Page 1 of 1

General comments on ladders

Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 3:47 am
by BillyShope
You've seen at least a zillion ladder bar cars in the pits. Here's a thought: Have you ever seen a ladder bar car with only one ladder? Of course you have! This would include all of the early Fords and Chevys. OK, they were called torque tube drive cars, but they were actually ladder cars. The torque tube contained a driveshaft with only one U-joint, but it functioned as a ladder. Imagine this: Take an early Ford or Chevy and fit it with an open driveshaft and a single ladder offset to the right, attached, of course, to the chassis instead of the back of the transmission. You've got the same animal. You'd then need either a Panhard or leaf springs to keep it from rotating in the "Z" axis. And, there is actually an advantage to a single ladder. Here's the trick application: Offset the single ladder to the right (US passenger side) and you can cancel the unloading of the right rear on acceleration. An offset of wheelbase divided by axle ratio will get you very close. Bench race this thought for a while.