Thread: 2002 active suspension in 76 Rangie?????

Originally Posted by 4.42doorrangie

Ok so whats your thoughts, I'm keen on stabilising the rangie better on road, cause it is a small night mare..


its handleable but i would like to improve it so as to be able to drive a comfortable safe speed without threat of loosing it.


So its a 2002 hydraulic sway bar set up front and back. i can get it reasonably priced. the only thing is that it runs off the computer so we need to work out how to run it through a manual on / off switch for on road and off road.

any ideas ever thought of doing it.??????

There was a pendulum activated system developed a few years ago for rangies but cant remember who made it, possibly LRA or Graeme Cooper ? It used hydraulic rams fed by a pump that was connected to a swaybar type arrangement, the pedulum was weighted and pumped fluid to the rams determined by the position of the pendulum and forced pressure to the corner/corners to keep the vehicle level.

I've got the pendulum system on mine, (Disconnected at the moment though) and it was initially marketed as 'G-Force' or something similar. It works brilliantly, I have a twin of my RR in at work at the moment, same everything, 4.7 engine, G force system etc etc etc and it is also brilliant to drive. If you want some more info, give me a call during work on 0408 995 635.

JC


Edit: Just found it, Google 'Gforce active suspension' it gives contact details for 'the auto edge' in Melbourne. Exactly the same system as mine.

I was taken for a ride (I use the phrase purely in the literal sense) about 20 years ago in a Valiant AP5 with a prototype active suspension system. It was absolutely amazing- banking into corners like an aircraft instead of leaning to the outside. The owner of the car was in the R&D stages with this system, intended for kit form. Never heard of it since, but it may well have been the forerunner of the kit you mention.
The system was operated by a pendulum and switch assembly, mounted in the centreline of the vehicle in front of the radiator. When the pendulum swung either to the left or right, it depressed a microswitch that opened hydraulic valves to direct pressure to the appropriate side of the rams. Hydraulic power was provided by a power steering pump. The sway bars needed to be very heavy- the one on the front of this prototype was actually an axle shaft.
If you can get hold of the appropriate sway bars, rams and mounts, the operating controls would not be too hard to design and fabricate based on the above principles.
The guy who had this car was of the opinion that it would actually be beneficial off-road, as it would tend to keep the car upright when traversing, etc. Don't know what it would do with diagonal washouts and the like though.

Ahah! I just googled GForce Active Suspension, the inventor who has developed this system is the same bloke who had the prototype on the old Valiant in about 1989. Glad to see he has seen it through.

I contacted G-force a few or more years ago and they had stopped making the system - to expensive (and I assume not enough sales).

4.42doorrangie,
I'm not familiar with the 2002 hydraulic sway bar set up, but wonder if you could try connecting it like the system on the 200 series landcruisers. They use a RFS system licensed from West Aus company Kinetic Suspension Technology

I presume each hydraulic sway bar has a hydraulic actuator on one side. In the 200 series cruiser the actuators are connected by pipe/hose work that connects the top of the front actuator the bottom of the rear actuator, and vice versa (like an X).

When the body leans during high speed cornering, both actuators try to extend/retract but the X connection of the pipe/hose prevents them. So the sway bars act to appose body lean.

Off road, on bumps however, the X connection allows the front and rear actuator to travel freely in opposite directions.

This should work well with sufficiently stiff sway bars, and does for the 200 series cruiser from all reports I've heard.

With your proposed system, it may not be as effective as when controlled by computer in the rangie. But connecting the actuators in the X configuration may be worth trying.

I have been planning a similar system with stiff bars in my rangie, but have other work to do before I can get around to it.

wow thanks for the info all!!!!!

it seems like a system that would work well, i feel as though the development is still along way off but its a good start.


ill make some calls on the Gforce and see if a system like this could work.


cheers again