The M113 that I am making (albeit slowly lately) has torsion bars too, see these pics. Since these pics were taken I have changed the mounting point at which the bar connects to the hull, but you see the basic idea.
I ended up using a ΒΌ" drive socket (7mm from memory) and welding that onto the end of the torsion bar, then the socket slides over a piece of allen key (also 7mm) for a nice removable and torsionally fixed mounting (the allen key piece of mounted to the hull). The other end of the torsion bar is welded into the axle, which I drilled a hole into parallel to the axle direction. You need to weld spring steel in very small torch hits, as the heat will affect the spring factor. To permanently bend this stuff (not easily done, I have tried, my torsion bars are 6.3mm) you will have to heat it up, which will affect the spring factor. Ben From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Mangus Sent: Friday, 28 January 2011 5:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TANKS] Torsion bars and hulls Actually, there is one vehicle with that type of suspension. Check out SV15 in the link below. http://www.rctankcombat.com/support-vehicles/SV015/ It was an easy simple suspension to make. Mike ________________________________ From: Loren <[email protected]> To: R/C Tank Combat <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, January 27, 2011 11:55:08 PM Subject: [TANKS] Torsion bars and hulls A friend recommended I use piano wire to make a proper torsion bar suspension for my Abrams, which is looking like the first tank to be built by me. Has anyone tried this yet? You basically make an "L" in each end, angled to each other so the ground clearance is right, and one end is secured on the other side of the tank, running across to come out on the other side to connect to the wheel/arm. Seems it might be a bit cheaper to do than springs. Also, any preferences on wood versus metal hulls? Wood seems to be cheaper initially, but they both take a good bit of work to do. Same friend that suggested the piano wire torsion bars kept telling me to do plywood instead of the angle stock frame I was looking at. Thus far I've had metal working work out better than wood working, but then I've not tried much on wood recently. -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat
