Re: Torsion Level System

Posted by HH56 On 2021/9/4 9:48:42

Quote:
Think back to your younger days at the playground and then of the car body as sitting on a teeter totter at the exact center.

Remember what happened when a larger kid was on one end of the teeter-totter. His size always made the smaller kid raise up in the air. If the weight difference between kids was a large amount the smaller kid would raise and never touch the ground. If they were closer in size it was still easier to raise the smaller kid than the larger but with extra work they could sort of balance and make the teeter-totter move. If the large kid moved a bit closer to middle or the smaller kid could move farther way from middle or suddenly gain some weight they could both balance and move the teeter without much effort.

In this case, the long bars supporting the car are the teeter-totter and the engine and front of the car is the larger kid. The compensator and short bars do the same thing as if the smaller kid could suddenly gain a few pounds. In a bare bones car things are almost at balance but if the car has a lot of accessories like power steering and power brakes or AC, all that extra weight in the engine compartment and drivers seat area tends to make the front end heavier so the front wants to drop down. The compensator and short bars work to balance the car by twisting and adding load on the rear to try and match the front -- same as if you gave the smaller kid something heavy to hold. If the car is loaded down with passengers and luggage, the rear is heavier so in that instance the short bars twist the other direction to subtract rear weight.

Basically the level system works by sensing the amount of twist at the middle of the long bars and having that twist work the control switch to determine which direction the car rear needs to move. Hanging wires are never good and in a 55 there could only be a couple of places where disconnected wires would affect the leveling components. That would be the wires connecting to the brake light switch which would be almost directly inward of the left front wheel or to the control switch or motor which would be more under the drivers seat.

While it is obviously not the best option, there are some with inoperative level systems that sort of make do by carrying extra weight such as a sack or two of sand in the trunk to balance out the engine weight. That will halfway work on a level surface but in driving, the braking or acceleration force will unbalance the car again so one end of the other will be heavy until a long stretch of level road or steady driving is maintained long enough for the car to balance. The number and placement of passengers will also affect the weight distribution.