BT Tech Stiffening plate

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Presto @ Aug 23 2007, 06:48 PM) [snapback]501131[/snapback]</div>

The items I described to Brian were via UPS Express - weighed 5lbs, cost £11.99 - I have sent copies to him of the transaction and UPS Tracking.
If you would like a copy as well please let me know.

 

Hello again Kevin,

I never doubted what you said you paid for your UPS shipment from that company in Florida. It is very possible that they ship a tremendous amount of product to the UK and get greatly reduced shipping rates.

It would have been a lot easier for me to ship the BT Tech plate to you via UPS but the shipping charges were almost 3 times the amount as what USPS EMS was!! If you go to ups.com you can see what the published rate is for shipping anywhere. It is no secret what we pay for UPS shipping. Companies that ship a lot get a significant discount off of the published rate but sadly we are not one of them.





<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(forwardswing @ Aug 23 2007, 01:14 PM) [snapback]501063[/snapback]</div>

 

Since this is a post about a BT plate (most of the time anyways)....
I would like to say that since I have had the plate installed, about 3 weeks now,
I have noticed that whenever I drive over railroad tracks now, two different ones in my travels, my "slip indicator" light no longer comes on. It did before, but not anymore.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AOV @ Aug 25 2007, 03:28 PM) [snapback]502111[/snapback]</div>

OK, you BT advocates, explain how the stiffening plate yields this improvement. How does a chassis stiffener affect the grip of the front tires on the road? If there really is this effect, that would seem to run counter to the argument of the plate advocates who insist (in another thread) that the plate has absolutely no effect on the suspension.
I'm not trying to raise an argument; I'm honestly asking to be educated about the interrelationship between the plate and the front tires' connection with the road surface.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedRockPrius @ Aug 25 2007, 05:19 PM) [snapback]502121[/snapback]</div>

I suppose if the chassis is stiffened, it affects the whole chassis since its basically "square".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(apriusfan @ Aug 24 2007, 04:23 AM) [snapback]501133[/snapback]</div>

I'm guessing that the tax is on item value and shipping because that is the landed cost or the before tax price you would pay if you bought the item locally.
When you buy something in the local shops the tax is added to the total cost of the item not the cost less shipping. One problem governments are seeing is a real drop in revenue due to international trading of low value items.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(windstrings @ Aug 25 2007, 05:03 PM) [snapback]502130[/snapback]</div>

OK, I'll accept that. But, the stiffer a moving body is, the more a corner will tend to bounce up and lose contact with a bumpy road surface. The purpose of providing a sprung (and damped) suspension is to help keep the tires in contact with the road. Sorry, but I don't think your response explains how stiffening the chassis will improve the tires grip with the surface.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedRockPrius @ Aug 25 2007, 03:19 PM) [snapback]502121[/snapback]</div>

The search engine is your friend:

New Prius Handling components to be available soon!!

New Prius Handling Components to be available soon!!

(these are two separate threads)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedRockPrius @ Aug 25 2007, 09:47 PM) [snapback]502200[/snapback]</div>

I"m only guessing..... the prius has so much torque that early morning drives to work with the roads damp from the dew are a challenge to not spin on if taking off from a stoplight and immediately cornering... as when taking a right. Left turns tend to have a more gradual angle to the turn here in the states.

I makes sense to me that a stiffer chassis would make the tire that normally spins when taking a right "the right tire" would be less likely to come off the ground with the stiffer chassis.

There have been proclaimed engineers out here that have not been able to pin down how the plate really does what it does.

Sometimes knowing too much can actually get in your way because you only know enough to cloud your vision as "all" the facts have not been considered as they have not been perceived to put into the equation thats so vehemently trusted in.

Sometimes the simple common sense is best... and all else fails...we don't have to understand everything before we can benifit from it. If it works, it works, if it doesn't it doesn't.

The real problem here are folks who have cold feet to make the plunge and don't want to blow thier money on something that doesn't work..... well, if they can't have just a tiny bit of "faith" in the words of so many positive accounts, there will be much that they you miss out on in life than just the benifits of the plate.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedRockPrius @ Aug 25 2007, 07:47 PM) [snapback]502200[/snapback]</div>

I think it is exactly the opposite. If the chassis is stiffer, it won;t flex as much, which would keep tighter pressure on the suspension springs etc., in turn these would probably push down on the wheels more firmly. Chassis flex=less pressure on the springs=not-as-tight connection between the tire and the road.

 

Shock absorbers control the bounce and movement of the springs and by stopping the springs from bouncing help keep the wheels on the ground.
The chassis has no shock absorber to prevent it from bouncing if it twists. Also if the chassis flexes the contact of the tyres with the road surface may be compromised due to the angle of the tyre not being controled by the suspension geometry as it should.
This is why race cars have roll cages attached to the chassis in a way which also increases chassis rigidity. It is also why boy racers put strut braces on their cars.

 

oops, double post.

 

a double post was pushing it too much so why did I go a third? I have no idea but it wouldn't post.

 

Before I installed the BT-plate, I allways had the impression that the chassis of the Prius resonates. After installing the plate this has been largely reduced and I belive contact with the road could have been improved because of this.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Aug 26 2007, 03:06 AM) [snapback]502290[/snapback]</div>

Impatient waiting for the PC server to respond to your first post?


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sho-Bud @ Aug 26 2007, 04:48 AM) [snapback]502301[/snapback]</div>

Out of curiosity, how did the resonance present itself? Buzzing? Or????

 

I think I mentioned this another thread about this.. .but I noticed on a highlander commercial the other day said in their wording "suspension made for comfort"..... I interpreted that as "mushy" or soft.

There's no need for a tight frame for suspension in these cases.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(windstrings @ Aug 26 2007, 03:12 PM) [snapback]502475[/snapback]</div>

Are you replying to my post about how resonance presented itself?

While I don't disagree with your assessment of suspension made for comfort equating to mushy or soft, it is possible to make a suspension that is comfortable and tuned for performance.... GM has something called the Magnetic Selective Ride Control (F55 option code) for the Corvette (and I think also for the Cadillac XRT). The F55 suspension uses a special damper that has magnetic particles in it to provide a ride that rivals a Lexus on the Touring selection while the Sport selection will provide a ride that will rattle any loose fillings out of your teeth (and your kidneys will feel as if someone has punched them after a long ride on Sport setting).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(apriusfan @ Aug 26 2007, 05:56 PM) [snapback]502493[/snapback]</div>

No I wasn't getting that technical... I was simply responding to the basics of frame strength and flexibility realizing that "everything" uses that as its foundation.... if it moves, so does everything else with less precision and predictability.

Small bumps verses big bumps will be harder to control as the frame flex becomes part of the suspension and so varying amounts of kinetic energy will go to different places "other" than the shocks and those devices mean't to absorb it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(windstrings @ Aug 26 2007, 06:55 PM) [snapback]502558[/snapback]</div>

Especially if at the same time, the car is being driven over railroad tracks. One of my favorite tests for chassis stiffness (or the lack thereof) is to drive a car over a set of railroad tracks that on one end of the roadway, are raised about 1/2" above the surface of the roadway and on the other end are raised about 1" above the surface of the roadway. You wouldn't think it mattered, but that ~1/2" offset difference exposes chassis weakness better than any other driving condition I have found. Driving convertibles over that section shuts up the salesman's talk about how stiff the car's chassis is....

 

I bet your right.... railroad tracks can be seriously stiff and unforgiving and instant on/off as they are so abrupt in their rise and fall.