One of the things I was working on, a work in progress is new a-arms. I wanted control over a few things. The first step was to build a jig. The jig has markings and is adjustable. The stock piece is put in, then you can make changes to the location of the ball joints then use build a new a-arm to speck on the jig.
These are from laser parts I could sell. I have been looking at maybe selling a few Pantera laser cut parts but I am reluctant as there is not enough volume to make it worth my time. Anything I make will pretty much be available and even charging for it I will never sell enough to recoup the cost but that's ok.
If you are not familiar with the laser this is what it does. Think of it as a 30,000lb HP printer that cuts metal:
http://www.wadecnc.com/photos/dsc_0410.avi
The laser will cut up to 1/2" steel but we are bringing on line a Plasma which will cut anything we can put under the gantry which means a foot thick or more:
ANYWAY.....after messing with making a tubular frame I did not like it. The original design is quite neat in that it makes a very light and strong a-arm even to the point the aluminum a-arms can not be built as light.
Ironic as some one building aluminum a-arms had ripped me up for copying his design when he didn't even know what I was doing.
I did not like the tubular I built so I visited the idea of building them similar to the originals. After doing one set I think I very much like the direction.
The original had caster adjustment but nothing noteworthy; more of an adjustment for suspension tuning; such as if your car constantly goes left, etc.
These are built, well to spec. The one's I have here are about 4.5 degrees but when I do the same with the lower it will be around 7.
The camber is fine tuned with the threaded rod ends and since the rod ends are slightly more narrow then the frame openings, it allows shims for fine tuning caster.
The new drawings I hope to cut this week are trimmed up a little. After building a set I hope to make the second set look a little cleaner. Just looking forward to the simplicity of the hole thing.