Cool! Flamebait! :)
On Wed, Dec 22, 1999 at 06:01:57PM -0500, Toney wrote:
> Its a proven scientific fact that lowering ANY type of vehicle is going
> to help it handle (lowering the center of gravity).Seeing that my truck
Unfortunately, it ain't that simple.
Now, if you chop the entire suspension off the truck, and re-mount it in the
truck but at a higher location, moving anything that would get in the way
of the now newly-moved parts, then yeah, you'd be absolutely right. You're
gaining the benefit of a lower center of gravity without adding weight or
changing the suspension geometry or travel of the vehicle. That's the tricky
bit, and the part most people forget:
Suspension doesn't just exist to smooth out bumps in the road.
Unfortunately, people rarely do that sort of thing. What you usually see
is people installing "blocks"-- basically moving parts attached to the
suspension to a different position. Taking all the work the engineers did
to figure out where the axles ought to be located and throwing it out the
window, decreasing suspension travel, payload rating, and, strangely enough,
most of the handling benefits gained by moving the center of gravity lower.
The interesting thing about a truck: For payload purposes, a pickup truck
has more suspension travel than it needs. You _can_ get away with moving
the truck a little closer to the ground, and you'll see some benefit from
it! You probably _will_ get better handling if you move the truck about
an inch or so closer to the ground!
I expect, however, that's not what you mean. After all, the current belief
in the automotive world is, "if a little is good, a whole lot is better,"
and that's why we see trucks running around that can't crest a speed bump.
A "slammed" truck is "cool".
Hey, I can deal with cool, but you should be able to, too. Don't try to
justify the money you spent slamming your truck by claiming it improves
handling when what you've done is removed 90% of the suspension travel
from your truck. Take the truck to the show, win your trophy, enjoy it.
And when the truck that's three inches further from the ground than
yours turns in a better lap time at the SCCA event, don't wonder-- you
picked cool over fast. The other guy's truck would never win a trophy
at a low-rider truck show.
-- --J.D. Forinash (foxtrot@cc.gatech.edu) / '69 Coronet 440, yellow, 318 The more you learn, the better your / '70 Fury III 'vert, mostly white, 318 luck gets. / '99 Dakota R/T 15.601 @ 85.57 The Golden Tornado goes to the Gator Bowl again! Next victim: Miami
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