Can anyone out there tell me how to get rid of the bad bounce I have in my HD TLE ? A couple of people suggested more leaf spring metal another was to add shocks or a shock. The problem with this is I don't think Harley sells extra accessories or mechanical fixes for their sc so what's a new hacker to do...? Thanks for reading my tech ?
Try dropping the air pressure, forget what's on the tire as a max that's for the max load the tire will take, drop it a little and see how it feels in a left hand corner and check the wear pattern to see if it's rolling under because it's too soft.
I have heard of some going back to the older multiple leaf springs for the harley body insead of the later single leaf setup.
Have also seen more than one rig with shocks on the springs but don't thing I have any pictures. One guy had attached lever shocks which looked pretty cool.
How's this for Harley "older multiple leaf springs" with a friction shock?
Or were you referring to something a year or two newer? lol
Lonnie
all i did was teach myself to be smoother - end of problem
but there was a pic i saw someplace on this site of a regular small car shock mounted to calm down the front of the side car body so it would not rock with rough handling - but its been over a year.
to
I have the single leaf springs and really haven't noticed any bounce, loaded or unloaded.
I built a friction damper for my TLE. I'll get you a picture and post it shortly. It keeps the sidecar body nice and flat all of the time.
I tried a shock absorber but the friction damper is the way to go. You can also find them on eBay. Many Hot Rodders like them on the front of their roadsters instead of shock absorbers.
Hey there gnm109...Thanks for the reply, that would be great if you could show a pic. as mine does rock alot unloaded not as much when loaded but still there...again Thanks =)
Here you go. The unit was built from 1/8" and 1/4" steel stock. The moveable blade is 1/8" and is approximately 12" long and the large washers and bracket are 1/4". The washers are locked from moving by pins that permit adjustment with the center bolt. The front link mounts to an extra metal strip that is bolted to the front three tub bolts. Those are 5" centers. I used two shock absorber rubber washers to cushion the front of the damper blade. The small Heim joint is a standard auto throttle item.
The washers are three inch in diameter and were cut out on my lathe since I couldn't find any that large. The packings are two 3" X 3/16" Cordovan leather washers that provide the friction when the unit is assembled.
The unit is held to the front cross bar with two 1-1/4" U-bolts to keep it from turning.
When underway, this unit keeps the nose of the tub absolutely level and prevents rocking. Since it works by friction, it gives a 50-50% action, unlike the present-day gas/hydraulic shocks that are on the market nowadays. They are way too heavy on the down stroke and are not adjustable. Therefore, I adandoned the shock design since true 50-50% hydraulic shocks are no longer readily available from auto stores.
On my two earlier sidecar rigs (1982 Shovelhead and 1993 FLHS) I used a '69 Camaro 50-50% hydraulic shock and it worked nicely since the motion was equal in each direction. The friction damper is even better, though, since it's fully adjustable from light to very stiff.
Hope this helps. (smile)
Here are the pictures:
Wow, nicely done and great pics. My TLE has multiple leaf springs and a drum brake and it bounces abit but my passenger has yet to complain. Our old '67 metal bodied hack was far more comfortable, didn't bounce, and had virtually no wind turbulance behind the sidecar windshield. Plus you didn't have to stand on the seat with your muddy, wet, boots just to get in. God, but I love progress!!
The old hack also had a snubber strap under the body.It consisted of a heavy canvas strap and a coil spring which simply bolted on under the body.It was simple and worked. I'm sure some old guy out there has an old parts book and might be able to post a scan of that assembly. I've seen the springs on E-bay occasionaly but forking out over a hundred bucks for a spring kinda curbed my enthusiasm.
Once again, that friction damper looks great.
Don
Originally written by PUZ on 6/27/2009 10:28 AM
Wow, nicely done and great pics. My TLE has multiple leaf springs and a drum brake and it bounces abit but my passenger has yet to complain. Our old '67 metal bodied hack was far more comfortable, didn't bounce, and had virtually no wind turbulance behind the sidecar windshield. Plus you didn't have to stand on the seat with your muddy, wet, boots just to get in. God, but I love progress!!
The old hack also had a snubber strap under the body.It consisted of a heavy canvas strap and a coil spring which simply bolted on under the body.It was simple and worked. I'm sure some old guy out there has an old parts book and might be able to post a scan of that assembly. I've seen the springs on E-bay occasionaly but forking out over a hundred bucks for a spring kinda curbed my enthusiasm.
Once again, that friction damper looks great.
Don
Yeah, the old strap and spring units did work. That would be another approach. I took the easy way out. LOL.
Actually a few black rubber bungee chords strtegically positioned would probably work well. If they were mounted right I bet most folks would not even notice what they were. Get rid of the hooks on the ends of course.
What about using an aftermarket steering damper? Was thinking about trying one myself
Originally written by bluehdmc on 6/27/2009 5:32 PM
What about using an aftermarket steering damper? Was thinking about trying one myself
That could be done. The Harley steering dampers are the same as the VW steering damper for the early bug. They are available at Independent VW stores or on the web. They are a 50-50% action so that would be OK. It would be a matter of clamping it to the frame and to the tub. See what I did in the pictures.
