The suspension of an F1 car is comprised of a complex set of hardware components. First there’s the upper and lower control A-arms, or wishbones. These are the triangular, black carbon/fiber or steel pieces, which attach the wheel/hub assembly to the chassis. These are hinged both at the chassis and the wheel/hub assembly and provide the radius on which the wheel travels up and down. Usually by design, the wishbones run roughly parallel to the track surface and are aerodynamically shaped.
The push rods run diagonally from the bottom of either wheel/hub/lower wishbone, up to the chassis where through a complex pivotal rocker arm, it interfaces with the springs, dampers and anti-roll bar (see below right). The push rod transfers the weight of the car into the spring and damper assemblies. The push rod is also the point at which ride height is fine-tuned. Height adjustments are made via an adjustment nut where the push rod penetrates the body.
Also running parallel to the front edge of the upper wishbones are the steering arms. These connect the upper front section of the wheel/hub assembly to the steering box located in the nose of the car, which houses the steering ratio gear. The gearing of this unit dictates the steering lock. This point also allows the setting of the front wheels toe adjustments.
Altering the front ride height Push rod, dampers and packers
The front springs and dampers reside under a cover-plate located on the nose of the car, just ahead of the driver’s cockpit opening. When this panel is removed, crew can access the all hardware including front springs, dampers and packers.
“In motor racing, including Formula 1, you must always reach a compromise between the various settings which affect the performance of the car. There is no clearly defined procedure that will allow you to find the most effective setup in a scientific and dependable way”
Ayrton Senna from his book “Principles of Race Driving”
It’s vital to make a point at this time. When adjusting suspension components, more so than at any other time, you really are balancing understeer and oversteer from all 4 corners of the car. Because the springs and dampers affect weight transfer, it is possible to dramatically, and directly affect the front of the car by adjusting the rear. And vise versa. In other instances, such as wings for example, even though understeer and oversteer are used as descriptors, you’re actually only affecting the specific end of the car where the adjustment is being made. It’s because of the complexity of the suspension, it’s important that you fully understand all the components and their specific purposes.
Topic: SUSPENSION TAB (Read 10166 times)