A new Parham suspension is born

[cgmg]

I currently have a one-off Parham suspension, with a modified main axle to keel bracket assembly. As you can see in the pictures, there is a Lovejoy coupling in between the keel mount brackets. There is a solid steel rod, covered by what is probably nylon 6, that is inserted into the main axle tube. This rod is attached to the Lovejoy couplers.

As the main axle droops after takeoff, the nylon 6 is going through the keel brackets at an angle. Over the years, this is wearing the nylon 6 out. With Rick Whittridge making new Parham assemblies, I decided to bite the bullet and replace my suspension with his kit.

It seemed that switching out the suspensions would be fairly easy, since I basically have the same setup. For the most part, so far, it has been pretty straightforward. More pictures to follow in the next post.

[cgmg]

Since I had a long list of things needing work on my RAF, I decided to move it to my garage. Couldn't find a rental hoist that would work for lifting the gyro, so built a temporary one. All the materials cost me about $125. Took two plus days to complete the hoist. Did a couple of test lifts, and made a few more mods before the real lift began.

As you can see, the old suspension is off. I'm fortunate that the upper mast bracket for the shock is already there, and the new shock fits in it. All the other parts except for those brackets will be painted black(even the few pieces that were originally gold). Didn't have to cut the shock tube, as it's very close to the same length as my old one. Had to order new main tubing, as the old one was not reusable. Was able to use the old tubing as a template for drilling holes in the new mains.

I originally put my battery in the cabin to help with ground handling, but never have liked it there. So, it's moved. Used a piece of nylon 6 for the base plate, and it's fastened down by two 3/8" bolts on the upper engine support cross rods.

Finished putting the last coat of paint on everything today, and will start the re-install tomorrow.

[StanFoster]

Mark- Way to go after it! Thanks for posting pictures. Stan

[Mike484]

I mounted my battery in the same place, seemed most logical and worked just fine. Most people move it down to the keel but I didn't like to have a plastic battery that cose to the hot muffler.

[cgmg]

Stan,

Thanks for the attaboy. Since I hate building/reworking as much as you love it, this was a herculean effort for me to even get going on. The good news is the new suspension is now on, and just need to touch up some scratches. The gyro is actually sitting on the ground as we speak, and nothing has broken so far!

Mike,

Yeah, I prefer this location for several reasons: First, being mounted where it is, there is less weight aft than if I mounted it on the keel. Second, with my custom exhaust, there just wasn't any way to get my battery on the keel, even if I laid it on it's side. And, getting the weight up higher was a bonus, too.

Pictures later, when I have more time.

[Mike484]

Mark,
Did you stay with the stock wheel base or did you widen it?

[cgmg]

Mike,

It was already the wider Parham wheelbase, and I kept it that way. Not a fan of the normal narrow RAF wheelbase.

[Mike484]

I installed the Parham suspension and opted to keep the stock wheel base, wish I would have opted for the wider whee base, may be changing that soon.

[cgmg]

OK, the gyro is now back on the ground, on it's new suspension. Still have lots of other things to complete before returning it to the hangar. But the two biggest projects on it are now complete!

The first picture shows how the original overall suspension has looked for about 4 years now. Bare aluminum main and drag link struts, black and white main axles, gold keel mount and strut joints. Red coils on the shocks, with gray tubing on the rest of the shock.

The next pictures show the new, much improved look. Everything listed above is now black!! I love the chrome shocks Rick uses. I did not paint the upper shock mounting brackets, but it looks good with the new shock, so I'm happy with that as is.

Kudos to Rick's fabrication: There were absolutely no flaws in any of the pieces in my kit from him. No burrs, no scratches, just highly polished aluminum, and clean steel tubing. Everything fit together well with his parts. Ended up using some different bolts, but Rick sends some longer upper strut bolts to accommodate moving the roll point for the trim and roll cables. Didn't need that, so used shorter bolts.

You'd best grab one of the remaining kits Rick has left, since he's not building any more!!!

[Rick Whittridge]

Looks Good Mark, Thanks for posting!

[BrianBeatty]

Hi Mark

Hey what make of radiator is that an how do you like it?

Brian

[cgmg]

Brian,

It's out of a Ford Escort. It handles the heat load well. and is light, but it's quite a bit wider than the stock radiator. So it's probably affecting my thrust output.