You found the sweet spot for that washboard. Years of driving in Baja have taught me to seek the sweet spot on the many (so many) washboard roads down there. Sometimes, it's not possible as you just have to go too fast to get "on top" of the bumps. BTW: it's much easier on the equipment (and driver) when you find the sweet spot. Cheers, Jeff
-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Rocket J Squirrel Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2009 1:06 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Science of Washboarding During yesterday's exploration of local campgrounds I encountered a couple unpaved roads that were heavily washboarded,* some causing such bad juddering that I had to slow down and creep along so the van would not shake itself apart. On the return trip I tried going sufficiently fast (40 mph or so) that the tires and suspension could float a little. The ride was nearly smooth. Okay, this has Vanagon content because I don't want to damage the van with that technique. While it felt miles better in the driver's seat when I was going fast, I wonder if I wasn't putting a lot of stress on the tires or suspension. Thoughts? Or even better, knowledge?
==================== * I recall reading someplace how cars create washboard in the road due to bouncing off some existing bump and mashing a second bump into the road, which bounces the next car, creating a third, &c., until you got them washboards. However, yesterday I came across a device parked on a side road in the forest that appears to have been specifically designed to imprint the corrugations into the road surface. It consisted of two large drums, each about 6' wide and 4' high, roughly, mounted side-by-side on an axle. The circumferential surface of the two drums had steel corrugations spaced about a foot apart all around the drum. I bet any tyro FBI fingerprint student could match up with the grooves in the road. The device had a trailer tongue that the front so it could be towed behind a tractor or something. To make the roads into washboard roads. -- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana") 74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) Bend, OR KG6RCR |
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