Your vehicle's suspension is the component responsible for absorbing the jolts and keeps your ride smooth and steady. Yet, behind the scenes, there's a complex world of suspension systems that dictate the quality of your driving experience. From traditional to cutting-edge mechanisms, understanding the four primary types of suspension systems can unravel the mystery behind that seamless, comfortable ride you cherish.
The independent suspension system, a hallmark of modern vehicles, grants each wheel the freedom to move independently, responding to road irregularities without affecting the opposite wheel. This system ensures superior handling, enhanced stability, and a smoother ride, making it a popular choice for most passenger cars and SUVs. By mitigating the transfer of vibrations and shocks across the vehicle, it optimizes comfort without compromising on agility, promising a responsive and controlled driving experience.
What is it's main benefit:
The ability to provide a smoother ride and improved handling by allowing each wheel to react independently to road conditions. This results in better traction, increased stability, and enhanced overall driving comfort.
Contrasting the independent system, the dependent suspension system interconnects the wheels, causing movements in one wheel to influence the other. Commonly found in heavy-duty trucks and some older car models, this system prioritizes robustness and load-bearing capacity over refined handling. While it may lack the finesse of independent systems, its rugged design makes it ideal for navigating rough terrains and carrying substantial loads, catering to the demands of commercial and off-road vehicles.
What is its main benefit:
Its robust design, which makes it well-suited for heavy-duty vehicles and rough terrains. It offers increased load-bearing capacity and durability, making it ideal for commercial and off-road applications where strength and toughness are paramount.
A variant of the independent suspension, the MacPherson strut system integrates a shock absorber and a coil spring into a single unit, simplifying the design and reducing manufacturing costs. Widely employed in front-wheel-drive vehicles, this system offers a space-efficient solution that balances ride comfort and structural rigidity. Its streamlined construction and cost-effectiveness make it a preferred choice for a multitude of compact and midsize cars, ensuring a harmonious blend of performance and affordability.
What is its main benefit:
Cost-effectiveness and space efficiency! With the integration of the shock absorber and coil spring into a single unit, it simplifies the overall design and reduces manufacturing costs, making it a popular choice for compact and mid-sized cars that prioritize a balance between affordability and performance.
Pioneering innovation in the realm of suspension technology, the air suspension system replaces conventional coil springs with airbags, enabling automated adjustments of the vehicle's ride height and firmness. Embraced by luxury car manufacturers and premium SUVs, this system offers unparalleled customization, allowing drivers to tailor the ride quality according to their preferences and road conditions. With its adaptive capabilities and seamless adjustment to varying loads, the air suspension system redefines the standards of comfort and versatility in modern automotive engineering.
What is its main benefit:
Its adaptability and customization options. By replacing traditional coil springs with airbags, it enables automated adjustments of the vehicle's ride height and firmness, allowing drivers to tailor the ride quality according to their preferences and specific road conditions. This system provides superior comfort, versatility, and dynamic control, particularly favored by luxury car manufacturers and premium SUVs.
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This suspension is fairly easy to get damaged in its parts, such as broken ball joint at the bottom or top, long tie rod, and end tier rod. To avoid various damage to the car, you can do spooring regularly.
The Double Wishbone suspension has drawbacks due to the fairly large space it requires. On top of that, when you want to replace a shock breaker or shock absorber, the disassembly process takes a long time.
The Double Wishbone suspension also has an independent design, so the turning angle and suspension movement will not affect the geometry angle, because the angle will remain constant.
This suspension has fairly good quality and can be applied in various types of cars. It is fairly simple because it can work with just one solid piece and is equipped with 2 springs.
The rigid axle suspension has 2 models at once, namely the Axle Rigid model which is equipped with leaf springs, and the Axle Rigid model which is equipped with a coil spring or often referred to as a spring.
Rigid Axle suspension is usually placed at the rear of the car. The main feature of this suspension is its wheels on the rear left and right. The two wheels are connected into one axle which is commonly referred to as the axle.
If this suspension is damaged, then the replacement process takes a long time and the spare parts are still rare, so the price is relatively more expensive than other suspensions.
Multi-Link is a type of suspension that has quality grip and with this suspension, controlling the car becomes easier. The Multi-Link suspension also has many variations.
This suspension also has component ends that pivot on two sides of the arm. Construction is made by manipulating the direction of the force that will be received by the wheel.
Multi-Link is a suspension developed by Double Wishbone and Multi-Link into a suspension that has a fairly complicated construction design because it has separate parts that are held together by joints.
The axle rigid is also considered a strong suspension, so it can support large loads stably, making it suitable for various types of large cars.
Suspension can help dampen the vibrations or shocks that occur when you are on a road that is uneven or tends to be bumpy. With a good quality suspension car, you can stay seated without any disruption.
The suspension is not only useful to help reduce vibrations when the car is driving but can make handling safer and let the car can run stably on the road.
With its very significant use, of course, the suspension is a must-have component in a car and it must get extra care.
Now, there are many types of cars around the world and this makes a variety of suspension types available. Even the use of suspensions in each car brand is always different, due to a large number of quality suspensions.
Differentiating the type of suspension in each car brand is certainly a way to balance the type of car. At least several types of suspension are widely popular and used in cars produced nowadays.
Macpherson is a suspension whose name is taken from its inventor, Earle Macpherson. Lots of cars around the world use Macpherson suspension.
Many automotive manufacturers like this suspension, because it has an affordable price and also has fairly simple components.
The Macpherson suspension has an upright shape and is supported by shock absorbers which are used as the center point of the corner caster in the car. This suspension is also very easy to obtain because it's distributed widely.
The disadvantage of Macpherson's suspension is that it is less able to receive loads and the tilt angle always changes when the car is turned or turns, this makes the tires less able to grip the road asphalt properly.
Double Wishbone is a type of suspension that has 2 arms that support the suspension system, namely the upper and lower arms. With this suspension, the car can run stably.
Independent suspension is a specially designed suspension because the right and left wheels at the rear are not connected directly but instead by axle joints
If the rear wheel steps on a hole, of course, the car will not rock and this is because only the left suspension moves. Independent suspension is indeed widely used in luxury cars.
The independent suspension has a more complex construction and the axle movements are mutually independent. This suspension is also equipped with two flexible joints. This type of suspension is still fairly expensive, so its use is mostly in luxurious cars.
You can also feel the comfort of the Independent Suspension when driving the Wuling Cortez CT Type S. This family car from Wuling offers comfort through Independent Suspension on the rear wheels. Of course, not only drivers but passengers can also feel comfortable sitting at the back seat of Wuling Cortez CT City Type S.
Rigid - Leafspring is one type of suspension that is widely applied in cars circulating in Indonesia and is mostly used in commercial type cars or old type cars. This suspension is usually used at the rear of the car because this suspension is stiff.
This suspension has a fairly simple and simple construction. This type of suspension usually consists of an Axle Housing that is intentionally tied using a U-Bolt already attached to the frame. Cars that use this suspension usually have a fairly high level of resistance.
Trailing Arm is a type of suspension whose instructions are almost the same as 3 Links - Rigid, even though the working system is very different. The way it works is also different from the 3 Links - Rigid or other types of suspension.
The Trailing Arm suspension has connected from the right side to the left. This type of suspension is usually placed at the back of the car.
Air Suspension is one of the developed suspensions that has excellent performance, so this type of suspension is widely used in luxury cars.
Even in luxury cars, the car's suspension can be adjusted using a computer and this allows the adjustment to be done properly.
The drawback of this suspension is that it has a very complicated construction when compared to other types of suspension. Not only that, but this suspension also has a very expensive price.
Those are the eight types of car suspensions that exist today. Hopefully, this information can add to your automotive knowledge!