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S A U : N S W Heasmans Suspension Tech Night Wrap Up


GoldZilla
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Well, I certainly had a good night.

Massive thanks to Ricky (xntrq) for doing most of the work in setting this up on behalf of SAU-NSW, and an equally massive thanks to the crew at Heasman's Suspension for putting on the feed, drinks and tech night.

Everyone, feel free to post your experiences here, add photos, and whatever else you can think of that was relevant to the night and what you learnt.

Aaaaaaannddddd GO!!!

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Many Thanks Ricky for great organisation from our Exec table!

And what can I say about Heasman's!

What a superb Tech Night!

Thanks to Alan Heasman, Brad Heasman for setting this up as a great information night!

Plus the 3 talks given by Paul (Bilstein), Chris (Alignment) and Jonathon (Corner Weighting).

I was riveted to these talks but some of the cars there were definitely a 'distraction'!!!

And thanks to a great bunch of fellow SAU Members. Your behaviour as usual was exemplary...

The new Members deserve a hearty welcome too!

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Well I had a fantastic night at Heasman's.

It is extremely rare to get an "all access" entry into a workshop like this so had to take full advantage of it by asking at least 150 questions through the 3 areas. I kept the guys on there feet with all the questions but walked out with a huge amount of new knowledge and i'm sure the guys in my group would agree :)

Some topics that really caught my attention were:

- How cheap yet how effective and over looked corner balancing is for a circuit car. A minute change can create a huge difference.

- The wheelbase and track settings for even a regular road car alignment which I have never seen a regular alignment shop look at.

- The huge number of shims and settings available for shocks

- A basic shock being totally upgradable rather than needing replacing.

- The temperatures and cavitation of oil in shocks

I very rarely get wheel alignments (4yrs gap in my Ute) simply because finding a reliable workshop to do a proper wheel alignment is near impossible but after last night I have now found that new workshop (even if it is a 146km drive and $25 in tolls :P)

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It is extremely rare to get an "all access" entry into a workshop like this...

... :P)

Absolutely spot on Ben...

In '06 I was tossed out of a Sant A'gata Workshop by none other than Mr Winklemann whilst filming technicians on Lambos - lol > caught on film too > I should show it at the SAU Clubhouse one night

Many many thanks Colin for the photos :)

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Having visited Heasman's the previous week I was extra excited for the tech night and it absolutely did not fail my expectations. You can really tell every single guy there knows their stuff which is very reassuring.

Here's a few of my pictures.

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Thank you Heasmans for the suspension education. Even the more difficult questions were answered on the spot regarding roll centre and bump steer. My highlight was the wheel alignment presentation and camber and toe angles for more street/drag oriented cars explanation. I know from past experience that wheel alignment perfection is an art form of patience. No more sounds like... [Wax] quick and careless wheel alignments for me.

What was also interesting is that they do roll cages in house too.

Thank you to Terry for the lift home afterwards.

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Damn! Having worked next to a suspension shop when I was a second year apprentice, I learnt a fair bit. Suspension set up is an art form & I definitely didn't want to miss this!!! As Benm said about finding reliable workshops to do this sort of stuff (even a basic w/a), its hard to find a workshop that knows what they're doing, AND, its something you can't readily check. I'm with you Ben, its worth the distance for the best set up!

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