I think that people liked the rear wheels being powered instead of the front- not really liking rear drive because of the solid axle constituent - because and independant rear suspension is obviously far superior to a solid axle.
What is the benefit of solid axles in RWD?
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One of the decided minuses of a solid axle is handling on a rough surface......the rear will just bounce all over the place, not to mention the ride not so good either. Pablo - you mentioned the irs on a Datsun 510, reminds me when I bought a 72 510 wagon, unaware that they used a solid axle on the wagon until I drove it! Felt really stupid, cause I really like the irs on the sedan, and the first time I rode it around a bumpy bend I thought it sure feels like a solid axle!? Checked the literature (and looked underneath!) and sure enough, they used a solid axle for the load.......
The 87 Volvo wagon with a solid rear axle gives ok performance in handling. My 97 Volvo with an Independent Rear Suspension has unbelievable handling. The 87 weighing 400-500 lbs less even with bigger sways and chassis braces the stock 97 would eat it alive.
mechtech
IRS is not obviously superior on a truck.
IRS is not obviously superior on a truck.
Strength and simplicity. Corvettes started with an IRS in '63 for handling BUT people who tried to drag race big-block Vettes with slicks on would twist even the stout Vette halfshafts like pretzels.
For 4x4 off-roaders, a solid axle (front or rear) can get you a lot more travel and articulation than an IFS or IRS.
With IRS/IFS you get used to three-wheelin':
With solid axles, when one side gets pushed up that effectively pushes the other side down, which can be a good thing:
No matter how gnarly your tires, if they aren't touching the ground they aren't doing any good.
For 4x4 off-roaders, a solid axle (front or rear) can get you a lot more travel and articulation than an IFS or IRS.
With IRS/IFS you get used to three-wheelin':
With solid axles, when one side gets pushed up that effectively pushes the other side down, which can be a good thing:
No matter how gnarly your tires, if they aren't touching the ground they aren't doing any good.
With a solid axle rear end, you can raise or lower the rear end without changing the oversteer/understeer relatioinship in the car. You can't do this with a independen A-arm suspension or MacPherson strut suspension. This has to do with how the roll center is determined.
A solid axle rear end is heavier, has more unsprung weight, can be eaily misaligned and cause all sorts of handling gremlins. ON the other hand, it can be stronger, has fewer moving parts, and can last a very long time.
A solid axle rear end is heavier, has more unsprung weight, can be eaily misaligned and cause all sorts of handling gremlins. ON the other hand, it can be stronger, has fewer moving parts, and can last a very long time.
Also, your ground clearance with solid axles typically doesn't change as suspension travel is used up. The "pumpkin" (differential) is usually the low point, and suspension compression dowsn't cause the diff to get any lower.
With independent setups, a low chassis point is typically the low point. So as the suspension travel is used up, the lowest point on the chassis gets even lower.
With independent setups, a low chassis point is typically the low point. So as the suspension travel is used up, the lowest point on the chassis gets even lower.
Torque is torque, but it would depend on gearing, weight, and tire grip. A light vehicle might just spin the tires instead of making the cv or axle take the torque, while the torque seen by the driveshafts depends as much on gearing as engine torque.
The CV's in that Civic, which I would guess are probably off a larger FWD car, probably aren't as strong as most solid axles in North America, but it doesn't mean they couldn't make them as strong if they needed to.
You can have low torque and high horsepower, since HP is just torque carried high into the rev range.
My truck is my 1st truck, and looking at the components it seems that axles are the primary factor in determining towing capacity. Payload seems to be a combination of axle, rear springs and tires, as the axle in 3/4 ton seems to be pretty much the same one used in the 1 ton trucks. I have something like a 2300 lb payload, a friend's single rear wheel '1 ton' has a 2900 lb payload, while the 1 ton with the dual rear wheels has around a 5000 lb payload. I have about a 12k lb towing capacity while the 1 ton trucks have around 16k lbs.
The 5.9L diesels in the trucks mentioned seem to be carefully detuned by Cummins for use with light duty trucks, which is what pickups are, where the it seems that the torque is reduced while increasing horsepower, the hp increase typically realized by higher rpms. The 5.9L Cummins is a medium duty engine, typically used with higher torque and lower rpms for lower rated hp in a medium duty application.
When looking to build a trailer the axles will be a common starting point for determining maximum payload.
The 5.9L diesels in the trucks mentioned seem to be carefully detuned by Cummins for use with light duty trucks, which is what pickups are, where the it seems that the torque is reduced while increasing horsepower, the hp increase typically realized by higher rpms. The 5.9L Cummins is a medium duty engine, typically used with higher torque and lower rpms for lower rated hp in a medium duty application.
When looking to build a trailer the axles will be a common starting point for determining maximum payload.
Torque at the rear wheels in first gear is the primary factor in rated towing capacity, not the axle itself. A 3.54 geared Dana 60 will not pull as much as a 4.11 geared Dana 44, all other things being equal.
I like the way a live axle feels over an independent set up. And tire where is better to boot. I have never bought into over head cams and flakey suspension set ups. Sometimes things were done right the first time around.
Shocking parts will break stuff faster than applying torque. Spinning a 327 up to 6000 rpm and side stepping the clutch is much different than pulling a load behind the same 300 HP motor.
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