----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Greville" <dgrev@ruralnet.net.au>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2001 10:19 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] Track Shoes A follow-up and artillery for sale
> Ryan
>
> > Wow, really!.
> >
> > So then why the shocks? Damping force only? That tube just doesn't
> > look anchored enough to act like that.
>
> Dunno. But impressive aren't they!
>
They certainly are, hollow tubes are incredibly strong in torsion (see prop
shafts), it is a standard method of anchoring a torsion bar but allowing a
greater length as you have effectively extended the anchor point by the length
of the tube.
> Tube as in container, for the torsion bar, I think.
>
As in actually the bar extends both back and forwards a long way past the
wishbone ends as a co-axial arrangement.
Taking the front wheel for example, the hull anchor and adjustment is to the
rear, the bar passes through the wishbone bearings, and the "free end" is
splined into that tube you are both referring to which takes the whole force
rearwards again to the top wishbone where it is splined to the wishbone boss.
The large tubular devices are just the dampers (shock absorbers) and stops.
Dampers are needed with any suspension or the wheel can just patter at the
mechanical resonant frequency of the system when suddenly displaced by a bump.
Like a tank with many roadwheels you need only control the first and last wheel
to stop pitching, although current models use the same gas/oil combined function
strut on each wheel now; but things like Centurion and Chieftain do not and also
the FV432 has a (friction) damper on the first and last wheel only.
Similarly, FV600 chassis vehicles have only one damper on the centre station as
the front and rear do the most work, two bump and rebound stops are provided
though and these are simply a stack of hard and thick rubber washers with a
central shaft becoming compressed on either full extension or deflection of the
wheel.
If you look closely at these telescopic devices you will note (at the front
station) two have a conical collar after the castellated ring screwed in the
hull mount at the top and two have plain parallel collars, the inner pair are
the double-acting shocks.
Richard
Southampton - England
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