questions from all the sites/forums that I originally posted to and make one cohesive thread/post.

One thing for thought...My original intent, and I believe James and Bill (EyeBall Engineering) was to use as many VW parts as possible to keep the options open for everyone. I was hoping to keep the ball joints out VW. I also wanted to use a VW rack and pinion steering from the Rabbit/Jetta/Golf/Fox if at all possible. I guess what I am saying, I was hoping for a completely engineered bolt on cradle and a-arms using VW parts. I am sure that all the lowering/track width/adjustability concerns will be addressed later. This just started out to ask the feasibility and interest of having one available. The costs will be discussed later. As with any product, the more people signing up to buy one, the lower the cost !!!

Take care,

Kelly (Cohibra)

[The Pirate]

Agreed. At first I thought I could just put something together rather quick and safe but due to posts and interactions here on the board ( thanks Volkdent) I came to realize it is going to be a rather long hard road. I plan the stress test the heck out of my designs both on and off the car to ensure reliabilty. I would rather over build a little safety into the control arms than save a littel weight and have a disaster. As for race safe control arm members I leave it up to the racers to decide if an item can be used safley on their cars. ( insert race disclamer here)

I plan to use the prototypes I build as a base design to have a more refined version derived from. I am looking into companies that take items and redesign them for optimum preformance and ease of creation. That way the control arms are safe and well designed for safety.

PS. Volkdent I would like to kick a few ideas around with you later.

[notch11]

bolt on A-arms $2500...... for that money your well on your way to full costom tube chassis with front and rear fully independent adjustable suspension. just a thought

[volkdent]

Originally Posted by notch11

bolt on A-arms $2500...... for that money your well on your way to full costom tube chassis with front and rear fully independent adjustable suspension. just a thought

Whose got those? How much? Not a drag chassis right?

Jason

[notch11]

I forgot where I found this

http://www.rorty-design.com/content/beetle.htm

[Shadowbug]

Originally Posted by Cohibra45

I also wanted to use a VW rack and pinion steering from the Rabbit/Jetta/Golf/Fox if at all possible.(Cohibra)

you'll need to use the mk2 gof rack,not the mk1, mk1 doesnt have enough movement to use the beetle spindles (unless you were going to use something else)

ask me how I know.