Specs and Constraints: Cantilever Suspension

For my final project, I’m going to be making a cantilever suspension setup for the rear suspension of a SN-95 Mustang. It will look something similar to the image below.

 

Specifications:

  1. The suspension is going to be used for street driving and racing, so it must be functional first and foremost.
  2. I want the suspension to be modular. I’d like to make it so the suspension can be placed and removed from a car then placed into a different car without a ton of work. I’d also like the few parts that make up the suspension to be modular as well. This requires bolted connections rather than welds mostly.
  3. I’d like the suspension to also be adjustable. I don’t know a whole lot about suspension dynamics right now so I want to design some adjustability into the setup. Along with the modular ability giving some adjustability, the parts themselves will have some adjustability where possible. The bell cranks that connect the coilovers and pushrods will have multiple connection spots that provide different lever arms which change the effective spring rates, for example. 
  4. I want the design to be unique and one-of-a-kind. A lot of the setups I’ve seen so far on YouTube are very similar and a bit over-built I’d say. I’d like to try to design something that looks different from other hobbyist designs and use my engineering knowledge to make something that just barely works.
  5. I’d like the suspension to have a “sleeper” aesthetic while still being the centerpiece of the interior/trunk. By sleeper I mean I want the suspension to look dirty and industrial from manufacturing and rather simple design-wise but if you take a longer look at it you can see thought and engineering went into making it. I also want the suspension to be the centerpiece of the interior/trunk which I think will be very easy to do given the general geometry of my design to begin with.

Constraints:

  1. Most of the work I do on this project outside of CAD will have to be on one of the cars in my dad’s garage which I can only really make time to do over weekends which might be hard to do enough to finish this project.
  2. The amount of time this project will take to complete is also a constraint. I don’t know how much time it will take but I could see it taking more time than I have.
  3. The components and materials used in this project will cost quite a bit, for me atleast, and I’m not sure if I’ll have the money to buy everything during the project duration. I’m hoping I’ll be able to use some components/materials from my dad’s garage.
  4. I haven’t had a ton of manufacturing experience in my lifetime so this project might be challenging for me. Thinking about it now, I’m worried about making sure everything is positioned and angled correctly so all forces are acting in the right direction and there are no unnecessary torques.
  5. There are going to be lead times on some of the components that I’ll have to account for. If I can’t use any coilovers from my dad’s garage I’ll have to order some which will take time. The custom bell cranks I design will also most likely need to be manufactured by an outside manufacturer which will require some time.

 

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4 Comments. Leave new

  • Pere Roquet Arroyo
    March 25, 2023 8:57 pm

    Austin I really like your project and everything that’s related with cars in general. I like how you described sleeper aesthetic. For sure that will be a really big improvement for the track use and also for the street driving. Are you going to install coilovers? Will you be able to regulate the geometry once installed? I look forward to see it finished.

    Reply
    • Austin Beltz
      April 21, 2023 5:21 pm

      Thank you! Yes, I’ll use coilovers for this project. Currently, I’m going to use the coilovers that the car is using already rather than a pair purchases specifically for this project. I’m concerned about the length of those coilovers but we’ll see.

      Reply
  • Roger Carter
    March 23, 2023 9:15 pm

    Sounds very cool! I know almost nothing about car suspension, but it seems like it would be really helpful to have it be tunable as we often tune our mountain bike suspensions to get the ride we want. Obviously this is a much simpler system. Good luck!

    Reply
    • Austin Beltz
      April 21, 2023 5:15 pm

      Thank you! I also don’t know much about suspension so I thought adding adjustability and tuneability would be very helpful to me and potentially fix any problems that occur due to design faults on my end.

      Reply

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