The pitfalls of the swing axle
Bruno von Rotz
08/28/2014
08/28/2014
Coming from the rigid axle, the swing axle was considered a major advance in the fifties and sixties. In fact, it made it possible to have independently sprung and guided wheels on the rear axle.
What worked well in normal operation could, however, lead to tricky effects in extreme situations, as the camber changed from neutral or negative to positive when the suspension rebounded heavily. The grip of the rear wheel was suddenly reduced and could trigger oversteer that was difficult to control.
Many Beetle drivers can tell you about this, but of course it also affected drivers of other makes (the picture shows a Mercedes Benz230 SL in 1963).
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