Houser Tric Trac Suspension

[xsr_racing28c]

Check this out.. New from Houser...

Don't know if anyone has seen this yet.

~Jay

http://www.houser-racing.com/www.houser-racing.com/trictrac.htm

[400exrider707]

That is sick!!! Why cant I ever think of these ideas!!!:mad:

[NacsMXer]

Nooo wayy...that's awesome. Reminds me of a worm gear setup, but I wonder how it actually works.

[Honda#4]

Looks like a winning setup, I bet it ain't cheap.

[quader400]

id like to get some more info on these if anyone has any. wondering if i could just buy the top arms or maybe modify my housers i have now and but like the the bearings?

[dober250R]

It's just a ball screw.... there are tiny balls that ride in the little track

[mad440]

wonder if there is any kind of stop or something, also wondering how fast it adjust because it seems like the a-arm mount is going to take a beating with the a-arm slamming back and forth inside there everytime you brake and accelerate, i know theres a bolt holding it together but still. have to give it props though its a wicked idea.

[TBD]

Here is my opinion on this set up and of course sinsce I haven't used it this is only my educated opinion.

The easiest way to explain what I see wrong is by giving you some situations that could happen. Ok lets say your hauling but down a straight and you hit a pretty good sized G-out. So you are at speed you go into the G-out and the suspension compresses in the front and the arm moves to give it less caster and then the steering gets very sensitive because it now has less caster. What about whoop sections. Each whoop you hit will be changing the caster from a lot too very little. How about flat landing a 85 foot gap and the suspension bottoming and all of a sudden you have a frontend that becomes twitchy because of too little caster when what you really need at that moment is more caster not less. The other thing is that when your caster is moving so are your tie rod locations meaning that your toe settings are changing the whole time your caster is changing (Bumpsteer). I've always been impressed with Housers ideas until now. This one is not something I would run

[400exrider707]

Originally posted by TBD
Here is my opinion on this set up and of course sinsce I haven't used it this is only my educated opinion.

The easiest way to explain what I see wrong is by giving you some situations that could happen. Ok lets say your hauling but down a straight and you hit a pretty good sized G-out. So you are at speed you go into the G-out and the suspension compresses in the front and the arm moves to give it less caster and then the steering gets very sensitive because it now has less caster. What about whoop sections. Each whoop you hit will be changing the caster from a lot too very little. How about flat landing a 85 foot gap and the suspension bottoming and all of a sudden you have a frontend that becomes twitchy because of too little caster when what you really need at that moment is more caster not less. The other thing is that when your caster is moving so are your tie rod locations meaning that your toe settings are changing the whole time your caster is changing (Bumpsteer). I've always been impressed with Housers ideas until now. This one is not something I would run





Yes I thought about this afterwards myself, your suspension isn't only moving when your on the brakes and the gas, in fact thats probably the least of your worries. Coming down on the landing of a monster jump is not exactly when you want your steering to become very twitchy. The idea and the concept of these arms are awesome, but it doesn't seem well thought out.

Another thing, no one really said that these arms were designed for everyone in mind. They would probably work really well on something like flattrack or TT, or even ice racing. Maybe not so much MX.

[Pappy]

I posted this in another thread on these new arms....

basically it had to do wiith dirt and debris getting in the actuating assembly and its effects on how they work. I am sure the tolerances are close, but even if it did not effect its movement, I have to think it(the dirt and debris) would wear the bushing parts fast:confused:

houser builds some nice stiff no doubt, but not sure on something like this outside of FT or TT. i didnt see anywhere on housers site where it stated what segment of the market these were aimed at.

[TBD]

Originally posted by 400exrider707
Yes I thought about this afterwards myself, your suspension isn't only moving when your on the brakes and the gas, in fact thats probably the least of your worries. Coming down on the landing of a monster jump is not exactly when you want your steering to become very twitchy. The idea and the concept of these arms are awesome, but it doesn't seem well thought out.

Another thing, no one really said that these arms were designed for everyone in mind. They would probably work really well on something like flattrack or TT, or even ice racing. Maybe not so much MX.

I was thinking the same thing. They would probably work really well for TT and flat track.

[400exrider707]

Originally posted by Pappy
I posted this in another thread on these new arms....

basically it had to do wiith dirt and debris getting in the actuating assembly and its effects on how they work. I am sure the tolerances are close, but even if it did not effect its movement, I have to think it(the dirt and debris) would wear the bushing parts fast:confused:

houser builds some nice stiff no doubt, but not sure on something like this outside of FT or TT. i didnt see anywhere on housers site where it stated what segment of the market these were aimed at.

I had thought about the dirt part of it too last night... they really need some sort of a rubber boot to go over it like a ball joint. I also though about the grease fitting. Look at it on the arms... then look at the arms mounted... you need to take the fitting completely off to even mount them, so now there is an open hole with grease in it.... hello dirt!

[erin h]

Hello! to everyone who has been viewing our latest Tri Trac A-arm system. My name is Erin Houser. I will be happy to help out on questions on our new system. I did read through some of the current comments posted. Here are some answers to questions I saw.
You will be able to purchase just the upper A-arms if you already have the Long Travel Slicast System.

The Slicast system is still included in the A-arms for fine tuning.

This set-up has been tested by Pro Riders during the R&D phases and worked well for TT as well as MX.

The threading or spline that the upper a-arm is on is a worm gear aka helical spline or shaft.

The Grease Zirk will have to be taken out and a set screw put in place.

Their will be something available to cover the spline to out keep out dirt and debris.


It is Patent Pending upon release therefore you will not be able to purchase through any other company.

[400exrider707]

Will they be available in a variety of lengths? I.E. cross country setups as well as MX setups?

[erin h]

Yes! We will have these available for XC set-ups.

[400exrider707]

Originally posted by erin h


The threading or spline that the upper a-arm is on is a worm gear aka helical spline or shaft.

.



What material is this made out of?

[erin h]

These are made out of Steel.

[400exrider707]

Originally posted by erin h
These are made out of Steel.

Just made out of mild steel? Chromoly? Stainless? just wondering, and the insert in the arm that rides on that piece what is that made of? Thanks for answering so far!:D

[thebee708]

I did the testings for the Tric Trac A-arms.

Just to answer a few of the question that i saw.

I'm not sure of the exact degree of movement that is on the finished product, but I tested at about 4 to 4.5 degrees of movement through the stroke. At ride height I started at 6 degrees. This put the caster at full bump around 4 or a little less degrees and at full extension about 8 degrees. There is no ill effects when landing or through whoops. Some people run 4 degrees on standard a-arms.

I only found posititive results when using them. The bike tracked better and cornered better.

I put around 10 tanks of gas through the bike with one set of arms and saw virtually no wear on the assembly.

I think it is one of the best innovations I have seen for a-arms.

[thebee708]

The bump steer was not an issue either. I didn't measure it, but it didn't seem to be any different than the other ones.

[bsmith106]

Polaris is doing this with there new IQ sleds. There geometry is laying the spindle upright backwards, increasing caster as the suspension is compressed. Just like what was stated in an earlier post, the theory here is to make the vehicle more stable on big jump landings and through the rough. I have not ridden one of these machines but the general review is very positive. Varying caster as the suspension cycles is nothing new as they have been doing this in desert race trucks and buggies for years. Housers design seems to do the opposite. Not trying to say that one is right and the other is wrong, because everything involved with chassis design is a tradeoff. I have not seen a design like this yet and it will be interesting to see how it works out. jmo

[WB450r]

dam those a arms look sick.......i bet they r expensive as anything.....cant wait till they come out

[Dave400ex]

They are $1,150 for the XC version. I'm interested to see how they work in the XC races.

[Scro]

What about when the a-arms are at different positions in the suspension stroke? When you are going around a turn, the outside shock is compressed more than the inside. On these arms, that would result in a different caster setting for each side. Wouldn't this effect the steering somehow?

[coryatver]

Awesome I love houser stuff it is like art.

[trxridr]

how much are they going to cost??????????????????????????????

[reconmaster]

very innovative i always find housers a step ahead when it comes to making everything easier for the rider. like harold mentioned in his post he didn't find anything wrong with them i know hes a sponsored rider but hes constantly doing testing on these aarms such as all there pro riders and getting houser to fix everything before they hit the market. i honestly belive these will be the best bang for your buck. I can't wait to see a site or a magazine test and evaluation of these aarms

[400exrider707]

Ok after thinking about this for a few days I have some questions.

1) How exactly does the splined part mount to the frame? What keeps it from spinning on the bolt?

2)

[400exrider707]

Ok after thinking about this for a few days I have some questions.

1) How exactly does the splined part mount to the frame? What keeps it from spinning on the bolt?

2) How do you align it to the frame. What prevents you from mounting one side at a different setting than the other. It needs to be in an exact place on each side in order for it to be the same, otherwise you'll be running two different castors at all times on each side.

[ohioEX]

There is a special "key" that holds it in the frame from spinning.

Also the part in the a-arm can rotate to make up for the difference between the a-arms, so caster will be same for each.

Thats just real quick info.

[400exrider707]

There is a special "key" that holds it in the frame from spinning.


ok thanks...


Also the part in the a-arm can rotate to make up for the difference between the a-arms, so caster will be same for each.

What do you mean by this?

[ohioEX]

The insert in the A-arm can rotate to adjust for differences in the installation.

[parkers30]

Check this out should answer most of your questions:

http://www.houser-racing.com/www.houser-racing.com/trictracinstall.htm