spherical bearings on dampers

[Ben Beacock]

we purchased some spherical bearings for the ends of our vanilla RC but I'm wondering one thing. If I put them in both ends then how do I keep the damper from rotating to the limit of the bearings and wearing on something. Also, it would have a tendency to bounce around. If i run a rubber bushing to keep it aligned, I've added friction (stiction) to it. Any ideas?

[Ben Beacock]

we purchased some spherical bearings for the ends of our vanilla RC but I'm wondering one thing. If I put them in both ends then how do I keep the damper from rotating to the limit of the bearings and wearing on something. Also, it would have a tendency to bounce around. If i run a rubber bushing to keep it aligned, I've added friction (stiction) to it. Any ideas?

[Angry Joe]

What do you mean by "bounce around?"

[Ashley Denmead]

Ben.....stop worrying http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[Jon Huddleston]

We build in enough clearance around the damper so that rotation isn't a problem but we rotate them back to center after driving. I would suggest mounting the damper with a cone washer on each side of the spherical bearing that would be specificly designed to limit the damper from rotating.

[Ben Beacock]

with the reservoir on one side, there would be a moment on the damper axis as the car accelerates (bump, lat, or long -> depending on its orientation).

so ashley, you're saying its usually not a problem?

I think my course of action is to get everything built, find out the max misalignment in practice, and make some cone washers or a rubber bushing to limit its rotation to that amount.

Thanks for the help.

[Ashley Denmead]

yes cone washers are the go, thats what we've always done.

ash