Re: Safe-T-fleX vs. tradition IFS

Posted by Rusty O\'Toole On 2012/2/26 16:56:05

I'm no expert but I think the breakthrough in the Safe T Flex design, was the wide spread mounting points of the control arm, which allowed the use of soft rubber mountings without excess movement at the wheel. Competitive makes used solid bushings mounted close together which controlled the wheel but did not absorb bumps.

Ford copied the Safe T Flex idea in the sixties and achieved a softer smoother ride than their competitors. I think eventually everyone made some version of the same idea. The lower control arm may not have looked exactly the same but it had rubber mounts to absorb bumps, wide spread for stability.

I think the main advantage in absorbing bumps was that the rubber allowed rearward compliance, in other words the wheel could move backwards as well as upwards.

So, if everyone eventually copied it, and it was still giving the best ride of any design 40 years after Packard invented it, I would say the idea had merit.