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Raid car preparation
http://www.international2cvfriends.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=290		 Page 2 of 5
Author:  Russell [ April 21st, 2009, 8:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
2CViking wrote:

Roll cage, no way, there is no need for that unless you drive like an idiot, ignoring the road condition. It may look fancy, yes but it should not be compulsory to fit it.



I wouldn't say it should be compulsory, but a decent rollcage isn't a bad thing to have if you can. The one in the toureag car I did was rubbish because the tube was too small and it wasn't built properly to take a decent impact. If I were taking a car overland in driving enviroments I wasn't used to, I think I'd want a cage myself, simply because if I do accidentally stick a car on its roof, or get involved in an accident I think it'd give the car a much better chance of staying in a driveable state afterwards. Theoretically, you should never need one, but accidents do happen, and if i was out in the middle of nowhere when I did it I'd be happier if the car was still 2cv shaped afterwards.

just my opinion, that's all, I wouldn't dismiss a rollcage as pointless, but I do agree it certainly shouldn't be compulsory.
Author:  ken [ April 21st, 2009, 10:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
Sorry folks,
can't let this old chestnut be aired again without comment...

" An ideal chassis is one that has high stiffness. If there is considerable twisting, the chassis will vibrate, complicating the system of the vehicle and sacrificing the handling performance.
Thinking of the chassis as a large spring connecting the front and rear suspensions: if the chassis torsional stiffness is weak, attempts to control the lateral load transfer distribution will be confusing at best and impossible at worst.
Therefore, predictable handling is best achieved when the chassis is stiff enough to be approximated as a rigid structure.
There are numerous reasons for high chassis stiffness.
A chassis that flexes is more susceptible to fatigue and subsequent failure, and “suspension compliance may be increased or decreased by bending or twisting of the chassis”

The full article can be found here...
< http://www.fisita.com/education/congres ... 8sc005.pdf >

Btw, failure of 'strengthened' chassis and other components is usually down to an inadequate understanding of the stresses involved and how to cater for them.

ken

2CViking wrote:
A good standard chassis needs to flex, preventing it from doing just that, will break it somewhere else. We have seen again and again standard 2cvs completing many raids in Australia without problems. We have also seen many strengthen chassis and swing arms snapping right open simply because they are too stiff.
Author:  studioru [ April 22nd, 2009, 12:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
Interesting one this.. the old "do I strengthen or not" debate?
I'm no mechanic but I have met a lot of the Australian raiders and they swear on standard kit with very limited strengthening and the roads in OZ are extreme to say the least. 100's of miles of relentless corrugations..

I seem to remember that their technical guru David Gries even lowers the suspension for a 'better ride'.

There are so many schools of thought. What I reckon one of the most important things, from my experiences of OZ and a trip overland to Mongolia is weight and weight distribution. Just don't take much and anything heavy get it away from the rear suspension. You don't want to be in the take off position. People overload 2CV's far too much. So any roll cage IMHO is completely unnecessary. Why take extra weight when you don't need it.

By the way my trip to Mongolia was in a completely standard 2CV with only a sump guard and fuel tank guard as mods, and take it from me I never want to see some of those road conditions again.

Hang on I'm off to Cameroon at the end of the year... damn it!
Author:  Little Louis [ April 22nd, 2009, 8:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
Make sure you have enough room for 85 litres of fuel to go a 1000km, I think thats what the citroen raids said
Author:  toomany2cvs [ April 22nd, 2009, 8:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
studioru wrote:
Hang on I'm off to Cameroon at the end of the year... damn it!


I'm going off you rapidly.
Author:  studioru [ April 22nd, 2009, 10:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
toomany2cvs wrote:
I'm going off you rapidly.


Don't be like that sugar, you could always sign up too...
Author:  toomany2cvs [ April 22nd, 2009, 10:17 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
studioru wrote:
you could always sign up too...


Who? What? Where?
Author:  studioru [ April 22nd, 2009, 5:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
toomany2cvs wrote:
Who? What? Where?


http://africarally.theadventurists.com/

Its a one way Plymouth/dakar/mongol rally type thing. Not a true raid in a 2CV sense but the uncertainty of the whole thing gets me going.. if you know what I mean.
Author:  toomany2cvs [ April 22nd, 2009, 7:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
studioru wrote:
toomany2cvs wrote:
Who? What? Where?


http://africarally.theadventurists.com/

Its a one way Plymouth/dakar/mongol rally type thing. Not a true raid in a 2CV sense but the uncertainty of the whole thing gets me going.. if you know what I mean.


Ah, the Mongol Rally people. Not keen. We've chatted about that before, I think? I'd rather take it a bit more gently and have a bit more mutual support from the others on the event.
Author:  2CViking [ April 22nd, 2009, 11:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Raid car preparation
studioru wrote:
Interesting one this.. the old "do I strengthen or not" debate?
I'm no mechanic but I have met a lot of the Australian raiders and they swear on standard kit with very limited strengthening and the roads in OZ are extreme to say the least. 100's of miles of relentless corrugations..

I seem to remember that their technical guru David Gries even lowers the suspension for a 'better ride'.

There are so many schools of thought. What I reckon one of the most important things, from my experiences of OZ and a trip overland to Mongolia is weight and weight distribution. Just don't take much and anything heavy get it away from the rear suspension. You don't want to be in the take off position. People overload 2CV's far too much. So any roll cage IMHO is completely unnecessary. Why take extra weight when you don't need it.

By the way my trip to Mongolia was in a completely standard 2CV with only a sump guard and fuel tank guard as mods, and take it from me I never want to see some of those road conditions again.

Hang on I'm off to Cameroon at the end of the year... damn it!


G'day Rupert.
Agree, a standard 2cv is no worries at all.
I've sent you a PM, did you get it? Can't get it to leave the out box. :roll:
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