Video of Working Suspension

[clarkspeed]

During my race weekend at Sebring in October I decided to strap the bullet camera under the fender to see what was happening. It was a little less dramatic than I thought it would be, but certainly useful. From the still shots I could determine the the compression maxed out around 1.75" and the droop or extension was about 0.75". I had been reading some threads on here about limiting droop, and by my best estimate, I should still have over 200# of weight on the outside wheel during cornering. My front springs are 400# and the roll bar is 1".

 

I was surprised how little steering input was required to drive the track. The hairpin turn only required a few more degrees of turn. I was also surprised by the limited suspension travel. Sebring is known as a bumpy track and I expected 2-3" of bump.

 

I may try some shots of the rear suspension next or some different angles.

 

The attached video starts with turn 17, a long sweeping fast right hand shift to 4th on exit. Followed by the "front straight", light brake, then a high speed 80+ mph sweeping left hander at Turn 1.

 

[redneck1545]

one would think with 400# springs and a 1" swaybar it wouldnt be very dramatic!

 

cool vid...might try some different angles with the camera next time to get more of the dramatic video ure trying to obtain.

[KillerBjt]

Very cool, not something you get to see every day. Thanks for posting it.

[johnc]

2 to 3" of total travel on a race track is about right for a production based sedan. Now, if curb hopping was your style then you would need more bump travel.

[RebekahsZ]

Your video is REALLY COOL. Please describe your camera system, how much it cost and where I can get one. I would love to be able to look at various aspects of my car in this way.

[clarkspeed]

Well I finally got around to shooting some video of my rear suspension during a hot lap at Road Atlanta. The camera was a little shaky but can still see what is going on. It was mounted left rear facing forward. Most of the turns are right so much of the footage shows the left rear loaded. Looks to max about 2" compression and 1.5" rebound at the wheel by my calculations off the freeze frames.

 

[RebekahsZ]

I am in the market for a camera for:

 

1) mounting on roll bar and video-ing the driving experience from the cockpit

2) just as you have, I'd like to do some surveillance under the car, in the wheelwells and under the hood.

 

I have ordered a roll bar mount for a GoPro, but haven't bought the camera yet. What is the best camera for doing these videoing duties?

 

Clarkspeed, how have you been attaching your camera to the chassis for the videos you posted?

[johnc]

GoPro is good for the price but if you're serious, ChaseCam is fantastic.

[clarkspeed]

GoPro is hard to beat. Tom just got one and his video spliced with mine is in the Motorsport forum. Suction mount is very good and so is sound quality. There are also many others. Replay XD is also nice.

 

But for those on a budget...I found a Veho Muvi pro on ebay for $30. They sell new on Amazon for $60. About the size of my thumb with a clip to mount. It was used for my in-car videos for the races I posted. Lots of sample videos on YouTube if you search.

 

For these suspension videos, I have an older setup that was posted out on ITForums.com a few years ago before GoPro was popular. It's a Neuros Recorder 2 combined with a cheap bullet camera. I probably have $70-$80 in it. The camera has a mount I secure with sheet metal screws. And the recorder has a remote. But the quality is rough, suitable for an IPOD screen, or suspension analysis.