eddiewould wrote:On a front wheel drive car, how does the power from the engine actually get transfered to the wheels? Is it the CV joint's job to make sure both wheels are moving at the same speed?
No, there is no rotationation movement in CV joints, they act like universal joints, but unlike a universal which wobbles about as it rotates at an angle, they rotate smoothly because of their superior design. They also have a degree of side to side movement in them, allowing power to still be transmitted even when the wheels are turned at very sharp angles.
The differential in the gearbox is what makes up for differences in wheel speed created by turning corners etc.
eddiewould wrote:What happens (ideally) when one side of the car goes over a bump (under power) and one wheel leaves the ground momentarily then comes back down with the ground? The other wheel will have traveled some distance in that time, will this cause the car to change direction?
Well, if you assume you have an open diff (both wheels can spin at completely different speeds from each other with little to no resistance), when a wheel goes off the ground, it suddenly becomes much easier to turn than the wheel that is on the ground, so the differential transmits practically all the power to this wheel (that's what diff's do, transmit power through the path of least resistance), meaning it spins away furiously while the other wheel just rolls, then when it hits the ground, they continue as normal. If you have an LSD (limited slip differential) then the power will be directed to the wheel that is still on the ground (some power will still go to the other wheel, how much depends on the design of the LSD). If we assume the left hand wheel is on the ground, then since the car is being pulled along by the left front corner, it will cause it to start pulling toward the right hand side, until the other wheel touches the ground again.
eddiewould wrote:What are 'tie rod ends'?
They go on the end of the steering arm, and attach to the hub. They have a ball joint inside them which allows them to pivot in all directions so they will still have control over the direction the hub is pointing at any suspension travel.
eddiewould wrote:What are 'tiers' ? (I know what tyres are
)
Most probably some bloody american "tires" making a typo. Also a way of describing a "stepped" arrangement of umm...things...ie tiered seating, where each row is higher than the previous, making it easier for everyone to see
eddiewould wrote:what are 'control arms'
In McPherson strut suspension you have a strut (vertical piece with a shock absorber and spring on it) which is bolted at the top, and at the bottom it is securely bolted to the hub (no movement in that connection), and the hub is connected at the bottom, through a ball joint, to an arm, connected to the chassis with a pivoting point, which funnily enough, pivots up and down, compressing the shock absorber and spring, to provide suspension movement. That pivoting arm is the control arm.
eddiewould wrote:what are wishbones? how does a double wishbone setup differ from a single wishbone?
I'm not familiar with single wishbone suspension, infact I can't see how it would work, but in double wishbone you have a hub which has an arm (if viewed from above, the arm is in a "V" or wishbone shape, with the two top parts of the V connected to the chassis, pivoting, and the one point at the bottom connected to the hub, also pivoting. On the bottom you have an identical V shaped arm (well usual the bottom one is longer, but we wont get into that) doing the same thing. Double wishbone is generally considered the best design as it gives favorable suspension geometry throughout it's travel, and allows the shock absorber and spring to be mounted somewhere other than at the hub, through a series of levers or pushrods, meaning on race cars like F1's they can be hidden out of the air's path, and therefore create less drag. Doing such also means they are no longer part of the unsprung mass, which improves suspension respsonse. General McPherson strut is far more common, especially in production cars, as it is cheaper to produce, takes up less space, is more easily serviced and has less moving parts and thus more reliable.
eddiewould wrote:Lastly if anyone can add any changes superstrut makes to all of the above, that'd really clear things up a lot for me
From what I know about super strut, which isn't a lot, it attempts to prevent camber changes with suspension movement and steering, inherent in McPherson strut. It does actually seem to create less front end grip however, and is less reliable and more expensive to service than more traditional setups.
Hope that helps, for more goodness and pictures, check out howstuffworks.com
