Full-day Seminar Course Outline

I've expanded the topics to include front suspensions because drag racers are beginning to understand just how important the front suspension is. All the interest has been in the rear suspension so they can hook the car up, but now they realize they have to control the car after the launch. That's when the inter-relationships between the front and rear suspensions come into play.

Adding the extra content will be tricky as the seminar is already packed with information. My plan is to tighten-up on the chassis structure presentation and to streamline the shock and spring presentation.

The goal of this course is to teach drag racers how to balance their suspension combination. Some racers don't know if they are hitting the slicks too hard or not hard enough. At this seminar, they will learn how to find this out.

Feel comfortable to ask questions at any time during the presentation.

1. Weight Transfer
   1. Drive wheel torque
   2. Wheel thrust
   3. G-force
   4. Determine the amount of weight transfer
2. Center of Gravity
   1. What it is
   2. How to locate it
   3. Polar Moment of Inertia
   4. Roll centers
3. A brief look at chassis flex
   1. Frame rail shift
   2. Chassis twist
   3. Rear Housing flex
4. A brief look at bind
   1. Rod ends
   2. Ball joints
   3. Mechanical issues
5. Shocks and Springs
   1. Storing energy in the springs
      1. Advantages of a light spring
   2. Sprung/Un-sprung weight
      1. Catalogs and the mistakes in them
   3. Leverage ratios
      1. Motion ratios
   4. Calculating spring rates
   5. Shock absorber mechanics
      1. Twin tube
      2. Mono-tube
   6. Reading a shock graph (force/displacement and force/speed)
6. Front Suspension
   1. Caster
      1. What it is and what it does
      2. What offsets do
      3. Steering Axis Inclination
      4. Caster chatter
   2. Camber
      1. What it is and what it does
      2. What offsets do
      3. Mapping camber change
   3. Toe
      1. Front end alignment versus four wheel alignment
      2. Thrust angle
      3. Dog tracking- advantages and disadvantages
   4. Travel limiters
   5. Bumpsteer
      1. How to detect it
      2. How to fix it
   6. Ackerman Effect
      1. Is it good or bad?
      2. How can we adjust it?
7. Rear Suspension
   1. Leaf springs
      1. Locator
         1. Instant center
         2. Wheel hop and pinion angle
      2. Spring function
         1. Housing floaters
         2. Weight jacking
   2. Ladder bars
      1. Swing arms
      2. Pinion angle
      3. Ladder bar length
      4. Hardware
      5. Tuning with a ladder bar
   3. Fourlinks
      1.  Tubular Fourlinks
         1. Equal-length and unequal length
         2. Instant centers and maps
         3. Roll steer
      2.  Factory fourlinks
         1. Equal-length and unequal length
         2. Instant centers and maps
         3. Roll steer
      3.  Tuning with a fourlink
   4. Lateral locating devices
      1.  Panhard bar
      2.  Wishbone
      3.  Diagonal link

Dave's knowledge is much wider than these topics, so please bring your questions with you.

To Register

Register online using the Dave Morgan Seminar Registration form. The price is still just $85/person  (2-day seminar and setup workshop is $170) and includes the workbook. There will be a one-hour lunch break (not included in the tuition) and short breaks will be taken as needed. The seminar will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Visa, Master Card and American Express accepted.