Redesigning Suspension Components
So I was ready to build the suspension attachment points and decided I’d better do a finite -element analysis. It turns out they needed a lot of tweaking, and in a shin-bone’s-connected-to-the-thigh-bone kind of way, I ended up redesigning just about every suspension part all the way to the lug nuts. Part of this came when the quote on building the upper suspension attachment clevises came in way higher than expected, so I redesigned them so they could be laser-cut, hopefully much cheaper than CNC machining. Don’t have the new quote yet.
Also, I received the huge shipment of parts, supplies, and tools that I’ve been aggregating in LA for almost the past two years, and some idiot in purchasing (me) managed to order the wrong brake calipers. Everything was right except for the mounts, which are the lug style instead of the radial style. At least now I really know the tradeoffs between the two approaches. The upright for lug mount brake calipers is only about 35 grams heavier than the one for radials, and the calipers are $80 cheaper each. Over $1000/pound for that weight savings… Actually, that’s not quite fair as I don’t know the relative weights of the two caliper styles.