How Truck Suspensions Work?

When you think of performance of a truck, you usually just think of torque, horsepower and speedy acceleration. You forget that all power generated by your piston engine is pointless if you cannot control your truck. Truck suspension is actually something that most people have heard of but know very little about. Here you can learn the basics of Truck Suspension.

Functions of Truck Suspensions

The function of your truck’s suspension is to increase the friction between the tires and road surface, to offer steering stability and fine handling so as to guarantee that the travelers are comfortable. Suspensions come with two key functions: first, to support the truck’s weight, and second, to soak up the inconsistencies of the roads as well as terrain changes.

If the road was completely flat, without any irregularities, suspensions would not be essential. But the roads aren’t flat and even newly created highways possess slight imperfections which may interfere with the wheels of your truck. It is these imperfections which exert forces on the wheels. To protect your vehicle from damage that may be caused due to these forces, suspension is a prerequisite in any truck.

Truck Suspension System, the Basics

The truck’s suspension system usually comprises of sway bars, springs and dampers. The suspension springs support the truck’s weight on the four-corners. The main strength of a truck’s suspension is from the springs used. Springs even help suspend the vehicle frame in a number of driving conditions, like braking, acceleration, cornering, abrupt terrain changes or changes in payload capacity. It is extremely important that the springs used in the truck’s suspension are compatible with each other. There are many kinds of springs, employed in conjunction with each other that comprise your truck’s suspension. Various kinds of springs used in a truck’s suspension might include Coil Springs, Leaf Springs or Air Springs.

Another essential component of the suspension system of the truck is a sway bar. Each time we turn towards a corner, the truck starts to lean sideways in the other direction of the turn. As the corner firms its radius, this lean grows more progressive. A sensible way to deal with this body roll (roll angle) would be to fit Sway Bars, both back and front. When you install your sway bar, it is essential that it is mounted placing the arms parallel to the floor, with the suspension loaded. When the truck turns towards the left, the body weight is transmitted from the neutral load distribution, loading the right swing arm area of the sway bar, whilst at the same time releasing load from the left swing arm area. A sway bar is really a metal rod which covers the whole axle and efficiently joins either side of the suspension together.

The third most significant component of a truck’s suspension system is the Damper or Shock Absorber. The job of Shock Absorbers or Dampers is to handle the extension and compression (oscillation) of the truck’s suspension after it hits a pothole or a bump. A simple shock absorber includes a shaft, a piston and a canister (body). The piston is connected to the shaft which travels down and up within the body. To speed up rebound, the Damper canister is filled either with a petroleum based hydraulic fluid or a blend of hydraulic fluid plus gaseous nitrogen (which helps to dissipate heat which is built-up because of friction and which might result in cavitation or foaming).

These are the basic elements of a truck’s suspension system. The suspension on your truck has the basic function of providing steering stability by maximizing the friction between truck tires and road.

Tags: truck suspensions