So who invented a bump stop on the RF of a race car?

[oldfart50]

I was just wondering who gets credit for this?

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

I was just wondering who gets credit for this?

It didn't start with dirt late models. I don't know who was first in DLM though.

[oldfart50]

I was just curious as everyone gives credit to certain people who invented things over the years. I know who did and it started in NASCAR and the same person was the first to have it on a Late Model. I have never seen anyone mention where it started so I was just curious what everyone thinks.

[racer67x]

the first guy who stuffed a train car spring under the right front of his coupe.

you see he figured that if a truck spring pushed weight back to the left rear imagine what a Norfolk and Western boxcar spring would do? lol

and the bump stop was born..it was just refined a bit over time...lol

[fastford]

racers were running a light rt frt spring and letting it coil bind years ago. this is basically a crude form of a bump stop.

[xray]

Either Henry Ford or maybe the Dodge brothers.

[Kromulous]

Actually i think it came from Everham / Gordon, and it kind of came from Kart racing.

Karts you basically stand the kart up on the RF, and 3 wheel thru the turns, basically what your doing in NASCAR.

[oldfart50]

It did not come from Evernham...

[oldfart50]

Also coil binding and a bump stop is not even close to the same thing.

[billetbirdcage]

I was just wondering who gets credit for this?

You'd have to define bump stop! Because the earliest I know it it being run was way back when Ernie Irvin ran it with Yates at Daytona and Talladega. It wasn't a bump-stop in a today's sense as it was really spring rubbers that were short of actually filling the gap between the coils, they welded small 1/8" diameter rods to the spring coils on several of them (on top of the coil pointing upwards and about a 1/4" tall). Then the spring rubbers pressed over the small rods to hold them in place. They were using them with soft springs to beat the minimum hieght rules as the aero force would push the car down below min hieght and get the rear spoiler out of the air. The rubbers stopped it from going too fall down and bottoming on the track and gave a reasonable spring rate they wanted once the car was too low, but once slowed down or the car stopped it passed min hieght requirements.

IIRC, they first used it just on the back of the car, mostly for the rear spoiler.

You might actually have to go back to some F1 stuff years before when there was a team that was doing something to lower the car below min hieght, but can't remember what they were doing to say but possible it was something similar, but may been mechanical for all I remember.

[slmcrewchief99]

Heck, I figured it was Rayburn. According to all the other computer guru's on here he invented everything else but the wheel..... lol

[25drtrkr]

Heck, I figured it was Rayburn. According to all the other computer guru's on here he invented everything else but the wheel..... lol

Actually he invented steel and rubber. So if anyone makes anything out of steel and rubber, they have copied Rayburn!...lol

btw....according to their intro, didnt Fred Flintstone invent the wheel?

[oldfart50]

You'd have to define bump stop! Because the earliest I know it it being run was way back when Ernie Irvin ran it with Yates at Daytona and Talladega. It wasn't a bump-stop in a today's sense as it was really spring rubbers that were short of actually filling the gap between the coils, they welded small 1/8" diameter rods to the spring coils on several of them (on top of the coil pointing upwards and about a 1/4" tall). Then the spring rubbers pressed over the small rods to hold them in place. They were using them with soft springs to beat the minimum hieght rules as the aero force would push the car down below min hieght and get the rear spoiler out of the air. The rubbers stopped it from going too fall down and bottoming on the track and gave a reasonable spring rate they wanted once the car was too low, but once slowed down or the car stopped it passed min hieght requirements. IIRC, they first used it just on the back of the car, mostly for the rear spoiler. You might actually have to go back to some F1 stuff years before when there was a team that was doing something to lower the car below min hieght, but can't remember what they were doing to say but possible it was something similar, but may been mechanical for all I remember.

I agree with most of what you said on the rear of the cars except it started at the 4 car, Morgan McClure, not Yates and was not spring rubbers, they were rubber travel stops off a 1967 Chevy pickup. Though soft rear springs were being used by everyone, it was not used to beat the height rules. They were used to control the rear attitude of the car so they could get it at the exact rear travel and attitude they wanted. You could travel the rear of a speedway car too far and hurt it speed wise. They also used them on the left rear. Spring rubbers have been used by everyone for years but are not bump stops. What you are talking about is more for coil binding. But Yates nor Morgan McClure were the first to use true bump stops on the front of a race car. They were outlawed by NASCAR in 2001 because the bigger teams could not figure them out and were screaming they wanted them banned.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Big teams throwing weight around because they are behind. Sounds familiar...

I would argue that anything that stops compression travel is a bump stop. And they have been a part of automotive suspension for a very long time.

[billetbirdcage]

I agree with most of what you said on the rear of the cars except it started at the 4 car, Morgan McClure, not Yates and was not spring rubbers, they were rubber travel stops off a 1967 Chevy pickup. Though soft rear springs were being used by everyone, it was not used to beat the height rules. They were used to control the rear attitude of the car so they could get it at the exact rear travel and attitude they wanted. You could travel the rear of a speedway car too far and hurt it speed wise. They also used them on the left rear. Spring rubbers have been used by everyone for years but are not bump stops. What you are talking about is more for coil binding. But Yates nor Morgan McClure were the first to use true bump stops on the front of a race car. They were outlawed by NASCAR in 2001 because the bigger teams could not figure them out and were screaming they wanted them banned.

LOL, I actually just helped some guys out 2 months ago that restore cars for several guys and they were working on supposedly the 4 car that Ernie won Daytona with. I'm sure most of the original car is gone and been changed over the years, but I had to help them out with the brakes and some clutch issues. It still looks the same and runs and drives, the owner is wanting to take it and do some vintage type road racing or something with it (not serious racing).