Suspension (vehicle)

This article is about motor vehicle components. For

information about temporary loss of vehicle driving
privileges, see Suspension (license). For other uses, see
Suspension (disambiguation).

This article is primarily about four-wheeled

(or more) vehicle suspension. For information
on two-wheeled vehicles’ suspensions see the
motorcycle suspension, motorcycle fork, bicycle
suspension, and bicycle fork articles.

Part of car front suspension and steering mechanism: tie rod,

steering arm, king pin axis (using ball joints).

The front suspension components of a Ford Model T.

Van Diemen RF01 Racing Car Suspension.

wheels and allows relative motion between the two.[1]

Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contribut-
ing to the vehicle’s roadholding/handling and braking for
good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehi-
cle occupants comfortable and a ride quality reasonably
well isolated from road noise, bumps, vibrations,etc.[2]
The rear suspension on a truck: a leaf spring. These goals are generally at odds, so the tuning of sus-
pensions involves finding the right compromise. It is im-
Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, springs, shock portant for the suspension to keep the road wheel in con-
absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its tact with the road surface as much as possible, because

1
2 1 HISTORY

all the road or ground forces acting on the vehicle do so
through the contact patches of the tires. The suspension
also protects the vehicle itself and any cargo or luggage
from damage and wear. The design of front and rear sus-
pension of a car may be different.
1 History
Strap suspension 1605
each side and the body of the carriage was fixed directly
to the springs attached to the axles. Within a decade,
most British horse carriages were equipped with springs;
wooden springs in the case of light one-horse vehicles to
avoid taxation, and steel springs in larger vehicles. These
were often made of low-carbon steel and usually took the
form of multiple layer leaf springs.[3]
Leaf springs have been around since the early Egyptians.
Ancient military engineers used leaf springs in the form
of bows to power their siege engines, with little success at
first. The use of leaf springs in catapults was later refined
and made to work years later. Springs were not only made
of metal, a sturdy tree branch could be used as a spring,
such as with a bow. Horse-drawn carriages and the Ford
Model T used this system, and it is still used today in
larger vehicles, especially in the rear suspension.[4]
This was the first modern suspension system and, along
with advances in the construction of roads, heralded the
single greatest improvement in road transport until the ad-
vent of the automobile.[5] The British steel springs were
not well suited for use on America’s rough roads of the
time, so the Abbot Downing Company of Concord, New
Hampshire re-introduced leather strap suspension, which
gave a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down
of a spring suspension.

Strap suspension 2008

note the transverse limiting straps Henri Fournier on his uniquely damped and racewinning 'Mors
Machine', photo taken 1902
An early form of suspension on ox-drawn carts had the
platform swing on iron chains attached to the wheeled In 1901 Mors of Paris first fitted an automobile with
frame of the carriage. This system remained the basis shock absorbers. With the advantage of a damped sus-
for all suspension systems until the turn of the 19th cen- pension system on his 'Mors Machine', Henri Fournier
won the prestigious Paris-to-Berlin race on 20 June 1901.
tury, although the iron chains were replaced with the use
of leather straps by the 17th century. No modern auto- Fournier’s superior time was 11 hrs 46 min 10 sec, while
the best competitor was Léonce Girardot in a Panhard
mobiles use the 'strap suspension' system.
with a time of 12 hrs 15 min 40 sec.[6]
Automobiles were initially developed as self-propelled
versions of horse-drawn vehicles. However, horse-drawn Coil springs first appeared on a production vehicle in
vehicles had been designed for relatively slow speeds, and 1906 in the Brush Runabout made by the Brush Motor
their suspension was not well suited to the higher speeds Company. Today, coil springs are used in most cars.
permitted by the internal combustion engine. In 1920, Leyland Motors used torsion bars in a suspension
The first workable spring-suspension required advanced system.
metallurgical knowledge and skill, and only became pos- In 1922, independent front suspension was pioneered
sible with the advent of industrialisation. Obadiah Elliott on the Lancia Lambda and became more common in
registered the first patent for a spring-suspension vehi- mass market cars from 1932.[7] Today most cars have
cle; - each wheel had two durable steel leaf springs on independent suspension on all four wheels.

In 2002, a new passive suspension component was in-
vented by Malcolm C. Smith, the inerter. This has the
ability to increase the effective inertia of a wheel suspen-
sion using a geared flywheel, but without adding signifi-
cant mass. It was initially employed in Formula 1 in se-
crecy but has since spread to other motorsport.
2 Difference between rear suspen-
sion and front suspension
Obviously any four wheel vehicle needs suspension for
both the front wheels and the rear suspension, but in
two wheel drive vehicles these can be very different con-
figuration. For front-wheel drive cars, rear suspension
has few constraints and a variety of beam axles and
independent suspensions are used. For rear-wheel drive
cars, rear suspension has many constraints and the devel-
opment of the superior but more expensive independent
suspension layout has been difficult. Four-wheel drive
often have suspensions that are similar for both the front
and rear wheels.
2.1 History
Henry Ford's Model T used a torque tube to restrain this
force, for his differential was attached to the chassis by a
lateral leaf spring and two narrow rods. The torque tube
surrounded the true driveshaft and exerted the force to its
ball joint at the extreme rear of the transmission, which
was attached to the engine. A similar method was used
by the late-1930s Buick and by Hudson's bathtub car of
1948, which used helical springs which could not take
fore-and-aft thrust.
The Hotchkiss drive, invented by Albert Hotchkiss, was
the most popular rear suspension system used in Ameri-
can cars from the 1930s to the 1970s. The system uses
longitudinal leaf springs attached both forward and be-
hind the differential of the live axle. These springs trans-
mit the torque to the frame. Although scorned by many
European car makers of the time, it was accepted by
American car makers because it was inexpensive to man-
ufacture. Also, the dynamic defects of this design were
suppressed by the enormous weight of US passenger ve-
hicles before implementation the Corporate Average Fuel
Economy standard.
Another Frenchman invented the De Dion tube, which is
sometimes called “semi-independent”. Like a true inde-
pendent rear suspension, this employs two universal joints
or their equivalent from the center of the differential to
each wheel. But the wheels cannot entirely rise and fall
independently of each other; they are tied by a yoke that
goes around the differential, below and behind it. This
method has had little use in the United States, though
it does not evidence the bump steer that a more expen-
sive, true independent suspension does. Its use around
3
1900 was probably due to the poor quality of tires, which
wore out quickly. By removing a good deal of unsprung
weight, as independent rear suspensions do, it made them
last longer.
Rear wheel drive vehicles today frequently use a fairly
complex fully independent, multi-link suspension to lo-
cate the rear wheels securely while providing decent ride
quality.
3 Spring, wheel, and roll rates
Citroën BX Hydropneumatic suspension - maximum to minimum
demonstration
3.1 Spring rate
Further information: Spring rate
The spring rate (or suspension rate) is a component in set-
ting the vehicle’s ride height or its location in the suspen-
sion stroke. When a spring is compressed or stretched,
the force it exerts is proportional to its change in length.
The spring rate or spring constant of a spring is the change
in the force it exerts, divided by the change in deflection
of the spring. Vehicles which carry heavy loads will of-
ten have heavier springs to compensate for the additional
weight that would otherwise collapse a vehicle to the bot-
tom of its travel (stroke). Heavier springs are also used
in performance applications where the loading conditions
experienced are more extreme.
Springs that are too hard or too soft cause the suspension
to become ineffective because they fail to properly isolate
the vehicle from the road. Vehicles that commonly expe-
rience suspension loads heavier than normal have heavy
or hard springs with a spring rate close to the upper limit
for that vehicle’s weight. This allows the vehicle to per-
form properly under a heavy load when control is lim-
ited by the inertia of the load. Riding in an empty truck
used for carrying loads can be uncomfortable for passen-
gers because of its high spring rate relative to the weight
4 3 SPRING, WHEEL, AND ROLL RATES

of the vehicle. A race car would also be described as N is the number of wraps and D is the diameter of the
having heavy springs and would also be uncomfortably coil.
bumpy. However, even though we say they both have
heavy springs, the actual spring rates for a 2,000 lb (910
kg) race car and a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) truck are very dif- 3.2 Wheel rate
ferent. A luxury car, taxi, or passenger bus would be de-
scribed as having soft springs. Vehicles with worn out or Wheel rate is the effective spring rate when measured at
damaged springs ride lower to the ground which reduces the wheel. This is as opposed to simply measuring the
the overall amount of compression available to the sus- spring rate alone.
pension and increases the amount of body lean. Perfor-
Wheel rate is usually equal to or considerably less than
mance vehicles can sometimes have spring rate require-
the spring rate. Commonly, springs are mounted on con-
ments other than vehicle weight and load.
trol arms, swing arms or some other pivoting suspension
member. Consider the example above where the spring
3.1.1 Mathematics of the spring rate rate was calculated to be 500 lbs/inch (87.5 N/mm), if
you were to move the wheel 1 in (2.5 cm) (without mov-
Spring rate is a ratio used to measure how resistant a ing the car), the spring more than likely compresses a
spring is to being compressed or expanded during the smaller amount. Let’s assume the spring moved 0.75
spring’s deflection. The magnitude of the spring force in- in (19 mm), the lever arm ratio would be 0.75:1. The
creases as deflection increases according to Hooke’s Law. wheel rate is calculated by taking the square of the ra-
Briefly, this can be stated as tio (0.5625) times the spring rate, thus obtaining 281.25
lbs/inch (49.25 N/mm). Squaring the ratio is because the
ratio has two effects on the wheel rate. The ratio applies
F = −kx to both the force and distance traveled.
Wheel rate on independent suspension is fairly straight-
where
forward. However, special consideration must be taken
with some non-independent suspension designs. Take the
F is the force the spring exerts case of the straight axle. When viewed from the front or
k is the spring rate of the spring. rear, the wheel rate can be measured by the means above.
x is the deflection of the spring from its equi- Yet because the wheels are not independent, when viewed
librium position (i.e., when no force is applied from the side under acceleration or braking the pivot point
on the spring) is at infinity (because both wheels have moved) and the
spring is directly inline with the wheel contact patch. The
Spring rate is confined to a narrow interval by the weight result is often that the effective wheel rate under corner-
of the vehicle, load the vehicle will carry, and to a lesser ing is different from what it is under acceleration and
extent by suspension geometry and performance desires. braking. This variation in wheel rate may be minimized
by locating the spring as close to the wheel as possible.
Spring rates typically have units of N/mm (or lbf/in). An
example of a linear spring rate is 500 lbf/in. For every Wheel rates are usually summed and compared with the
inch the spring is compressed, it exerts 500 lbf. A non- sprung mass of a vehicle to create a “ride rate” and cor-
linear spring rate is one for which the relation between responding suspension natural frequency in ride (also re-
the spring’s compression and the force exerted cannot be ferred to as “heave”). This can be useful in creating a met-
fitted adequately to a linear model. For example, the first ric for suspension stiffness and travel requirements for a
inch exerts 500 lbf force, the second inch exerts an ad- vehicle.
ditional 550 lbf (for a total of 1050 lbf), the third inch
exerts another 600 lbf (for a total of 1650 lbf). In con-
trast a 500 lbf/in linear spring compressed to 3 inches will 3.3 Roll rate
only exert 1500 lbf.
Roll rate is analogous to a vehicle’s ride rate, but for ac-
The spring rate of a coil spring may be calculated by tions that include lateral accelerations, causing a vehicle’s
a simple algebraic equation or it may be measured in a sprung mass to roll about its roll axis. It is expressed as
spring testing machine. The spring constant k can be cal- torque per degree of roll of the vehicle sprung mass. It is
culated as follows: influenced by factors including but not limited to vehicle
sprung mass, track width, CG height, spring and damper
rates, roll center heights of front and rear, anti-roll bar
d4 G
k= stiffness and tire pressure/construction. The roll rate of a
8N D3 vehicle can, and usually does, differ front to rear, which
where d is the wire diameter, G is the spring’s shear mod- allows for the tuning ability of a vehicle for transient and
ulus (e.g., about 12,000,000 lbf/in² or 80 GPa for steel), steady state handling. The roll rate of a vehicle does not
4.2 Sprung weight transfer 5

change the total amount of weight transfer on the vehicle, divided by the front track width. The same is true for the
but shifts the speed at which and percentage of weight rear.
transferred on a particular axle to another axle through
the vehicle chassis. Generally, the higher the roll rate on
an axle of a vehicle, the faster and higher percentage the 4.2 Sprung weight transfer
weight transfer on that axle.
Sprung weight transfer is the weight transferred by only
the weight of the vehicle resting on the springs, not the
3.4 Roll couple percentage total vehicle weight. Calculating this requires knowing
the vehicle’s sprung weight (total weight less the unsprung
weight), the front and rear roll center heights and the
Roll couple percentage is a simplified method of describ-
sprung center of gravity height (used to calculate the
ing lateral load transfer distribution front to rear, and sub-
roll moment arm length). Calculating the front and rear
sequently handling balance. It is the effective wheel rate,
sprung weight transfer will also require knowing the roll
in roll, of each axle of the vehicle as a ratio of the vehi-
couple percentage.
cle’s total roll rate. It is commonly adjusted through the
use of anti-roll bars, but can also be changed through the The roll axis is the line through the front and rear roll cen-
use of different springs. ters that the vehicle rolls around during cornering. The
distance from this axis to the sprung center of gravity
height is the roll moment arm length. The total sprung
weight transfer is equal to the G-force times the sprung
4 Weight transfer weight times the roll moment arm length divided by the
effective track width. The front sprung weight transfer is
Main article: Weight transfer calculated by multiplying the roll couple percentage times
the total sprung weight transfer. The rear is the total mi-
Weight transfer during cornering, acceleration or braking nus the front transfer.
is usually calculated per individual wheel and compared
with the static weights for the same wheels.
4.3 Jacking forces
The total amount of weight transfer is only affected by
four factors: the distance between wheel centers (wheel- Jacking forces are the sum of the vertical force compo-
base in the case of braking, or track width in the case of nents experienced by the suspension links. The resultant
cornering) the height of the center of gravity, the mass of force acts to lift the sprung mass if the roll center is above
the vehicle, and the amount of acceleration experienced. ground, or compress it if underground. Generally, the
higher the roll center, the more jacking force is experi-
The speed at which weight transfer occurs as well as
enced.
through which components it transfers is complex and is
determined by many factors including but not limited to
roll center height, spring and damper rates, anti-roll bar
stiffness and the kinematic design of the suspension links. 5 Other properties
In most conventional applications, when weight is trans-
ferred through intentionally compliant elements such as 5.1 Travel
springs, dampers and anti-roll bars, the weight transfer is
said to be “elastic”, while the weight which is transferred Travel is the measure of distance from the bottom of
through more rigid suspension links such as A-arms and the suspension stroke (such as when the vehicle is on a
toe links is said to be “geometric”. jack and the wheel hangs freely) to the top of the sus-
pension stroke (such as when the vehicle’s wheel can no
longer travel in an upward direction toward the vehicle).
4.1 Unsprung weight transfer Bottoming or lifting a wheel can cause serious control
problems or directly cause damage. “Bottoming” can be
Unsprung weight transfer is calculated based on the caused by the suspension, tires, fenders, etc. running out
weight of the vehicle’s components that are not supported of space to move or the body or other components of
by the springs. This includes tires, wheels, brakes, spin- the car hitting the road. The control problems caused by
dles, half the control arm’s weight and other components. lifting a wheel are less severe if the wheel lifts when the
These components are then (for calculation purposes) as- spring reaches its unloaded shape than they are if travel is
sumed to be connected to a vehicle with zero sprung limited by contact of suspension members (See Triumph
weight. They are then put through the same dynamic TR3B.) Many off-road vehicles, such as desert racers,
loads. The weight transfer for cornering in the front would use straps called “limiting straps” to limit the suspensions
be equal to the total unsprung front weight times the G- downward travel to a point within safe limits for the link-
Force times the front unsprung center of gravity height ages and shock absorbers. This is necessary, since these
6 6
trucks are intended to travel over very rough terrain at
high speeds, and even become airborne at times. With-
out something to limit the travel, the suspension bushings
would take all the force when the suspension reaches “full
droop”, and it can even cause the coil springs to come
out of their “buckets” if they are held in by compression
forces only. A limiting strap is a simple strap, often ny-
lon of a predetermined length, that stops the downward
movement at a preset point before the theoretical maxi-
mum travel is reached. The opposite of this is the “bump-
stop”, which protects the suspension and vehicle (as well
as the occupants) from violent “bottoming” of the sus-
pension, caused when an obstruction (or hard landing)
causes the suspension to run out of upward travel without
fully absorbing the energy of the stroke. Without bump-
stops, a vehicle that “bottoms out” will experience a very
hard shock when the suspension contacts the bottom of
the frame or body, which is transferred to the occupants
and every connector and weld on the vehicle. Factory
vehicles often come with plain rubber “nubs” to absorb
the worst of the forces, and insulate the shock. A desert
race vehicle, which must routinely absorb far higher im-
pact forces, may be provided with pneumatic or hydro-
pneumatic bump-stops. These are essentially miniature
shock absorbers (dampeners) that are fixed to the vehi-
cle in a location such that the suspension will contact the
end of the piston when it nears the upward travel limit.
These absorb the impact far more effectively than a solid
rubber bump-stop will, essential because a rubber bump-
stop is considered a “last-ditch” emergency insulator for
the occasional accidental bottoming of the suspension; it
is entirely insufficient to absorb repeated and heavy bot-
tomings such as a high-speed off road vehicle encounters.
5.2 Damping
Damping is the control of motion or oscillation, as seen
with the use of hydraulic gates and valves in a vehicle’s
shock absorber. This may also vary, intentionally or un-
intentionally. Like spring rate, the optimal damping for
comfort may be less than for control.
Damping controls the travel speed and resistance of the
vehicle’s suspension. An undamped car will oscillate up
and down. With proper damping levels, the car will set-
tle back to a normal state in a minimal amount of time.
Most damping in modern vehicles can be controlled by
increasing or decreasing the resistance to fluid flow in the In this respect the instant centers are more important to
shock absorber.
5.3 Camber control
See dependent and independent below.
Camber changes due to wheel travel, body roll and sus-
pension system deflection or compliance. In general, a
tire wears and brakes best at −1 to −2° of camber from
vertical. Depending on the tire and the road surface, it
VARIATIONS IN SUSPENSION DESIGN
may hold the road best at a slightly different angle. Small
changes in camber, front and rear, can be used to tune
handling. Some race cars are tuned with −2 to −7° cam-
ber depending on the type of handling desired and the
tire construction. Often, too much camber will result in
the decrease of braking performance due to a reduced
contact patch size through excessive camber variation in
the suspension geometry. The amount of camber change
in bump is determined by the instantaneous front view
swing arm (FVSA) length of the suspension geometry, or
in other words, the tendency of the tire to camber inward
when compressed in bump.
5.4 Roll center height
Roll center height is a product of suspension instant center
heights and is a useful metric in analyzing weight transfer
effects, body roll and front to rear roll stiffness distribu-
tion. Conventionally, roll stiffness distribution is tuned
adjusting antiroll bars rather than roll center height (as
both tend to have a similar effect on the sprung mass),
but the height of the roll center is significant when con-
sidering the amount of jacking forces experienced.
5.5 Instant center
Due to the fact that the wheel and tire’s motion is con-
strained by the suspension links on the vehicle, the mo-
tion of the wheel package in the front view will scribe
an imaginary arc in space with an “instantaneous center”
of rotation at any given point along its path. The instant
center for any wheel package can be found by follow-
ing imaginary lines drawn through the suspension links
to their intersection point.
A component of the tire’s force vector points from the
contact patch of the tire through instant center. The larger
this component is, the less suspension motion will occur.
Theoretically, if the resultant of the vertical load on the
tire and the lateral force generated by it points directly
into the instant center, the suspension links will not move.
In this case, all weight transfer at that end of the vehicle
will be geometric in nature. This is key information used
in finding the force-based roll center as well.
the handling of the vehicle than the kinematic roll cen-
ter alone, in that the ratio of geometric to elastic weight
transfer is determined by the forces at the tires and their
directions in relation to the position of their respective
instant centers.
6 Variations in suspension design
6.3 Load levelling 7

6.1 Anti-dive and anti-squat vibrations involving the flexing of structural parts, such
as when accelerating while turning sharply. Flexibility of
Anti-dive and anti-squat are percentages that indicate the structures such as frames and suspension links can also
degree to which the front dives under braking and the contribute to springing, especially to damping out high
rear squats under acceleration. They can be thought of frequency vibrations. The flexibility of wire wheels con-
as the counterparts for braking and acceleration, as jack- tributed to their popularity in times when cars had less
ing forces are to cornering. The main reason for the dif- advanced suspensions.
ference is due to the different design goals between front
and rear suspension, whereas suspension is usually sym-
metrical between the left and right of the vehicle. 6.3 Load levelling
The method of determining the anti-dive or anti-squat Automobiles can be heavily laden with luggage, passen-
depends on whether the suspension linkages react to the gers, and trailers. This loading will cause a vehicle’s tail
torque of braking and accelerating. For example, with to sink downwards. Maintaining a steady chassis level
inboard brakes and half-shaft driven rear wheels, the sus- is essential to achieving the proper handling the vehicle
pension linkages do not, but with outboard brakes and a was designed for. Oncoming drivers can be blinded by
swing-axle driveline, they do. the headlight beam. Self-levelling suspension counteracts
To determine the percentage of front suspension braking this by inflating cylinders in the suspension to lift the chas-
anti-dive for outboard brakes, it is first necessary to de- sis higher.[9]
termine the tangent of the angle between a line drawn,
in side view, through the front tire patch and the front
suspension instant center, and the horizontal. In addi- 6.4 Isolation from high frequency shock
tion, the percentage of braking effort at the front wheels
must be known. Then, multiply the tangent by the front For most purposes, the weight of the suspension com-
wheel braking effort percentage and divide by the ratio ponents is unimportant, but at high frequencies, caused
of the center of gravity height to the wheelbase. A value by road surface roughness, the parts isolated by rubber
of 50% would mean that half of the weight transfer to the bushings act as a multistage filter to suppress noise and
front wheels, during braking, is being transmitted through vibration better than can be done with only the tires and
the front suspension linkage and half is being transmitted springs. (The springs work mainly in the vertical direc-
through the front suspension springs. tion.)

For inboard brakes, the same procedure is followed but

using the wheel center instead of contact patch center. 6.5 Contribution to unsprung weight and
Forward acceleration anti-squat is calculated in a similar total weight
manner and with the same relationship between percent-
age and weight transfer. Anti-squat values of 100% and These are usually small, except that the suspension is re-
more are commonly used in drag racing, but values of lated to whether the brakes and differential(s) are sprung.
50% or less are more common in cars that have to un- This is the main functional advantage of aluminum wheels
dergo severe braking. Higher values of anti-squat com- over steel wheels. Aluminum suspension parts have been
monly cause wheel hop during braking. It is important to used in production cars, and carbon fiber suspension parts
note that, while the value of 100% means that all of the are common in racing cars.
weight transfer is being carried through the suspension
linkage. However, this does not mean that the suspension
is incapable of carrying additional loads (aerodynamic, 6.6 Space occupied
cornering, etc.) during an episode of braking or forward
Designs differ as to how much space they take up
acceleration. In other words, no “binding” of the suspen-
sion is to be implied.[8] and where it is located. It is generally accepted that
MacPherson struts are the most compact arrangement for
front-engined vehicles, where space between the wheels
6.2 Flexibility and vibration modes of the is required to place the engine.
suspension elements Inboard brakes (which reduce unsprung weight) are prob-
ably avoided more due to space considerations than to
In some modern cars, the flexibility is mainly in the cost.
rubber bushings, which are subject to decay over time.
For high-stress suspensions, such as off-road vehicles,
polyurethane bushings are available, which offer more 6.7 Force distribution
longevity under greater stresses. However, due to weight
and cost considerations, structures are not made more The suspension attachment must match the frame design
rigid than necessary. Some vehicles exhibit detrimental in geometry, strength and rigidity.
8 7 SPRINGS AND DAMPERS

6.8 Air resistance (drag)

Certain modern vehicles have height adjustable suspen-
sion in order to improve aerodynamics and fuel efficiency.
Modern formula cars that have exposed wheels and sus-
pension typically use streamlined tubing rather than sim-
ple round tubing for their suspension arms to reduce
aerodynamic drag. Also typical is the use of rocker arm,
push rod, or pull rod type suspensions that, among other
things, place the spring/damper unit inboard and out of
the air stream to further reduce air resistance.

6.9 Cost
Pneumatic spring on a semitrailer
Production methods improve, but cost is always a factor.
The continued use of the solid rear axle, with unsprung
differential, especially on heavy vehicles, seems to be the • Rubber bushing[12]
most obvious example.
• Gas under pressure - air spring[13]
• Gas and hydraulic fluid under pressure -
7 Springs and dampers hydropneumatic suspension[14] and oleo strut

Most conventional suspensions use passive springs to ab- 7.1.2 Dampers or shock absorbers
sorb impacts and dampers (or shock absorbers) to control
spring motions. The shock absorbers damp out the (otherwise simple har-
Some notable exceptions are the hydropneumatic sys- monic) motions of a vehicle up and down on its springs.
tems, which can be treated as an integrated unit of gas They also must damp out much of the wheel bounce when
spring and damping components, used by the French the unsprung weight of a wheel, hub, axle and some-
manufacturer Citroën and the hydrolastic, hydragas and times brakes and differential bounces up and down on the
rubber cone systems used by the British Motor Corpora- springiness of a tire. Some have suggested that the reg-
tion, most notably on the Mini. A number of different ular bumps found on dirt roads (nicknamed "corduroy",
types of each have been used: but properly corrugations or washboarding) are caused by
this wheel bounce, though some evidence exists that it is
unrelated to suspension at all. (See washboarding.)
7.1 Passive suspensions
Traditional springs and dampers are referred to as pas-
7.2 Semi-active and active suspensions
sive suspensions — most vehicles are suspended in this
Main article: Active suspension
manner.

If the suspension is externally controlled then it is a semi-

7.1.1 Springs active or active suspension — the suspension is reacting
to signals from an electronic controller.
The majority of land vehicles are suspended by steel
springs, of these types: For example, a hydropneumatic Citroën will “know” how
far off the ground the car is supposed to be and constantly
reset to achieve that level, regardless of load. It will not
• Leaf spring – AKA Hotchkiss, Cart, or semi- instantly compensate for body roll due to cornering how-
elliptical spring[4] ever. Citroën’s system adds about 1% to the cost of the
• Torsion beam suspension [10] car versus passive steel springs.
Semi-active suspensions include devices such as
• Coil spring[11] air springs and switchable shock absorbers, vari-
ous self-levelling solutions, as well as systems like
Automakers are aware of the inherent limitations of steel hydropneumatic, hydrolastic, and hydragas suspensions.
springs, that they tend to produce undesirable oscillations, Mitsubishi developed the world’s first production semi-
and have developed other types of suspension materials active electronically controlled suspension system in
and mechanisms in attempts to improve performance: passenger cars; the system was first incorporated in the
7.3 Interconnected suspensions 9

1987 Galant model.[15][16][17][18][19] Delphi currently sells onships, Dakar Rally: 2 Championships, Lexus GX470
shock absorbers filled with a magneto-rheological fluid, 2004 4x4 of the year with KDSS, 2005 PACE award)
whose viscosity can be changed electromagnetically, with various passive or semi-active systems, which gen-
thereby giving variable control without switching valves, erally decouple at least two vehicle modes (roll, warp
which is faster and thus more effective. (articulation), pitch and/or heave (bounce)) to simultane-
Fully active suspension systems use electronic monitor- ously control each mode’s stiffness and damping, by us-
ing of vehicle conditions, coupled with the means to im- ing interconnected shock absorbers, and other methods.
pact vehicle suspension and behavior in real time to di- In 1999, Kinetic was bought out by Tenneco. Later de-
velopments by a Catalan company, Creuat has devised a
rectly control the motion of the car. Lotus Cars de-
veloped several prototypes, from 1982 onwards, and in- simpler system design based on single-acting cylinders.
After some projects on competition Creuat is active in
troduced them to F1, where they have been fairly ef-
fective, but have now been banned. Nissan introduced providing retrofit systems for some vehicle models.
a low bandwidth active suspension in circa 1990 as an Historically, the first mass production car with front to
option that added an extra 20% to the price of luxury rear mechanical interconnected suspension was the 1948
models. Citroën has also developed several active sus- Citroën 2CV. The suspension of the 2CV was extremely
pension models (see hydractive). A recently publicised soft — the longitudinal link was making pitch softer in-
fully active system from Bose Corporation uses linear stead of making roll stiffer. It relied on extreme antidive
electric motors (i.e., solenoids) in place of hydraulic or and antisquat geometries to compensate for that. This
pneumatic actuators that have generally been used up un- redunded into a softer axle crossing stiffness that anti-
til recently. Mercedes introduced an active suspension roll bars would have otherwise compromised. The lead-
system called Active Body Control in its top-of-the-line ing arm / trailing arm swinging arm, fore-aft linked sus-
Mercedes-Benz CL-Class in 1999. pension system together with inboard front brakes had a
Several electromagnetic suspensions have also been de- much smaller unsprung weight than existing coil spring or
veloped for vehicles. Examples include the electromag- leaf designs. The interconnection transmitted some of the
netic suspension of Bose, and the electromagnetic sus- force deflecting a front wheel up over a bump, to push the
pension developed by prof. Laurentiu Encica. In addi- rear wheel down on the same side. When the rear wheel
tion, the new Michelin wheel with embedded suspension met that bump a moment later, it did the same in reverse,
working on an electromotor is also similar.[20] keeping the car level front to rear. The 2CV had a de-
sign brief to be able to be driven at speed over a ploughed
With the help of control system, various semi- field. It originally featured friction dampers and tuned
active/active suspensions realize an improved design mass dampers. Later models had tuned mass dampers at
compromise among different vibrations modes of the the front with telescopic dampers/shock absorbers front
vehicle, namely bounce, roll, pitch and warp modes. and rear.
However, the applications of these advanced suspensions
are constrained by the cost, packaging, weight, reliability, The British Motor Corporation was also an early
and/or the other challenges. adopter of interconnected suspension. A system dubbed
Hydrolastic was introduced in 1962 on the Morris 1100
and went on to be used on a variety of BMC models.
7.3 Interconnected suspensions Hydrolastic was developed by suspension engineer Alex
Moulton and used rubber cones as the springing medium
Interconnected suspension, unlike semi-active/active sus- (these were first used on the 1959 Mini) with the suspen-
pensions, could easily decouple different vehicle vibra- sion units on each side connected to each other by a fluid
tion modes in a passive manner. The interconnections filled pipe. The fluid transmitted the force of road bumps
can be realized by various means, such as mechanical, hy- from one wheel to the other (on the same principle as
draulic and pneumatic. Anti-roll bars are one of the typi- the Citroen 2CV’s mechanical system described above)
cal examples of mechanical interconnections, while it has and because each suspension unit contained valves to [21] re-
been stated that fluidic interconnections offer greater po- strict the flow of fluid also served as a shock absorber.
tential and flexibility in improving both the stiffness and Moulton went on to develop a replacement for Hydrolas-
damping properties. tic for BMC’s successor, British Leyland. This system,
called Hydragas worked on the same principle but instead
Considering the considerable commercial potentials of of rubber spring units it used metal spheres divided in-
hydro-pneumatic technology (Corolla, 1996), intercon- ternally by a rubber diaphragm. The top half contained
nected hydropneumatic suspensions have also been ex- pressurised gas and the lower half the same fluid as used
plored in some recent studies, and their potential benefits on the Hydrolastic system. The fluid transmitted suspen-
in enhancing vehicle ride and handling have been demon- sion forces between the units on each side whilst the gas
strated. The control system can also be used for fur- acted as the springing medium via the diaphragm. This is
ther improving performance of interconnected suspen- the same principle as the Citroen hydropneumatic system
sions. Apart from academic research, an Australian com- and provides a similar ride quality but is self-contained
pany, Kinetic, is having some success (WRC: 3 Champi-
10 8 SUSPENSION GEOMETRY

and doesn't require an engine-driven pump to provide hy- • Longitudinal semi-elliptical springs used to
draulic pressure. The downside is that Hydragas is, unlike be common and still are used in heavy-duty
the Citroen system, not height adjustable or self-levelling. trucks and aircraft. They have the advantage
Hydragas was introduced in 1973 on the Austin Allegro that the spring rate can easily be made progres-
and was used on several models, the last car to use it being sive (non-linear).
the MG F in 2002. • A single transverse leaf spring for both front
Some of the last post-war Packard models also featured wheels and/or both back wheels, supporting
interconnected suspension. solid axles, was used by Ford Motor Company,
before and soon after World War II, even on
expensive models. It had the advantages of
8 Suspension geometry simplicity and low unsprung weight (compared
to other solid axle designs).
Suspension systems can be broadly classified into two
subgroups: dependent and independent. These terms re- In a front engine, rear-drive vehicle, dependent rear sus-
fer to the ability of opposite wheels to move indepen- pension is either “live axle” or deDion axle, depending
dently of each other. on whether or not the differential is carried on the axle.
Live axle is simpler but the unsprung weight contributes
A dependent suspension normally has a beam (a simple to wheel bounce.
'cart' axle) or (driven) live axle that holds wheels parallel
to each other and perpendicular to the axle. When the Because it assures constant camber, dependent (and semi-
camber of one wheel changes, the camber of the opposite independent) suspension is most common on vehicles that
wheel changes in the same way (by convention on one side need to carry large loads as a proportion of the vehicle
this is a positive change in camber and on the other side weight, that have relatively soft springs and that do not
this a negative change). De Dion suspensions are also in (for cost and simplicity reasons) use active suspensions.
this category as they rigidly connect the wheels together. The use of dependent front suspension has become lim-
ited to heavier commercial vehicles.
An independent suspension allows wheels to rise and fall
on their own without affecting the opposite wheel. Sus-
pensions with other devices, such as sway bars that link 8.2 Semi-independent suspension
the wheels in some way are still classed as independent.
A third type is a semi-dependent suspension. In this case, In a semi-independent suspensions, the wheels of an axle
the motion of one wheel does affect the position of the are able to move relative to one another as in an indepen-
other but they are not rigidly attached to each other. A dent suspension but the position of one wheel has an ef-
twist-beam rear suspension is such a system. fect on the position and attitude of the other wheel. This
effect is achieved via the twisting or deflecting of suspen-
sion parts under load. The most common type of semi-
8.1 Dependent suspensions independent suspension is the twist beam.

Dependent systems may be differentiated by the system • Twist beam

of linkages used to locate them, both longitudinally and
transversely. Often both functions are combined in a set
of linkages. 8.3 Independent suspension
Examples of location linkages include:
Main article: Independent suspension
• Satchell link
The variety of independent systems is greater and in-
• Panhard rod cludes:
• Watt’s linkage
• Swing axle
• WOBLink
• Sliding pillar
• Mumford linkage
• MacPherson strut/Chapman strut
• Leaf springs used for location (transverse or longi-
tudinal) • Upper and lower A-arm (double wishbone)
• Fully elliptical springs usually need supple- • Multi-link suspension
mentary location links and are no longer in
common use • Semi-trailing arm suspension

• Swinging arm
• Leaf springs
• Transverse leaf springs when used as a suspen-
sion link, or four quarter elliptics on one end of
a car are similar to wishbones in geometry, but
are more compliant. Examples are the front
of the original Fiat 500, the Panhard Dyna Z
and the early examples of Peugeot 403 and the
back of the AC Ace and AC Aceca.
Because the wheels are not constrained to remain per-
pendicular to a flat road surface in turning, braking and
varying load conditions, control of the wheel camber is
an important issue. Swinging arm was common in small
cars that were sprung softly and could carry large loads,
because the camber is independent of load. Some active
and semi-active suspensions maintain the ride height, and
therefore the camber, independent of load. In sports cars,
optimal camber change when turning is more important.
Wishbone and multi-link allow the engineer more con- ing more space inside the hull, with consequent possibility
trol over the geometry, to arrive at the best compromise, to install larger turret rings and thus a heavier main arma-
than swing axle, MacPherson strut or swinging arm do; ment. The torsion-bar suspension, sometimes including
however the cost and space requirements may be greater. shock absorbers, has been the dominant heavy armored
Semi-trailing arm is in between, being a variable compro- vehicle suspension since World War II. Torsion bars may
mise between the geometries of swinging arm and swing take space under or near the floor, which may interfere
axle.
9 Tracked vehicles
Some vehicles such as trains run on long rail tracks fixed
to the ground, and some such as tractors, snow vehicles
and tanks run on continuous tracks that are part of the
vehicle. Though either sort helps to smooth the path and
reduce ground pressure, many of the same considerations
apply.
10 Armoured fighting vehicle sus-
pension
Military AFVs, including tanks, have specialized suspen-
sion requirements. They can weigh more than seventy
tons and are required to move as quickly as possible over
very rough or soft ground. Their suspension components
must be protected from land mines and antitank weapons.
Tracked AFVs can have as many as nine road wheels on
each side. Many wheeled AFVs have six or eight large
wheels. Some have a Central Tire Inflation System to re-
duce ground loading on poor surfaces. Some wheels are
too big and confined to turn, so skid steering is used with
some wheeled, as well as with tracked, vehicles.
The earliest tanks of World War I had fixed suspension
with no designed movement whatsoever. This unsatis-
factory situation was improved with leaf spring or coil
11
spring suspensions adopted from agricultural, automotive
or railway machinery, but even these had very limited
travel.
Speeds increased due to more powerful engines, and the
quality of ride had to be improved. In the 1930s, the
Christie suspension was developed, which allowed the
use of coil springs inside a vehicle’s armored hull, by
changing the direction of force deforming the spring,
using a bell crank. The T-34 was directly descended
from Christie designs. Horstmann suspension was a vari-
ation which used a combination of bell crank and exte-
rior coil springs, in use from the 1930s to the 1990s. The
bogie, but nonetheless independent, suspension of the M3
Lee/Grant and the M4 Sherman was similar to the Horts-
mann type, with the suspension contained within the track
oval.
By World War II the other common type was torsion bar
suspension, getting spring force from twisting bars in-
side the hull — this sometimes had less travel than the
Christie-type, but was significantly more compact, allow-
with making the tank low to reduce exposure.
As with cars, wheel travel and spring rate affect the
bumpiness of the ride and the speed at which rough ter-
rain can be negotiated. It may be significant that a smooth
ride, which is often associated with comfort, increases the
accuracy when firing on the move (analogously to battle
ships with reduced stability, due to reduced metacentric
height). It also reduces shock on optics and other equip-
ment. The unsprung weight and track link weight may
limit speed on roads and affect the life of the track and
other components.
Most German WW II half tracks and their tanks intro-
duced during the war such as the Panther tank had over-
lapping and sometimes interleaved road wheels to dis-
tribute the load more evenly on the track and therefore on
the ground. This apparently made a significant contribu-
tion to speed, range and track life, as well as providing a
continuous band of protection. It has not been used since
the end of that war, probably due to the maintenance re-
quirements of more complicated mechanical parts work-
ing in mud, sand, rocks, snow and ice, as well as to cost.
Rocks and frozen mud often got stuck between the over-
lapping wheels, which could prevent them from turning
or cause damage to the road wheels. If one of the in-
terior road wheels were damaged, it would require other
road wheels to be removed in order to access the dam-
aged road wheel, making the process more complicated
and time-consuming.[22]
12 13 EXTERNAL LINKS

11 See also [10] “Suspension Basics 4 - Torsion Bar Springs”. Initial Dave.
Retrieved 2015-01-29.
• 4-poster – a test rig [11] “Suspension Basics 5 - Coil Springs”. Initial Dave. Re-
trieved 2015-01-29.
• 7 post shaker – a test rig for high speed vehicles
[12] “Suspension Basics 6 - Rubber Springs”. Initial Dave. Re-
• Automotive suspension design – the design process trieved 2015-01-29.
• Caster angle – self centering steering [13] “Suspension Basics 8 - Air Springs”. Initial Dave. Re-
trieved 2015-01-29.
• Coilover
[14] “Suspension Basics 9 - Hydropneumatic Springs”. Initial
• Corvette leaf spring - independent suspension com- Dave. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
bined with a transverse fiber reinforced plastic leaf
spring [15] “Mitsubishi Galant”, Mitsubishi Motors South Africa
website
• Korres P4 — a Greek all-terrain supercar, with a
[16] “Mitsubishi Motors history 1981-1990”, Mitsubishi Mo-
unique suspension tors South Africa website
• Magnetic levitation [17] “Technology DNA of MMC”, .pdf file, Mitsubishi Motors
technical review 2005
• Maglev train
[18] “MMC’s new Galant.”, Malay Mail, Byline: Asian Auto,
• Scrub radius Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, 16-SEP-02 (registration re-
quired)
• Short long arms suspension — also known as “un-
equal length A arm”, one of the design parameters [19] “Mitsubishi Motors Web Museum”, Mitsubishi Motors
of double wishbone suspension website

• Strut bar — a form of semi-independent suspension [20] “Electromagnetic suspension”. Amt.nl. 2008-11-19. Re-
trieved 2012-08-16.
• Oleo strut - design used in most large aircraft, with
[21] “Alex Moulton Mgf Hydragas”. Mgfcar.de. Retrieved
compressed gas and hydraulic fluid - conceptually
2012-08-16.
similar to automobile Hydropneumatic suspension
[22] Peter Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle, Encyclopedia of
German Tanks of World War Two, 1978, 1999
12 References
[1] Reza N. Jazar (2008). Vehicle Dynamics: Theory and Ap- 13 External links
plications. Spring. p. 455. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
• How Car Suspensions Work
[2] “Suspension Basics 1 - Why We Need It”. Initial Dave.
Retrieved 2015-01-29. • Robert W. Temple, The ABCs of Chassis Frame and
Suspensions, September 1969
[3] Adams, William Bridges (1837). English Pleasure Car-
riages. London: Charles Knight & Co. • Suspension Geometry Calculator
[4] “Suspension Basics 3 - Leaf Springs”. Initial Dave. Re-
trieved 2015-01-29.

[5] “wagon and carriage”.

[6] “The Washington Times, Sunday 30 June 1901”. Chron-

iclingamerica.loc.gov. Retrieved 2012-08-16.

[7] Jain, K.K.; Asthana, R.B. Automobile Engineering. Lon-

don: Tata McGraw-Hill. pp. 293–294. ISBN 0-07-
044529-X.

[8] Pages 617-620 (particularly page 619) of “Race Car Ve-

hicle Dynamics” by William and Douglas Milliken

[9] http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/
technology_guide/articles/self_levelling.html?source=
categories&article=self_levelling
 13

A rear independent suspension on an AWD car.

This Grant I tank’s suspension has road wheels mounted on wheel

trucks, or bogies.
Common types seen from behind; in order:

• Live axle with Watt bar

• Suspension like on a bike fork
• Swing axle
• Double wishbone suspension
• MacPherson
This diagram is not exhaustive; notably excluding elements such
as trailing arm links and those that are flexible.
14 14 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

14 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

14.1 Text
• Suspension (vehicle) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_(vehicle)?oldid=710634122 Contributors: Rjstott, Aldie, Hotlorp,
Atlan, Edward, Liftarn, Ixfd64, Mac, Glenn, Judzillah, Greglocock, Morven, Robbot, Ojigiri~enwiki, Jpo, BenFrantzDale, OzGecko, Rap-
idAssistant, PlatinumX, Bobblewik, Mzajac, Sfoskett, Andy Christ, Sonett72, Bbz, Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, CanisRufus, *drew,
Art LaPella, Harald Hansen, Duk, King nothing, Hooperbloob, Alansohn, JYolkowski, Gerweck, Interiot, The RedBurn, RJFJR, Gene
Nygaard, Ceyockey, Dennis Bratland, Nuno Tavares, Firsfron, Woohookitty, Triddle, Eras-mus, SDC, GraemeLeggett, Dovid, Josh Par-
ris, Ketiltrout, Rjwilmsi, Bhadani, Ecelan, Arnero, Ewlyahoocom, Gurch, Grs1969, DVdm, Arado, Wambo, David R. Ingham, Morwan,
Santtus, Zwobot, Wknight94, Salmanazar, FF2010, Georgewilliamherbert, Pil56, Open2universe, Closedmouth, DEng, Allens, That Guy,
From That Show!, Krótki, SpLoT, Yvwv, Crystallina, SmackBot, Toe Rag, Hmains, Chris the speller, Xx236, DeFacto, Chlewbot, Stepho-
wrs, Fuhghettaboutit, Jwy, Weregerbil, Hammer1980, Chrislonghurst, DMacks, Renesisevo, Hrimfaxi, SamBlob, Harryboyles, Jaganath,
16@r, BMan1113VR, PhantomFelix, Wizard191, PLawrence99cx, Acha11, David R. Ingharn, Jaakonam, Wade Smith, CmdrObot, Erik
Kennedy, NaBUru38, Optimist on the run, Kozuch, Dragonflare82, Mikem79, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, AndrewDressel, Miller17CU94, Oren-
Bochman, I already forgot, Mentifisto, KrakatoaKatie, AntiVandalBot, Seaphoto, Jason12345, Jaredroberts, Skarkkai, Igodard, VoABot
II, Swpb, SharShar, Jackson Peebles, V.o.ivanov, KTo288, Tsteiner, Silverxxx, Vanished User 4517, 2help, Cometstyles, DH85868993,
Useight, Spellcast, Dqeswn, Wcrosbie, WOSlinker, Philip Trueman, Graumicchie, Rlclayton, Imfinenu, JeremyBoggs, Boongoman, Jo-
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JL-Bot, Consaka, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Mild Bill Hiccup, Boing! said Zebedee, BillyShope, SteveRamone, Ex-
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ride quality, Avoided, Facts707, WikHead, MystBot, 69sexbeast69, Gggh, Addbot, Springee, Magus732, Download, Glane23, Favonian,
Zorrobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, WikiDan61, AnomieBOT, AdjustShift, Materialscientist, Citation bot, LilHelpa, TinucherianBot II, Sun-
coreIndustries, .45Colt, Ubcule, Logos, Nitt swung 32, Splew, Earlypsychosis, RibotBOT, Frumphammer, Channelturbo, GliderMaven,
Samuelsenj, FrescoBot, Baothai98, Steeevo45, D'ohBot, Gesalbte, MastiBot, SpaceFlight89, Ultrashaman, Saintonge235, Vrenator, Ma-
hekMody, MMAfrk1988, Kobac, Jackehammond, Pironman, Redfoxseo, WikitanvirBot, Jabbarulz247, LiftKit700G, SporkBot, Діман,
Noodleki, 28bot, ClueBot NG, George123EB, Satellizer, Frietjes, Cntras, Widr, Dougmcdonell, Vibhijain, MerlIwBot, Helpful Pixie Bot,
Josep.Fontdecaba.i.Buj, TEXHNK77, Hisensed, DBigXray, Sevenlovers, BG19bot, Kai Ojima, Govan.m, Jamesdabomb123, One.tenth,
Slingerkb, BattyBot, Charger334, Khazar2, CsDix, Tentinator, Bsha2nk, YiFeiBot, Kyosacanuck, William Miller The Mighty, Monkbot,
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