''Swing arm'' Steering mechanism for mountainboard..How? And would it work?

So there are two parts in the cross piece, the baseplate and the hanger equivalent. Does the bolt that attaches the two sit at an angle or perpendicular to the ground?

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We did say it was for off road boards but I do believe it requires bindings.

The thing is that with bindings I have no problem to turn as I can lean way more and not fall of like snowboard. But without bindings and with dampas for e.g. On trampa I loose turning or without dampas I lose stability…

My idea is to make a stable vehicle which I could use on streets without bindings and still control perfectly at low speed… I am riding everyday 12miles to work so… :smiley:

Okay, I think I get it now… when you’re finishing a turn the motion of the hanger piece helps “pull” the more extended swing arm back to a neutral position and “extend” the opposite one. The rods are there just to help stabilize it all. Did I get it right?

That’s how it looks to me. The rods are more like steering links on a car

So in other words, both your system and mine are solving the stabilization problem by using springs. Much simpler mechanically, but easy to mess up if the springs are too weak or strong.

I dont know about ur setup but only springs are bit bad as they can start oscillate at higher speeds…

I’m using torsion springs in my design, they’ll go around the arm’s axles and fit into the baseplate.

I am thinking about redesigning to remove the springs after the feedback I have gotten.

I understand but still from my experience the springs will not provide such dampening…

Are you totally redesigning this system but trying to keep the principles?

It kinda looks that way… I’ve been viewing the springs the way you’d look at bushings or dampas. You simply swap them out for firmer or softer ones, depending on what you want. I can see how with springs this could possibly be a problem, I’m not sure.

No, it doesn’t need binding to turn (contrary to most mtb)… The deck doesn’t need to be tigthened to prevent speed wobble like on most mountainboards

Yes, crosspiece = baseplate + “hanger equivalent” and bolt connecting both if ± perpendicular to the ground…there is a rubber part between baseplate and hanger that transmit the load from hanger to baseplate (and absorb vibrations/make suspension)… it also provide “return to zero” effect to bring the board back to position

You can experiment the double steering effect with a bicycle : steer the handlebar at a fixed angle and walk with the bike in vertical position to make a complete circle… then do the same with the bicycle leaned (same steering of handlebar) and you will see that the radius is smaller…

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Motorcycles turn correctly at low speed…it’s a bit more complicated as boards do not have handlebar but you can see on the video below the turning radius .Note that this generation of board had a long wheel base which is not good for maniability. Présent generation is shorter and can turn more tightly if needed

Carve at 45 deg

if someone can tell me how to post a video??

Shouldn’t there be some option to embed the video in your post? I don’t really know, I’ve never done it. Nice video bty! That is impressively tight turning! Are you planning to dust off the design and introduce it again? I think I see some ways to separate the trucks so you can mount them on any kind of deck.

Thanks for your kind words… Yes, I have a 2nd generation prototype (lighter,shorter, shorter, cheaper) under test since 5 years and looking for opportunity to marketproduce it (first flexboardz production basically ruined me badly)… As the purpose of Flexboardz is to built real boards, not mechanical copy, the board is a whole structure (swing arms and “deck” works together) and it cannot be separated in deck like skateboard.

Still interested to know how to post a video…

Why? Couldn’t the long pieces where the bushings attach be replaced with shorter ones that connect to the baseplate?

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/171780?hl=en

Not really. The cantilevered position of the swing arms creates a lot of bending stress on the baseplate/deck…BMW Streetcarver had such design : baseplates were massive and heavy to handle loads and it still needed special deck to resit to the bending stress.

The interest of the Flexboardz is to balance/cancel the heavy loads coming from the swing arms on both side…so it can still be light and flexible

The truck+deck design has been imposed by skateboard history but it really limits a lot potential board performances.