[T3] Lead Sled Update....

[Jim Adney]

On 2 Jan 2013 at 22:13, John Jaranson wrote:

> With this in mind, here is a drawing of my latest plan....
> 
> http://www.carartbyjohn.com/2013JaneBuild/Type3AirRide.jpg

That puts some additional side force on the inner journals:force that 
wasn't there before. You may need to beef up that bearing a bit.

I see that you've cut windows in both the front and back of the beam, 
but you really only need them in front. Welding metal over the rear 
cutouts would put some strength back in there.
 
> Basically this eliminates the lower torsion bars and replaces each with its own airbag.  The airbags would be mounted between a bracket attached to the beam (not shown) and the bag arm shown in yellow.  This arm is attached to the inside end of the trailing arm through a custom adapter insert.  The added thrust bearing acts on the bushing support already in the beam assembly shown in this picture...
> 
> http://www.carartbyjohn.com/2013JaneBuild/Type3AirRide2.jpg

> I will probably weld the adapter insert along with using the shear pin just to make sure it doesn't move.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to trust that shear pin to hold, but you'll 
have to be careful with the weld, because I suspect the journal there 
is hardened. (And if it is hardened, welding could cause problems in 
the adjacent HAZ.)

You really need something to securely hold your new inner arm from 
coming loose from the torsion arm. Maybe a big set screw in a dimple 
will be sufficient, but it needs to be thought out carefully. You'll 
probably want to put a radius where the adaptor goes from round to 
square, to try to make sure it doesn't shear off there.  

Interesting concept. Will this stick into the spare tire well, or 
will it clear to the sides? (Or does that well even exist on the Lead 
Sled?)


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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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