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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Home away from home
 
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That puzzles me as well. Don't know.
The piece about the short bars I got from Dwight Heinmuller who is very carefully researching for a book about the planned 57s. He has found and interviewed most every surviving engineering employee over the years.
Posted on: 2014/4/22 6:05
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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Home away from home
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Are there any numbers cast in the arms, or the ball stud end?
Any markings stamped on the hex end of the bars?
Posted on: 2014/4/22 8:29
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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Forum Ambassador
 
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Quote:
One of the options under review for the 57 low line cars was a non interconnected torsion bar suspension. That way they could use the same basic suspension on the cheaper and more expensive cars, but do away with the leveler on the low line. The four short bars would have just been anchored in the center of the chassis. EEEYECH!!! The beauty of the TL implementation on the 55-56 cars was that interconnecting the front and rear wheel (on same side) with one long main bar greatly reduced the upward movement of the car over bumps. While this arrangement necessitated a levelizer, that equipment yields additional benefits. I've driven/owned other vehicles with torsion bars for only the front suspension (RWD, FWD, and 4WD), and they can't hold a candle to the TL-equipped 55-56 Packards. The ride of those other vehicles seems rather pitchy to me. I can only imagine how bad the ride would be with four independent, non-interconnected bars.
Posted on: 2014/4/22 9:12
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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Home away from home
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Wasn't there at one time the idea of using torsion bars on the Rambler? Also, what about an experimental long wheelbase model for limos, etc. that wouldn't need the interconnected wheels.
Posted on: 2014/4/22 9:32
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"Do you ever think about the things you do think about?"
Inherit the Wind |
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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Forum Ambassador
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Several years ago, Motor City Packards put out a DVD titled 'An Interview With William D. Allison', which included - among other things - road test footage of at least one Rambler fitted with a new confirguraton of the torsion bar suspension.
Ford wanted to evaluate the suspension for use with unitized vehicle construction, but because they had no such vehicles at that time, they purchased some Ramblers for Allison to work with. Unfortunately, it seems that they effort.
Posted on: 2014/4/22 11:30
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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Forum Ambassador
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I still can't comprehend the length of 44". It appears the concept is still the same -- one wheel pushes up and the bar twists to push another down. I can't see how the mid frame anchoring would need that flexibility or need the load arm. Using the Packard geometry as a base, that 44" would seem to want a wheelbase of maybe 5' max. Other than the BMW Isetta funny cars, I can't think of any other car that small back then. Even the Metropolitan had an 85" WB.
Was there ever any work done with bars positioned transversely. I can't think of why or what benefit there would be but 44" might fit that way.
Posted on: 2014/4/22 11:51
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Howard
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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Home away from home
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Here's an off-the-wall idea: Maybe these main bars are meant to be segmented and joined at the middle, but still full length when joined. The idea might be to have different thicknesses on the front end to "tune" the stiffness of the torsion bar. If so, maybe this was done on a prototype until the engineers had the exact twist stiffness worked out in real life. It could also be used for different vehicle weights and slightly different wheelbases.
Craig
Posted on: 2014/4/22 14:58
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Nuke them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure! Ellen Ripley "Aliens"
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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Home away from home
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We sandblasted the bar ends and one has some legible numbers X53. 365 on the smaller bars. The 872 is a regular t-bar. The arms are regular Packard 445748,445752
Attach file:  (94.04 KB) (131.25 KB) (93.77 KB) (127.41 KB) (103.09 KB)
Posted on: 2014/4/22 15:04
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Re: Short main torsion bars
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Home away from home
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Maybe "X53" means "eXperimental 53"???
Craig
Posted on: 2014/4/22 15:32
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Nuke them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure! Ellen Ripley "Aliens"
Time flies like an arrow. Frui |
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