Suspension Geometry Calculator

If you are having problems understanding the terminology a glossary of terms is available here

Description

Quickly and easily see the affect movement has on your suspension set-up and adjust on the fly using the drag and drop editor.

Sharing

Saving will generate shortlink

Instructions

First, let's start by looking at the suspension movement and the tools available to make your life easier:

	The chassis movement control allows you to raise and lower the chassis and also rotate the chassis by moving the mouse (or your finger) side to side. The chassis always returns to the static position when releasing the mouse. As you move the chassis notice the variations are displayed within the calculator. If you are logged in you will also notice the roll center and instant centers are also displayed.
	If the chassis rotation becomes an annoyance you can disable the rotation function by pressing this button. When rotation is disabled the button is displayed with a strike through. Click here to test the toggle rotation function.
	Moving this icon (within each of the the tires) up and down allows you to test movement of each wheel individually to simulate travelling of uneven ground. The wheels always return to the static position when releasing the mouse.
	If ever you see the explosion it means that a clash or breakage would occur. This could be the chassis hitting the ground, a control arm hitting a wheel or a control arm being stretched to the point it would break. You can use this as a gauge to work out the extents of the suspension travel.
	You may want to to concentrate on one side of the vehicle or view/edit the travel in more detail. You can use the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out of the drawing when analyzing and when editing the model.
	You can pan the drawing by clicking and dragging but if panning becomes an annoyance you can disable it by pressing this button. When panning is disabled the button is displayed with a strike through. Click here to test the toggle panning function.
	After zooming in and out and panning the drawing you may want to quickly return to a full view of the model. The zoom extents button centers the model and zooms it to the point you can see the entire model within the calculator.
	At some point you will want to enter your own suspension geometry data or even just just view the current model in more detail. Pressing the edit button immediately switches to edit mode listing more details about the dimensions of the model and allowing you to alter the model by dragging any of the tether points. Click here to test the toggle edit mode function.
	If dragging the tether points in edit mode isn't accurate enough for you or you have specific dimensions you want to enter you can you the form input. Enter as much or as little information as you like and the calculator will validate the data then apply it to the model. Click here to test the form input.
	Duplicate the current model and then make changes. The old model remains at the back of the drawing, you can use it as a guide when making adjustments to the layout or visually compare how the changes will perform when the suspension is in motion. You can also use this function to compare front and rear suspension although be careful as only the model at the front of the drawing is saved within the url.
	When duplicate and compare is active this button switches the order of the front and rear models. If you press this button in edit mode it's easy to compare the set-up values of each model.
	Display the steering rack and steering arms. Bump steer is displayed in orange. You can drag the steering arms into position or use the form input to enter values.