Magnetic Suspension

[pokeyYJ]

Alright this should be fun. I had an idea for a custom suspension that used electromagnets. Basically it would operate like a coil system. The design of the control links would be similar exept there would be an electromagnet instead of coils. The magnets would be controled by a variable resistor that the driver controls. The electricity would flow down to the magnets throw wires that are wound multiple times around the magnets. The magnet on the axle would be a permenant magnet. The number of wind on the electromagnet would control the potential of the magnetic field. The volts could be increased and decreased threw the resistor. This would allow an adjustable height and load carrying capacity. The advantages would be that the height would be adjustable, that spring rate would be adjustable, and the only things limiting down travel would be shocks and brake lines and drive shafts. The down side would be the weight of the magnets.

What I would like to discuss is the pros and cons of this type of suspension. Also is there anything that I have over looked? Have fun!

 

[Hickey]

It would probably cause interference with my radio, I get real upset when I can't listen to Britney Spears.

 

[pokeyYJ]

I didn't think of that, that would be just horrible (heavy sarcasm) I think it would only be applicable in a tube buggy, anyways, because it would screw up a lot of fancy electronics, the computer would have to be magnetically shielded.

 

[rustybronco]

Hmmm, honestly - interesting idea. However, do you drag the power line behind you or have an onboard nuclear plant? Might work good for tow rigs!

 

[spencurai]

you could find all those sockets you lost in the dirt repairing your busted stuff.......and you could find all that extra metallic shrapnel that you seem to run into at the bottom of potato salad hill......and dump bump.....pretty cool idea, now all you need is a warp engine to power the whole thing....or a long extension cord!!

 

[Ryan]

This is too funny. When Greg replies saying that he thought of this a loooooong time ago, I'll vouch for him

 

[demon jeep]

What are you going to do if you drove a cross a steal bridge you would get stuck now that would be humiliating.

Ya made upper and lower helderado no problem but got stuck crossing that them there cattle gaurd ( true redneck voice)

 

[onetuff76]

so are you saying put the similar poles towards eachother so you get a pushing force between the two magnets?

one problem I see if you are thinking of the two poles together the magnets would merely slide to the side of eachother until *bam* you axle is sitting a bit crooked under the rig. The only way to limit this is to limit the range of motion to one plane, then you loose articulation. Also as the axle droops or you increase the ride height you are not in a straight line with the magnets you are truely on an arc, so again the magnets will want to "slip" until the poles are opposite eachother. Weight wouldn't necessarily be a problem if you are using an electrical current passing through a coil to produce the magnetic field. However in order to get the force you'd need you'd have to be running a pretty big coil and alot of amperes through it. Another thing to note (assuming you know a little about physics, which I'm sure you do) the magnetic field drops off exponentially with the distance. So you could run into some issues there. All in all I don't think it would be a very practical idea as for a suspension. Plus as noted earlier with the power of the magnets you'd need, you'd be picking up everything that came close to it. And you might have some trouble getting your tool box out of the back.

 

[BlackSheep]

you might consider the effect on your ability to sire offspring........

 

[Ryan]

Originally posted by onetuff76
All in all I don't think it would be a very practical idea as for a suspension.

I believe Greg mentioned that this was his conclusion as well, LOL. Can't say as though I've ever spent more than a half a second thinking about it, and that was when he mentioned that he had thought about it at one time(accompanied by a chuckle ).

 

[Greg]

Thats waaaaayyyyyyyy too funny. I had that idea about....... oh, almost 5 years ago. Like Ryan said, 'the Thought was accompanied by a chuckle.....', although I would describe it as more of a Hysterical Laughter!

 

[pokeyYJ]

Thanx for the input guys. There was some things that I didn't think of like the part about finding all those sockets that I lost. This was just a thought that I had and wanted to see what others thought about it. Looks like I'll have to research it a little bit more and see if I can't figure out a way around some of these problems. Thanx