Sadly I hurt my lower back on Wednesday afternoon, been laid up for 2 days now, just starting to walk almost straight, not overly concerned as it's clearly muscle/nerve as painful as it is, so hope to be back into it tomorrow or Sunday ....
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My Elio Alternate Project Is Underway.
- Thread starter Mark BEX
- Start date
Elio Amazed
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Be well!
Usually my morning routine when I wake up is too have my shoulders flat on the bed, knees up and near my chin, and roll side to side for a few minutes.
Just occasionally get out of the habit, and I didn't stretch at all before filling up 2 x 6 gallon water jugs for the water evaporator cooler (seen to the right in the picture), and carrying them 100 yards, first really hot day this year. Usually i will twist side to side about 10 times before picking up anything, and of course use my knees.
I was in the factory today, working very slowly being aware of my back, just doing some welding to the new strut top mounts, measuring and other items. I could actually bolt wheels on the front now when need to be to test, which will be soon.
First I need to sort out a RH CV shaft, that's the next job, and then get the rear swingarm mounted.
I imagine I will sit it on 3 wheels within 1 to 2 weeks.
Maybe hard to see in this comparison picture, but the front suspension struts are much lower, and more tucked in. If unsure, just look at how close the bottom of the strut is to the CV shaft in the new (right side) picture, compared to the old (left side) picture ...
First I need to sort out a RH CV shaft, that's the next job, and then get the rear swingarm mounted.
I imagine I will sit it on 3 wheels within 1 to 2 weeks.
Maybe hard to see in this comparison picture, but the front suspension struts are much lower, and more tucked in. If unsure, just look at how close the bottom of the strut is to the CV shaft in the new (right side) picture, compared to the old (left side) picture ...
Made in USA
Elio Addict
The strut also looks a little more vertical. Does that matter? Still, very good progress.
3 things matter in that regard:
1/ Red line: The theoretical steering axis, which is a line that passes through the top pivot, down through the lower pivot (lower ball joint). This is what the strut, steering knuckle, hub and wheel all pivot around when turning.
This aids in car stability and steering effort, as the more you deviate from perpendicular to the ground, the more stability you have as car 'falls' into a straight ahead alignment. The downside is this also increases steering weight as you are lifting the front of the car up as you turn, therefore balance between the 2 is important.
2/ Blue line: The physical strut axis offset relative to the steering axis. This must be kept reasonably close to the steering axis so that when turning, not too much stress is put on the strut steering bearing/bush, or twist in the strut top rubber isolator.
3/ Green lines: The same steering axis that then arrives at the ground, and combined with the wheel/tire offset and diameter, determines the negative or positive scrub radius. If the steering axis arrives to the inside of the wheel's centerline, then it is positive scrub radius, as shown.
For a front wheel drive, lightweight car, it is of some importance that we have 'negative scrub radius' for stability, which is actually opposite to the positive scrub radius shown in the diagram. With the BEX, the Red line, i.e. steering axis, will intersect the ground outside of the wheel's centerline.
Sorry a bit quiet everybody, my back is slower to recover than what I had hoped for. I should not have worked last Sunday, as it made it worse. But, genuinely nearly there now, I just had to do absolutely nothing for a couple of days.
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Made in USA
Elio Addict
Hope you fully recover soon. Thank you for the education on the strut alignment.
as one who has to be careful when my back is concerned, I figured that was most probably the case .... I learned the hard way that rushing back can end up costing much more time .... good to hear you are on the mend
It's very clear that it's only a torn gluteal muscle or tendon, which is good, relative, because it will repair in days, unlike a disc or nerve issue that can be permanent for some.
thankfully, all of mine (so far) has been muscle ..... no disc or other bone issues .... pain is pain and it sure can hurt