A car without a suspension would be about as comfortable as a horse and buggy ride. Even with your speed limited to a crawl, no amount of cushioning would save you from the bone-shattering dips and cracks in the road. Passenger vehicles have since incorporated a suspension system to minimize the effects of uneven or worn-down roads and to support the ever-increasing weight of today's larger vehicles.
A car's suspension system has to support the weight of the car, its passengers and cargo while allowing the tires and wheels to move up and down to compensate for uneven pavement. In addition, it has to prevent excessive body squat and dive while accelerating or braking. There are a number of systems used to achieve this, and here we'll take a look at three of them.
Air suspension is one of the most popular. It's powered by an engine-driven or electric air compressor. This pump pressurizes air and uses it to replace conventional steel springs. Intended to provide a smooth ride and even self-level in some cases, air suspension has become wildly popular in custom automobile circles and the towing jet set. By allowing the vehicle to sit extremely low yet rise high enough to clear obstacles like speed bumps and curbs, this system allows the driver to adjust each wheel's air pressure individually and even tilt the vehicle side to side or front to back. For larger vehicles and heavy loads, an air bag suspension kit performs much the same way, stabilizing extra weight while providing a smooth ride.
A coil spring, also known as a helical spring, is a mechanical device typically used to absorb shock through the collection and release of energy. They're constructed of an elastic material shaped into a helix (imagine a 3-D spiral that looks like the snake in Q*bert). Coil springs are a special type of torsion spring and work through twisting, much like the spring you'd find on mouse trap. They're made by winding wire around a cylindrical form.
And finally, a leaf spring is one of the oldest and most simple forms of suspension, dating as far back as medieval times and originally known as a laminated or carriage spring. The one advantage that a leaf spring holds over its helical counterpart is that the end of the springs can be guided along a definite path. This particular spring has almost as many names as uses, also referred to as semi-elliptical spring or cart spring for its slender, arc-shaped appearance, resembling Robin Hood's bow (Russell Crowe not Kevin Costner). While a leaf spring can reduce some of the vibration, it's difficult to control and creates static friction from the motion of the suspension. For this reason leaf springs have been used less and less in automobiles since the 1970s and are primarily confined to larger commercial vehicles like farm equipment and railway cars.
Passenger vehicles have adopted suspension systems to minimize the impact from uneven or cracked roadways. Ranging from air suspension and airbag suspension to coil springs, each has its own intended use and can be incorporated into your vehicle to maximize performance and the quality of your ride.
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