gear driven suspension?

Awesome idea! I understand it by looking at the CAD drawings, gonna be cool to see hwo all this comes out.

Hey thanks man, I appreciate that! (At first, when the gears were given to me, I was just gonna use them for tank mounts or something, but then I was like "Hell, these are wayyyyy too heavy duty to not use, so...")

 Interesting. I dont know how to use the correct terminology for this but wouldnt there be too much "friction" between the gears to allow for travel? For instance, if you hit a bump driving down the road, I dont think there would be anything that could travel  or move fast enough to absorb the shock other than the bag which is at the other end. I dont think the gears would distribute the shock very well resulting in a bumpy ride. Also seems you would run a higher risk of bearings going out too... I dont know..  Very cool idea though...

Edited: 4/8/2009 9:14:01 PM by NOTLONUF

well mad props Lee i love seeing new ideas and i think this is way outside the box. looking forward to seeing it finished. also i just read kyles post after i posted thats why i'm editing this one. but i am thinking the same thing as kyle about the ride being rough. still cool as hell though. 

Thanks guys. The ride being rough as hell is something I anticipated already. We're theorizing on how to work in some shock absorbers, but what was said is true- I believe, for lack of a better term, the recovery rate of the gears won't transfer shock absorbtion (sp?) very well.  That is one of those sacrifices I'm comfortable with, however. Also, if I had a set of gears that was a 2:1 ratio or so, I would get a lot more lift I think and I do see that as one of the design flaws. However, I was lucky to get the gears that I did, and we're going to make them work.  Like I said, everything from the cab back is trashed now (axle, backhalf, original gear-towers, etc) and is being completely redone. If you guys would like to see some pix, I'll definitely post some up when it gets a little bit more presentable.  The finish up date WAS going to be Unleashed in London, Ky in May; however, at this point, after we had to start over I think the finish date will PROBABLY be at the MiniNats in Maggie Valley, North Carolina this summer.  And if worse comes to worse, it'll be at Heritage 2K9 in September no matter what, by then maybe even painted and close to finished. Seriously, thanks for the props ya'll.

Edited: 4/8/2009 9:46:14 PM by travis98s10

It will definately be a stiffer ride and you wont need heavy shocks because the rotational inertia of those huge gears will absorb alot of the small bumps and bouncing, not the bag. It might not be that bad though. If the ride is too stiff, try adjusting the length on the arm connected to the link bars to give you more torque and possibly help the ride quality. Pretty cool idea though

i'm sure i speak for more than just myself when i say Lee you should definetly post up some pictures of the new setup.

ed cain, nope it didnt work. LOL

---------------------------------------------Originally posted by UncleLee Also, if I had a set of gears that was a 2:1 ratio or so, I would get a lot more lift I think and I do see that as one of the design flaws. However, I was lucky to get the gears that I did, and we're going to make them work. ---------------------------------------------

 Remember Lee, you get your 2:1 ratio but way of the "dogbone" arm being mounted halfway up the lower link bar.   We are just going to have to leave the shock mounting up to Ricky, I am sure he can figure out a way.

---------------------------------------------Originally posted by DragaDodge ed cain, nope it didnt work. LOL  --------------------------------------------- Dunno if it was going to work or not the first time around; never progressed past those pictures. Like I said earlier, Ricky Partons from Partons HotRods in Newport, TN is redoing every single aspect of it now and it seems to be going very fluid.