| Kent
Billings is an unlikely guy to be developing products for the
Dirt Late Model world. A Connecticut pavement racer with a small
fabricating business that does contract work for entities such
as the New York Transit Authority ("If it's a weird job, it
usually finds me," he said.), Billings generally only sees
dirt racing once a year, when he treks south to Florida for
Speedweeks.
But through his friendship
with AFCO's Mark Bush, Billings has found himself more and more
involved with the world of mud-slinging. And due to Bush's
urgings, Billings has recently come up with the innovative KB
Rear Suspension Simulator, a device that allows the user to
attach a number value to the changes made on the rear suspension
of a race car. Billings' invention emulates the linkage of a
race car's rear suspension and shows the effect of changes made.
Want to know how much moving the upper link an inch on a
four-bar car effects other components? No problem, just remove
the locking pin, move the linkage and study the results.
"The
Rear Suspension Simulator provides quick analysis of your rear
suspension's link and shock positions, [as well as] actual
measurements of the effects of adjustments made to your car's
rear suspension," said Bush, who also teaches the
RaceRite Dirt Track Chassis School.
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"It
enables direct comparison between various suspension types and
provides a clear understanding of rear suspension layouts and
adjustments. It can be easily used, both in the shop and the
track. It's an ideal tool for both racers and chassis builders."
According to Billings,
Bush had been after him for a while to produce such an item.
"Mark kept on about something that would allow us to
look at everything [on the rear suspension],"
Billings said. "Eventually, I did the work and figured out
how to make it happen."
Billings only planned to
make one Simulator. "I was going to build one for [Bush}
personally to use as a teaching aid, as a kind of a gift,"
he said. "Along the way the way, Mark got more excited that
this might happen and talked to some guys and found out there
was interest in something like this.
"Now hopefully, we
can market the thing and it can help some people out."
Even
before the Rear Suspension Simulator has hit the market, the
chassis builders who have seen the prototype are excited.
Larry Shaw Race Cars and Mark Richard's Rocket Chassis company
are already lined up as distributors for the Simulator, which is
expected to be available in late February.
Bush for one, is pleased
with the final result. "I
think it [the Simulator does everything I originally hoped it
would do," he said. "It makes analysis work so much
easier. I used to have to draw things out and that takes time.
With this, you see the results immediately." |
"I think there's a
benefit to seeing where everything moves. That's not something
you can do on paper."
So maybe Billings isn't
such an unlikely candidate for Dirt Late Model innovation.
"I have a small fabricating business and I love racing,
been involved for 25 years," said the burly New Englander.
"I love the challenge of figuring out how to make things
that haven't been made."
And he's found plenty of
food for thought since he's been around Bush's schools and Late
Model cars. The past few years, Billings has been "going to
these seminars and talking to people and listening to their
problems. I'm always curious about what their big problems
are."
Billing's latest project,
which he hopes to complete this year, is a new birdcage design
featuring internal bearings and seals to keep dirt out and
prevent binding. These guys have been telling me that they clean
their birdcages to keep the dirt out," he said. "It
seemed to me that it would be better to start on the other end
and keep the dirt out in the first place."
Further development work
on Dirt Late Model pieces are currently on hold, pending the
success of the Rear Suspension Simulator. But with Billings'
natural curiosity, and the input of Late Model movers and
shakers such as Bush, Richards and Shaw, look for this
Connecticut Yankee to make more headlines in the Dirt Late Model
court.
Source:
Kent Billings, LLC
(860) 659-1104
www.suspensionsimulator.com
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