Dave Morgan's New Seminar Lesson Plan
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:13 pm
Howdy everyone!
I am converting my seminar to a power point presentation and am using this opportunity to rewrite the lesson plan. I'd really like some comments about what you think. This is a VERY comprehensive course and I have sometimes been critcized for giving too much information. So, with the new format will come a new workbook that I hope will be a good reference for racers to take home and help them retain the information.
I have not finishd the planning of the tour dates yet, but hope to have it done by mid-September. Right now, I'm focused on the content and getting all the artwork together for the new lesson plan.
Please tell me what you think. Is anything missing that I should cover?
Stay Tuned,
Dave
Collecting Data and Finding Problems
I. Principles of the seminar
A. Simple versus complicated
B. Macro-view versus micro-view
C. Friction
D. Triangles and rectangles (stiff chassis/tunable suspension)
1. Floor and frame rails
2. Cages
E. Levers
1. Instant Centers
2. Moment Arms
3. Ratios
F. Weight
1. Center of Gravity
2. Polar Moment of Inertia
3. Sprung and unsprung weight
4. Aerodynamic load
G. Torque
1. Drive wheel torque
2. Wheel thrust
3. G-Force
4. Weight transfer
H. Hardware
1. Rod ends and ball joints
2. Threaded fasteners
II. Technical history of drag racing
A. Suspension violence
1. Not enough?
2. Too much?
B. Tire design
1. Wide slick
a. Stiff sidewall
b. Soft sidewall
2. Narrow slick
3. Radial
C. Engine developments
1. Big Blocks
2. Power adders
3. Programmable ignitions
D. Transmission sciences
1. Torque converters
2. Valve bodies
3. Gear ratios
E. Chassis designs
1. Stock floor
2. Back-half
3. Tubeframe
III. Inspecting the car
A. Rear slick
1. Wear patterns
2. Indexed wheel screws
B. Bouncing on the corners of the car
1. Watching and timing
2. Listening
C. Locating flex
1. Stock floor
a. Floor
b. Roof
c. Firewall
2. Back-half
a. Floor
b. Firewall
3. Tubeframe
a. Mild power
b. Big power
IV. Watching the car launch
A. Positioning the eyes or lens
B. Chassis Rotation
1. Pitch – weight transfer
2. Roll –torque
3. Yaw – alignment
C. Suspension motion
1. Wheel-to-ground
2. Wheel-to-fender
D. Wheel-tire motion
1. Rear wheels
2. Front wheels
E. Data acquisition
1. G-meter
2. Engine rpm
3. Driveshaft rpm
4. Shock sensors
5. Heat sensors
6. Pressure sensors
V. Scaling the car
A. Placing the car on scales
B. Measuring ride height
C. Measuring suspension height
D. Shock shaft drag
E. Suspension bind
F. Weigh empty
G. Weigh with driver
H. Weigh empty again
VI. Towing
A. Tie downs
B. Chassis support
C. Trailer suspension
Fixing the Car
VII. Chassis Structure
A. Floor and frame rails
1. Track and wheelbase
a. Centerline (track)
b. Perpendicular line (wheelbase)
2. Stock floor
a. Stock frame rails
b. Connectors
c. Transmission tunnel
3. Back-half
a. Cross-member
b. Framerails
4. Tubeframe
a. Mild power
b. Big power
5. Engine/transmission support
6. Differential housing support
7. Suspension linkages
VIII. Springs
A. Coil springs
1. Storing energy
2. Sprung and unsprung weight
3. Suspension travel
4. Leverage ratios and motion ratios
5. Spring rate calculation
6. Spring frequencies
B. Leaf springs
1. Locator
a. Wheel hop
b. Slapper bars
c. Caltracks
d. Slide-a-Links
2. Spring
a. Load-jacking
b. Sliders
3. Super Stock springs
4. Measuring spring rate
IX. Shocks
A. Oil
1. Follow the energy
B. Ratios
C. Adjusters
1. Extension
2. Compression
D. Shock travel
1. Extension
2. Compression
3. Taking measurements
E. Types of shocks
1. Twintube
a. Bore layout and footvalve
b. Guide area
c. Shaft and low-speed circuit
d. Piston design
e. Nitrogen charging
2. Monotube
a. Nitrogen charging
b. Bore design (radiator)
c. Low –speed circuit
d. Piston design
F. Tuning with shocks (part now, part after suspension presentation)
1. Extension
a. Front suspension
b. Rear suspension
2. Compression
a. Front suspension
b. Rear suspension
X. Front suspension
A. Basic angles (adjust in this order)
1. Caster
a. Positive/negative
b. Effects
c. Offsets
2. Camber
a. Positive/negative
b. Effects
c. Offsets
3. Toe
a. Total toe versus side-to-side
b. Dog tracking and wheelbase tricks (thrust angle)
4. Steering Axis Inclination
a. Wheel offsets
b. Caster chatter
5. Bumpsteer
a. Rack & pinion
b. Parallelogram steering
6. Ackerman Effect
XI. Rear suspension
A. Recall centerline and perpendicular line
B. Thrust angle
C. Pinion angle
D. Instant centers and center of gravity
E. Stock leaf springs
1. Bolt-ons
F. Ladder bars
1. Set for square
2. Preload
3. Wheelbase
4. Tuning
G. Fourlinks
1. Instant centers
2. Percentage of anti-squat (rise)
3. IC length
4. Set-up
a. Lower bars
b. Upper bars
5. Kinematics (the study of links)
a. Upper bars
1. Equal length
2. Short top bars
3. Bar angle
4. Bar position
b. Lower bars
1. Angle
2. Position
XII. Lateral locators
A. Panhard rod
1. Lateral travel
2. Roll center
3. Load jacking
B. Watts linkage
1. Lateral travel
2. Roll center
C. Wishbone
1. Lateral travel
2. Roll center
3. Symmetry
D. Track locator
1. Lateral travel
2. Roll center
3. Roll rotation
4. Adjustments
E. Trussed fourlinks (AKA swing arm)
1. Hardware
XIII. Anti-roll bars
A. Position
B. Leverages
C. Spring rates
XIV. Wheelie bars
A. Length
B. Sprung versus unsprung
C. Alignment
XV. Tuning at the track
A. Rear shocks and IC location
B. Front Shocks and travel adjustments
I am converting my seminar to a power point presentation and am using this opportunity to rewrite the lesson plan. I'd really like some comments about what you think. This is a VERY comprehensive course and I have sometimes been critcized for giving too much information. So, with the new format will come a new workbook that I hope will be a good reference for racers to take home and help them retain the information.
I have not finishd the planning of the tour dates yet, but hope to have it done by mid-September. Right now, I'm focused on the content and getting all the artwork together for the new lesson plan.
Please tell me what you think. Is anything missing that I should cover?
Stay Tuned,
Dave
Collecting Data and Finding Problems
I. Principles of the seminar
A. Simple versus complicated
B. Macro-view versus micro-view
C. Friction
D. Triangles and rectangles (stiff chassis/tunable suspension)
1. Floor and frame rails
2. Cages
E. Levers
1. Instant Centers
2. Moment Arms
3. Ratios
F. Weight
1. Center of Gravity
2. Polar Moment of Inertia
3. Sprung and unsprung weight
4. Aerodynamic load
G. Torque
1. Drive wheel torque
2. Wheel thrust
3. G-Force
4. Weight transfer
H. Hardware
1. Rod ends and ball joints
2. Threaded fasteners
II. Technical history of drag racing
A. Suspension violence
1. Not enough?
2. Too much?
B. Tire design
1. Wide slick
a. Stiff sidewall
b. Soft sidewall
2. Narrow slick
3. Radial
C. Engine developments
1. Big Blocks
2. Power adders
3. Programmable ignitions
D. Transmission sciences
1. Torque converters
2. Valve bodies
3. Gear ratios
E. Chassis designs
1. Stock floor
2. Back-half
3. Tubeframe
III. Inspecting the car
A. Rear slick
1. Wear patterns
2. Indexed wheel screws
B. Bouncing on the corners of the car
1. Watching and timing
2. Listening
C. Locating flex
1. Stock floor
a. Floor
b. Roof
c. Firewall
2. Back-half
a. Floor
b. Firewall
3. Tubeframe
a. Mild power
b. Big power
IV. Watching the car launch
A. Positioning the eyes or lens
B. Chassis Rotation
1. Pitch – weight transfer
2. Roll –torque
3. Yaw – alignment
C. Suspension motion
1. Wheel-to-ground
2. Wheel-to-fender
D. Wheel-tire motion
1. Rear wheels
2. Front wheels
E. Data acquisition
1. G-meter
2. Engine rpm
3. Driveshaft rpm
4. Shock sensors
5. Heat sensors
6. Pressure sensors
V. Scaling the car
A. Placing the car on scales
B. Measuring ride height
C. Measuring suspension height
D. Shock shaft drag
E. Suspension bind
F. Weigh empty
G. Weigh with driver
H. Weigh empty again
VI. Towing
A. Tie downs
B. Chassis support
C. Trailer suspension
Fixing the Car
VII. Chassis Structure
A. Floor and frame rails
1. Track and wheelbase
a. Centerline (track)
b. Perpendicular line (wheelbase)
2. Stock floor
a. Stock frame rails
b. Connectors
c. Transmission tunnel
3. Back-half
a. Cross-member
b. Framerails
4. Tubeframe
a. Mild power
b. Big power
5. Engine/transmission support
6. Differential housing support
7. Suspension linkages
VIII. Springs
A. Coil springs
1. Storing energy
2. Sprung and unsprung weight
3. Suspension travel
4. Leverage ratios and motion ratios
5. Spring rate calculation
6. Spring frequencies
B. Leaf springs
1. Locator
a. Wheel hop
b. Slapper bars
c. Caltracks
d. Slide-a-Links
2. Spring
a. Load-jacking
b. Sliders
3. Super Stock springs
4. Measuring spring rate
IX. Shocks
A. Oil
1. Follow the energy
B. Ratios
C. Adjusters
1. Extension
2. Compression
D. Shock travel
1. Extension
2. Compression
3. Taking measurements
E. Types of shocks
1. Twintube
a. Bore layout and footvalve
b. Guide area
c. Shaft and low-speed circuit
d. Piston design
e. Nitrogen charging
2. Monotube
a. Nitrogen charging
b. Bore design (radiator)
c. Low –speed circuit
d. Piston design
F. Tuning with shocks (part now, part after suspension presentation)
1. Extension
a. Front suspension
b. Rear suspension
2. Compression
a. Front suspension
b. Rear suspension
X. Front suspension
A. Basic angles (adjust in this order)
1. Caster
a. Positive/negative
b. Effects
c. Offsets
2. Camber
a. Positive/negative
b. Effects
c. Offsets
3. Toe
a. Total toe versus side-to-side
b. Dog tracking and wheelbase tricks (thrust angle)
4. Steering Axis Inclination
a. Wheel offsets
b. Caster chatter
5. Bumpsteer
a. Rack & pinion
b. Parallelogram steering
6. Ackerman Effect
XI. Rear suspension
A. Recall centerline and perpendicular line
B. Thrust angle
C. Pinion angle
D. Instant centers and center of gravity
E. Stock leaf springs
1. Bolt-ons
F. Ladder bars
1. Set for square
2. Preload
3. Wheelbase
4. Tuning
G. Fourlinks
1. Instant centers
2. Percentage of anti-squat (rise)
3. IC length
4. Set-up
a. Lower bars
b. Upper bars
5. Kinematics (the study of links)
a. Upper bars
1. Equal length
2. Short top bars
3. Bar angle
4. Bar position
b. Lower bars
1. Angle
2. Position
XII. Lateral locators
A. Panhard rod
1. Lateral travel
2. Roll center
3. Load jacking
B. Watts linkage
1. Lateral travel
2. Roll center
C. Wishbone
1. Lateral travel
2. Roll center
3. Symmetry
D. Track locator
1. Lateral travel
2. Roll center
3. Roll rotation
4. Adjustments
E. Trussed fourlinks (AKA swing arm)
1. Hardware
XIII. Anti-roll bars
A. Position
B. Leverages
C. Spring rates
XIV. Wheelie bars
A. Length
B. Sprung versus unsprung
C. Alignment
XV. Tuning at the track
A. Rear shocks and IC location
B. Front Shocks and travel adjustments
the only thing you didn't cover is how to tell your wife you need $900 for a new torque converter!