Noticed this when watching the new Jalopnik video

"xxstich666xx" (xxstich666xx) 08/27/2015 at 15:40 • Filed to: None

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SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > xxstich666xx 08/27/2015 at 15:52

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Yeah, that’s always confused me about old race cars. They all seem to have bad camber. I wonder if they really thought that was better at the time, if they didn’t know anything, or if it was a result of something with the construction.

Party-vi > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 08/27/2015 at 16:02

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Older roads had more of a crown on them, and one idea was that by making cars with positive camber the tires would remain more perpendicular to the road surface on longer races. Also, these were solid axle cars and the cross-section of those old tires didn’t really make a difference if you had positive or negative camber because the contact patch is just so small to begin with.

xxstich666xx > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 08/27/2015 at 16:04

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I read it was because the cars were much easier to drive with positive camber. Something to do with the positioning of the kingpin. Also bias ply tires liked to dig in on their sidewalls.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Party-vi 08/27/2015 at 16:07

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Does your CJ have positive camber on the front axle? My Rover does.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 08/27/2015 at 16:08

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And it makes for less steering effort which means you can have higher geared faster steering and not have your arms drop off mid-race :)

Party-vi > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/27/2015 at 16:17

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It does - quite a bit, but I’ve read that it can be dialed out with different ball joints. The front axle is actually from a 1972 CJ I think. Now that I think about it, if the steering axis intersects with the road where the contact patch is, it would greatly decrease steering effort, which is definitely needed on old 4WD vehicles without power steering, and old race cars that need to be able to steer quickly.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Party-vi 08/27/2015 at 16:23

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Mine has fixed iron swivel balls, and cast casings with a “Railko” bushing at the top and a tapered roller at the bottom. Strictly non-adjustable. The steering axis is still well inside the wheel because the housings are so big, so it probably needs all the help it can get.

kanadanmajava1 > xxstich666xx 08/27/2015 at 17:38

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No excessive camber but this 1913 Benz is still slammed.

hsv > xxstich666xx 08/27/2015 at 18:00

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I created this movement, funnily enough. Let me detail - it’s called Antistance.

We want thin tyres, cyclecar wheels, wheelgap, no suspension, and massive positive camber. This harks back to a period in motorsport where cars were simple, solid and on the edge - there’s absolutely no reason to take a comfortable, usable road worthy car and remove all of its practicality. But we will anyway.

I was actually considering posting it on Oppo last week.

xxstich666xx > kanadanmajava1 08/27/2015 at 20:06

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Hahahahah love it!