Reading Material - Suspension: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Sept. 26, 2008 6:18 a.m. Racedreamer None

Hello all

Does anyone have some recomendation for some books on suspension and setup. I have a mazda 3 and want to do some mods to the suspension. I really want to learn a little before I start buying springs, sway bars and shocks. I have what I would call a basic knowledge of the parts an what they do. I just want to be sure what I'm thinking is real and try to minimize my mistakes. The car is my daily driver.

I tried to purchase a book called How To Make Your Car Handle by Fred Phun via Barns and knoble. At the time they were the only online store that said they had a copy. Except they keep refinding my order even after they send me an email telling me it shipped.

Anyway thanks in advace
Sept. 26, 2008 3:58 p.m. SupraWes HalfDork

I am pretty sure I have an extra copy I picked up cheap at a book sale a few years ago. I will get back to you this weekend.
Sept. 26, 2008 5:35 p.m. fiat22turbo SuperDork

Amazon seems to think they have it in stock

http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Your-Car-Handle/dp/0912656468

Tower as well:

http://www.tower.com/how-make-your-car-handle-fred-puhn-paperback/wapi/100784293

Pegasus Auto Racing:

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecId=1652

There may be others that you may want to read as well:

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/advcat.asp?CategoryID=BOOKSVIDEOS
Sept. 26, 2008 9:13 p.m. Apexcarver SuperDork

i would also reccomend getting the carrol smith books

you can get ALOT here http://store.sae.org/catalog/ but you might be able to find better prices.
Sept. 26, 2008 9:45 p.m. aussiesmg HalfDork

Carrol Smith's books don't cover FWD IIRC
Sept. 28, 2008 7:55 a.m. Racedreamer New Reader

Thanks everyone. I got one ordered through Amazon. It should be here on tuesday. On a side not I got new motor mount on order.
Sept. 29, 2008 9:33 a.m. Jensenman UltimaDork

Puhn's book is prety good, you'll particularly like the '70's clothes. For newer cars with FWD, Alexander's 'High Performance Handling Handbook' has some decent FWD info, you might want to look into that one as well. Caution: it is also a 100+ page Progress Suspension ad.
Sept. 29, 2008 12:40 p.m. curtis73 Reader

Its a bit heavy reading, but if you really want to understand pretty much dang near everything there is to know about vehicle handling, find yourself a copy of "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics" by Milliken.

It will make you a better racer, I promise. Its a 900-page engineering textbook. I couldn't put it down. Its been out of print for a while, but its around.
Sept. 29, 2008 1:07 p.m. tuffburn New Reader

or for free try this http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/tech/0506_sccp_making_it_stick_part_1/weight_tra... 5 part series by mike kojima at sport compact car. not that i'm saying go over to the dark side or what not, but scc has some grassroots projects and writings in it. but grm has the best boards and projects, hands down
Oct. 2, 2008 6:25 a.m. Racedreamer New Reader

I'll tell you especially for the newbie. The book How To Make Your Car Handle by Fred Phun is so far a great one. It explains slip angle, Overstear, Understear and many other basic handeling concepts that I kind of knew about but wasn't quite sure of the correct meaning.

Anyway so far I feel its been a great purchase and would recomend it to anyone looking for some good basic knowledge.

Once again thanks everyone for the links and help