Straight Axle - This suspension "technology" was so good it was instantly BANNED

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

I'm 65. Was around from leaf-springs, to mono-leaf with coils/mono-leaf with coil-overs/fiberglass leaf/Reese Hitch bars/cantilever of about 8 kinds/and eventually the 87 different versions of birdcages for 4 link, all with different versions of spring bars/5th/6th coils standing up and even some laying down. Even fiberglass torque arm stuffed into an adjustable box. From 76-96ish? Moved to NC in 1996 and didn't mess with dirt cars anymore. Partly because everyone turned into douchebags. Scared to death to let you see under the car.

Anywho...got into building dirt bike shocks. You do your own shocks? If you aren't doing your own dynoing you ain't fast as you could be. I still believe a car on 4 wheels HAS to handle more consistently than a 3 wheeler.

I'm leaving a little on the table, I agree, because I'm not doing my own shocks or dynoing them. The risk is more not knowing how to get back to exactly what I had after a rebuild, I think though. It sometimes takes a couple times on the track. I'm just dabbling in it for fun. If I had the time and budget to take it more seriously, I could do a lot more. If you can't build your own shocks, you also can't always do what you want to do. If you can't do it yourself, that strange request of the shock guy becomes public knowledge when your car is fast.

[KTMLew]

Small changes to the geometry have added compliance to the suspension. There isn't a shock in the world that would keep a 2014 by the book Rocket from bouncing up the straight at Eldora after it hit a hole.

Shocks are vastly overrated.

His device corrected 4 or 5 things in need of improvement with the suspension at that time. He struggled in 2016 to know which one was most important, apparently. He had a huge leg up to stay ahead with the new rules, as he understood things most didn't, but it failed to materialize as speed on the track.

I'm 65. Was around from leaf-springs, to mono-leaf with coils/mono-leaf with coil-overs/fiberglass leaf/Reese Hitch bars/cantilever of about 8 kinds/and eventually the 87 different versions of birdcages for 4 link, all with different versions of spring bars/5th/6th coils standing up and even some laying down. Even fiberglass torque arm stuffed into an adjustable box. From 76-96ish? Moved to NC in 1996 and didn't mess with dirt cars anymore. Partly because everyone turned into douchebags. Scared to death to let you see under the car.

Anywho...got into building dirt bike shocks. You do your own shocks? If you aren't doing your own dynoing you ain't fast as you could be. I still believe a car on 4 wheels HAS to handle more consistently than a 3 wheeler.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

What has changed in the 4-link since Rumley got involved? I suspect his shock knowledge has a ton to do with his cars speed. Never see it bouncing around.

Small changes to the geometry have added compliance to the suspension. There isn't a shock in the world that would keep a 2014 by the book Rocket from bouncing up the straight at Eldora after it hit a hole.

Shocks are vastly overrated.

His device corrected 4 or 5 things in need of improvement with the suspension at that time. He struggled in 2016 to know which one was most important, apparently. He had a huge leg up to stay ahead with the new rules, as he understood things most didn't, but it failed to materialize as speed on the track.

[billetbirdcage]

Any theories as to why this was better? Maybe that it allowed both front tires to be used over full distance of corner? Whole lot less waiting for the car to turn/push off corner. Not talking about reasons for it being outlawed. WHY did it work better?

The problem with answering that question is there is no way to really know if the axle was better. There is no doubt there entire car combination showed promise and was likely better, but so many things where different besides just the straight axle that he can't even say the axle part was better or worse.

If Austin had ran the axle in a typical style car or back to backed it with his car and a std front end, then he would have a more definitive answer. He will tell you: "There were 100 things different about that car, the straight axle was 1 of them. Not 100% convinced it was actually better.. lol. Any statements on its superiority would have been speculative"

[KTMLew]

It could potentially alter the load transfer and the tire alignment with the ground and with each other during the suspension operation. He could have improved all of these things. The trick is to determine which one provided most of the gain. If you know that, you redesign the independent suspension to maximize that gain.

The front layout of these cars is pretty unchanged since the first tube chassis. The way we race them now, it's honestly a terrible setup. Just like it took Rumley to expose the horrible flaws of the 4 link, the next gains will come up front.

What has changed in the 4-link since Rumley got involved? I suspect his shock knowledge has a ton to do with his cars speed. Never see it bouncing around.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Any theories as to why this was better? Maybe that it allowed both front tires to be used over full distance of corner? Whole lot less waiting for the car to turn/push off corner. Not talking about reasons for it being outlawed. WHY did it work better?

It could potentially alter the load transfer and the tire alignment with the ground and with each other during the suspension operation. He could have improved all of these things. The trick is to determine which one provided most of the gain. If you know that, you redesign the independent suspension to maximize that gain.

The front layout of these cars is pretty unchanged since the first tube chassis. The way we race them now, it's honestly a terrible setup. Just like it took Rumley to expose the horrible flaws of the 4 link, the next gains will come up front.

[KTMLew]

Any theories as to why this was better? Maybe that it allowed both front tires to be used over full distance of corner? Whole lot less waiting for the car to turn/push off corner. Not talking about reasons for it being outlawed. WHY did it work better?

[lurker]

@Lurker - Probably Corky Felker.

Its been years so you might be correct. I remember one brother was Duane Felker but I don’t remember who was who in the Felker racing family. One of the son’s is still active in Midgets.

[fastford]

just got around to watching , I really enjoyed it , made me think of me and my pop,s about 25 years ago , we were always trying something , a lot didnt work , but some did and it was sweet when it did .....

[FlatTire]

@Lurker - Probably Corky Felker.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Its comical to me that they didnt know why it really worked so good, but it was banned so quickly LOL.

Rumley device was same story. Just as Austin said if he understood, he could have reproduced the results, Rumley #6 in 2016 was a failure. If Kevin had a firm grasp of what he had, the #6 would have continued to roll.

[Rajflyboy]

Its comical to me that they didnt know why it really worked so good, but it was banned so quickly LOL.

. You got it right. Exactly

[Kromulous]

Its comical to me that they didnt know why it really worked so good, but it was banned so quickly LOL.

[Rajflyboy]

AK is my favorite DLM driver. I love the innovation and his love for the sport. His cars not being store bought impress me. It’s no surprise that powers to be banned his straight axle car. We as fans should all send AK some money and help him fund his program. Imagine what he could do with a bigger budget.

[lurker]

If anyone from 80’s era of the Ark area remembers, this goes back to 81’/82’ ---- Crawford County Speedway, Van buren Ark., drivers last name was Felker (uncle of Denny Felker), he drove a wicked home built DLM that had a straight front axle, and was center steer.