laknox wrote:
Try driving I-5 some day, and see if you revise your opinion. We may not need long-travel suspension, but =softer= suspensions wouldn't be a bad idea. I-8 was not real comfortable last time I towed to San Diego, and W of the AZ border it was worse. A MorRyde IS looks better'n better every time I tow...
Lyle
Lyle,
I don't argue that some stretches of interstate are very rough indeed. I-40 through oklahoma city is bone jarring, for instance.
Suspension design and real world use is, like everything, a compromise.
The real world "problem" with the idea of using a long, soft travel suspension on road vehicles designed for highway speed road use is that we can end up with body roll when cornering that is greater than we want. Keeping the travel relatively short ( and therefore needing to keep it fairly stiff ) mostly keeps the cornering attitude flat.
Personally, I'll trade away soft ride for my trailer for better handling going around corners. These things are tall with a fairly high CofG, and have a lot of sail area that is effected by crosswinds.
My two cents.... from an internet engineer ;) .....but also a guy with several decades of racing and suspension set-up of off road, on road, and road racing motorcycles, and a couple seasons crew work on SCCA road race cars.
best, geo
