Front Suspension Geometry help

I inquired about info on 3 link design a few years ago and it was suggested to me to look into the info Ron Sutton has out there on different forums. So I checked it out and learned a ton, he really explains stuff well. Recently when I tried to revisit those threads and they have been removed. 

So what I’m looking for is to find someone that can show me how to either use suspension design programs or walk me thru designing front suspension step by step. Drawing it out on a whiteboard is fine with me I would actually prefer that. I really want to learn how to do this properly so I can use this info on future projects. I have tried and tried to research and learn via YouTube and reading forums on how to use different suspension programs but the only way I can learn something is by doing it face to face in a hands on type scenario. 

Ive got a lot of the key numbers figured out on what I want like what my wheelbase, track width, ground clearance, overall tire height and wheel width will be. I just need someone to show me how to for sure do the rest and discuss pros and cons of everything.

Does anyone on here know of someone I can contact that consults or has classes on this subject? 

You can learn an absolute TON about suspension geometry at the locostusa forum - we're all building from scratch, and there's a wealth of information there, and lots of people able to help and answer your questions.

Not to detract from THIS forum (which is amazing, I must say), but this forum and locostusa are two of my most frequented forums. (The other is a C10 forum).

Ironically enough I am finishing up EP 3 of my LMP360 build which will go though what I've done to design the front and rear suspension on my Subaru project.  

My aporoach is very "simple" in that I focus on minimizing Scrub/KPI, Run 6-8* caster, run ~2*Track Width Front VSAL / ~1.25*TW rear, and run a lower A-arm ~110% the length of the upper arm. 

I don't worry to much about RC movement so I do the layout with either Excel or for this project I built a string Computer on my garage door. 

On the first suspension I did I agonized over RC migration and locating pivots to the 0.001" using Vsup and other suspension software.  It took literally a month to design.  For the MG I just developed a theory of what compromises I wanted to make and recognized the important dimensions that drive performance toward that compromise.   For pivot locations I selected the dimensions that where closest to what the suspension needed but where 1/4" increments.  So some pivots are fudged slightly above or below ideal to allow for a suspension that is easy to manufacture vs "perfect".  I think this is acceptable because all suspension is a compromise anyway so there really isn't a perfect design.  

Example the wheel Camber curve is a direct function of the VSAL.  If you keep A-arm length ratio to <1.1 your IC and therefore VSAL will not move that radically over typical 1-2" suspension travels for stiffly sprung cars (1.8-2.5 HZ ride frequency).   So the Camber curve will behave pretty much like the static VSAL.  I usually do a quick check at the extreme of travel just to make sure nothing strangely went non linear.  

I'm not saying my technique is perfect, but the MG is stable on track cornering at speeds as high as 120 MPH despite only having a 80" wheelbase.   It handles curbing/bumps well and maintains nuetral balance through all phases of cornering.  And it's suspension was designed with MS Excel. 

I hope to have the video up by this weekend.  It will be boring to most but possibly helpful to some.  

Thanks for the replying both of you I will for sure check out locostusa SkinnyG, and nocones that pic in your avatar is that your MG? That thing looks awesome! If I wasn’t such a big guy I would love to have something like that.

So to give you you guys an idea of what I’m after I’ll post some pics, but basically it will be a full tube chassis made out of mainly 1 3/4”DOM and no body with unequal length double wishbone in front with pushrods and coil overs mounted inboard, 3 link in the rear with a watts link off the rear end cover to to keep it center. Id like to have the ride height (ground clearance) at 5”. I’ll be running a 5.3 engine, either a tremec t-5 or t-56, and quickchange rear end out back. I want the wheelbase to be 103-105” and the overall width at 78-84”. I’ll be running wide five hubs and wheels so I’ll be making the spindles myself so I’m not limited in design there. Also the upper and lower a frames will be made by me as well. Since there is no body and the frame will be made from scratch I’ll be able to build the car to whatever is needed to get the absolute best front and rear suspension geometry. The wheels will be 16’s and the wheel width will be 12-15” wide with whatever backspacing I’ll end up needing. The front upper and lower mounting points will be slotted to accommodate insert slugs to allow for 1/2” adjustment up or down if needed and if I want to change the anti dive. I’ll also be able to put shins behind the uppers to change camber gain if needed. So the car should have a fair amount of adjustment if needed, but I wanna get it as close as possible on paper before I start. 

I’ll Try and upload some pics (I’ve never done it before on here so bear with me).

Here’s a pic of the upper a arm mounts with the slots that the slugs I posted above will insert into allowing for quite a bit of adjustment. The front end of the car will look very very similar to what is in the pic. The chassis in the pic is a dirt late model which is what this is going to be based off of, only my car will be a two seater and street legal. 

Here are a few more pics of front ends with the same style components front end design I plan on using. 

Those are some nice looking parts.  Seems like it's going to be a neat build.   Be sure to post it up once you get going.

It took me a bit longer then planned but I finally got my suspension video up.  Hope it helps some.  Feel free to ask any questions as you work.  People here will always be up to help out.