Thread: Watt's link info

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Anyone have any info on a Watt's link?
Purpose, design, blueprint/cad, adjust-ability, etc

I "think" I understand the basics, and think I may want to try it in my up coming Model A project.

Originally Posted by STREETWERKZ

Anyone have any info on a Watt's link?
Purpose, design, blueprint/cad, adjust-ability, etc

I "think" I understand the basics, and think I may want to try it in my up coming Model A project.

Its probably the best at keeping your rear end centered....Its used in a lot of set ups. Its been around for a LONG time.It does not affect a vehicle like the typical panhard bar. The panhard bar works good but it can have a tendency to move the car to the side with extreme movement in the suspension . The watts link keeps the rear end centered ALL THE TIME. Oh Ya, they just look cool....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J4xkHuP7QY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVYhSJhnac8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gj_A...eature=related

It's the best, as Big Truck said, but it's also the most involved to build right!!! A Watt's Linkage takes up a lot of room, takes some careful designing to work them into a car but IMO well worth it. The bars should be parallel to the ground at ride height. Make sure you have a strong and well braced center pivot. I use heim ends on the rods, remember the rear end has to be able to move up and down and the resulting pinion angle change so heims are necessary to avoid having anything bind during the travel... Speedway sells a basic kit, not a bad deal with a bit of tweaking and bracing they work fine. I usually just build my own components in order to have the best bar placement and bracing...

thanks tor the info
I want to build my own watts link as much as possible.
is the main pivot point on the axle centered in the housing?
Heim, or tube ends for the bars? (thank you Dave for the heim recommendation)

Centered, with the pivot bracket on the top of the housing usually works best, I prefer heim ends....less chance of putting anything in a bind when the suspension moves up and down.

You will have engineering issues getting one of those in a Model A. Not much room under there. At least in my cars there's not.

I should have mentioned I want to build it off the the back of the housing like in the videos big truck posted

Yeah, the first video has a great shot of how it works.... Just a matter of positioning and fabricating.... The results are well work the extra planning and effort required...

So, centered on the housing horizontally.
centered vertically seems as if it's not as critical?
I found a different approach, I don't know enough about a watts link to say if there's any problems or not with how this person did theirs.
I do however like the vertical adjustment on it.

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/show...t=21416&page=2

The vertical adjustment would be a good feature to build in if you were planning on being able to change the ride height on the rear end.... The adjustable center pivot point would keep the bars parallel with the ground.... Same thing can also be done by having multiple mounting holes for the outboard ends of the bars.... Personally, guess I wouldn't like all the extra weight on the rear end housing that the adjustable bracket you refereneced... Unsprung weight is high enough on a street car.... As a rule of thumb, one pound of unsprung weight equals 10 pounds of sprung weight when it's time to tune on the suspension....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt's_linkage


This is a pretty good explanation and video.
Ken

So (as I always do) don't overcomplicate it.... I'll try not to Dave, but make no promises lol

I never think of wikipedia. thanks Ken

AMAZING that technology from around 1784 is still regarded as one of the best ways to do this job!!
Really keeps my interest in this suspension system now, 200+ year old technology pretty cool to me.

Watts links work great, gotta think a head on a lot of the other suspension stuff. I am trying to figure out how to get one to work on my truck. 4 link off the front, bags behind (and between the frame rails)... It'll be a challenge, but i will figure it out and post pictures when its done!