Quote:
Originally Posted by Pparana
Fixed plate with bearing and carrier. Bearing dia. of 107mm encased in a concave metal jacket with a thickness of 2 mil.
Fixed plate extends the length of the bearing carrier with a diameter of 78 mil and thickness of 4mm
Bearing carrier is tapered horizontally 10mm to locate spring.
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Actually, this locates the upper spring pad, which THEN locates the spring.
click for pic
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pparana
Carrier has a diameter of 126 mm where the plate meets the plate.
Ok so what does this mean? Simple explanation, the carrier has a larger surface area to disperse the spring load. It is also designed in a way to allow the horizontal forces to be absorbed into the plate.
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Horizontal forces to be transferred to to the plate? You can't really "absorb" them with also transferring energy and heat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pparana
This is important in McPherson suspension design because the shock and the spring are basically the upper control arm.
By designing a round bearing plate this transfers the majority of the weight
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Actually
ALL of the unsprung mass (weight) is transferred downward through the bearing, with the very slight exception of the resultant gas force acting on the strut rod, but that's a whole 'nother topic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pparana
around the bearing, basically the bearing only needs to account for the unsprung
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pparana
weight and some additional factors
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pparana
depending on how your driving. Pretty clever way to reduce the need for needle bearings or tighter tolerances.
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A captured ball bearing is just a substitute for a needle bearing, so there is no "need" one way or another. A needle bearing of the same size (usually) has a higher axial load rating, so some of the reasons for a ball bearing are:
Less expensive to manufacture,
Easier to seal and make weatherproof
More resistant to debris
Allows for more lubricant in the assembly
I believe this is why Ground Control buys their F22 bearings directly from the BMW dealer.