The R/C Dictonary
The Terms:
Anti-Roll Bar - Anti-Squat - Camber - Castor - Droop
Pistons - Ride Height - Shocks - Sway Bar - Toe
Wheelbase
An anti-roll bar is a wire device fitted to the
car which limits, or prevents the car body rolling from side to
side through corners.
See also (Castor).
Anti-squat is generally used on the rear suspension of the car
and refers to the angle of the rear suspension arm hingepins in
relation to the chassis.
Camber refers to the angle of
a wheel in relation to the vertical camber means that the top of
the wheel leans in towards the centre of the car, whilst Positive
camber refers to the situation when the top of the wheel leans
out - away from the centre of the car
A hard one to explain! Castor
refers to the angle of the front king pin in relation to the
vertical. The king pin may be eithe r a solid pin, or imaginary
line through the centre of the steering block. Castor is measured
in degrees and generally refers to the angle which the king pin
leans back from the front of the car. A typical castor angle for
a two wheel drive buggy or truck is 25 degrees. A four wheel
drive buggy may vary from 5 to 20 degrees.
To put In simply, droop refers
to the amount your suspension arms hang down.
A piston is a crucial part
of the internal mechanism of a shock absorber. The piston is
mounted on the end of the quote shock shaft and is typically a
thin plastic disc with a number of holes drilled in it. Changing
the piston for one with either larger, or smaller holes or a
different number of holes can have a dramatic effect on the
performance of the shock absorber.
Ride Height refers to the
distance between the ground and the bottom of your cars chassis
when it is at rest. To check ride height - work your cars
suspension up and down a few times, then drop it onto a flat
surface from a height of about 30 centimetres. Some manufacturers
will give you a reference point for checking ride height - e.g.
Rear suspension arms level, or Drive shafts level. This can help
you easily compare your ride height settings time after time.
The shocks, shock absorbers, or dampers are
silicon oil filled cylinders used to slow the motion of the
springs supporting the cars suspension. Shock absorbers can
generally be adjusted by either altering the internal
configuration (see Piston) or be using oil of differing viscosity
See(Anti-Roll Bar)
Toe is the angle of the wheels in relation to
the centre-line of the chassis. Toe-in refers to the setting when
the wheels point inward whilst Toe-out refers to the setting when
the wheels point outward. You can check Toe by placing a ruler
against each wheel - if the ruler points inward - that Toe-In.
Wheelbase is the distance between the front and
rear axles of your car.
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