The Shock of Absorption....

[NOTRIGHTNIT]

Hi again,

Getting deeper and deeper into this sidecar build of mine. The original purchased chassis, once believed, even by the seller, to be a Watsonian. Well, an enquiry I made to the company asking for any identification i.e. model number etc came back as, "We do not recognise it, and are almost 99% sure it did not emanate from their company."

I hunted long and hard, and have found it is probably now, originally a Canterbury model chassis, possibly a GMC 9A - 10A. It originally had a shock absorber attached to the top inside of the loop, and down to a short swinging arm, bushed alongside the frame and supporting the axle..... a bit of a surprise to me but.....

Somebody within the chassis's life, has taken a Watsonian idea of suspension by installing the two leaf springs together with the pivoted shackles. The chair itself is thus fitted to the cross brace attached to the springs, plus possibly coil springs to the front of the chassis..... if you get my drift..?? There is minute evidence of this having taken place before I got it with abrasive marks etc.

So, what I have now is a rogue chassis with a modified suspension system, plus a non-bouncing wheel mounted onto a rigid axle.... nice.... In my furtherance, I would ask if anybody has any experience of weight loading on shock absorbers for sidecars. I may well manufacture a new swinging arm of some devious design with a top loop clamp so as to make the shock absorber angle adjustable..?? Then I need the shock absorber to counter the weight of

A). The sidecar body

B). The weight of static passenger plus bits etc...

C). The shock of rubbish road surfaces...

Any ratings tables, or simply anything worth knowing would be a help to me that has shock absorber capabilities, and information pertaining to a sidecar fitment....

I could probably sort this for myself as time goes on, but if anybody has prior knowledge, I would definitely appreciate any heads up information if available....???

Thanking you in appreciation if possible....