Does the G37 have a double wishbone or McPherson front suspension?
12-15-2013, 09:32 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Does the G37 have a double wishbone or McPherson front suspension?
Hi Guys,
Do we have a Double wishbone or a McPherson strut front suspension system?
The sticked Spec sheet above is a little vague.
Do we have a Double wishbone or a McPherson strut front suspension system?
The sticked Spec sheet above is a little vague.
12-16-2013, 09:03 AM
#7
It's easier for google to tell you than someone on here to write it out.
This should get you started.
HowStuffWorks "Front Suspensions"
This should get you started.
HowStuffWorks "Front Suspensions"
The following 3 users liked this post by GoFightNguyen:
Trending Topics
12-16-2013, 01:01 PM
#9
Registered User
Thread Starter
Car Bibles : The Car Suspension Bible page 1 of 5
Front suspension - independent systems
So-named because the front wheel's suspension systems are independent of each other (except where joined by an anti-roll bar) These came into existence around 1930 and have been in use in one form or another pretty much ever since then.
MacPherson Strut or McPherson strut
macpherson strut car suspension
This is currently, without doubt, the most widely used front suspension system in cars of European origin. It is simplicity itself. The system basically comprises of a strut-type spring and shock absorber combo, which pivots on a ball joint on the single, lower arm. At the top end there is a needle roller bearing on some more sophisticated systems. The strut itself is the load-bearing member in this assembly, with the spring and shock absorber merely performing their duty as oppose to actually holding the car up. In the picture here, you can't see the shock absorber because it is encased in the black gaiter inside the spring.
The steering gear is either connected directly to the lower shock absorber housing, or to an arm from the front or back of the spindle (in this case). When you steer, it physically twists the strut and shock absorber housing (and consequently the spring) to turn the wheel. Simple. The spring is seated in a special plate at the top of the assembly which allows this twisting to take place. If the spring or this plate are worn, you'll get a loud 'clonk' on full lock as the spring frees up and jumps into place. This is sometimes confused for CV joint knock.
Rover 2000 MacPherson derivative
macpherson strut car suspension
During WWII, the British car maker Rover worked on experimental gas-turbine engines, and after the war, retained a lot of knowledge about them. The gas-turbine Rover T4, which looked a lot like the Rover P6, Rover 2000 and Rover 3500, was one of the prototypes. The chassis was fundamentally the same as the other Rovers and the net result was the the 2000 and 3500 ended up with a very odd front suspension layout. The gas turbine wasn't exactly small, and Rover needed as much room as possible in the engine bay to fit it. The suspension was derived from a normal MacPherson strut but with an added bellcrank. This allowed the suspension unit to sit horizontally along the outside of the engine bay rather than protruding into it and taking up space. The bellcrank transferred the upward forces from the suspension into rearward forces for the spring / shock combo to deal with. In the end, the gas turbine never made it into production and the Rover 2000 was fitted with a 2-litre 4-cylinder engine, whilst the Rover 3500 was fitted with an 'evergreen' 3.5litre V8. Open the hood of either of these classics and the engine looks a bit lost in there because there's so much room around it that was never utilised. The image on the left shows the Rover-derivative MacPherson strut.
Potted history of MacPherson: Earle S. MacPherson of General Motors developed the MacPherson strut in 1947. GM cars were originally design-bound by accountants. If it cost too much or wasn't tried and tested, then it didn't get built/used. Major GM innovations including the MacPherson Strut suspension system sat stifled on the shelf for years because innovation cannot be proven on a spreadsheet until after the product has been produced or manufactured. Consequently, Earle MacPherson went to work for Ford UK in 1950, where Ford started using his design on the 1950 'English' Ford models straight away. Today the strut type is referred to both with and without the "a" in the name, so both McPherson Strut and MacPherson Strut can be used to describe it.
Further note: Earle MacPherson should never be confused with Elle McPherson - the Australian über-babe. In her case, the McPherson Strut is something she does on a catwalk, or in your dreams if you like that sort of thing. And if you're a bloke, then you ought to....
Double wishbone suspension systems.
The following three examples are all variations on the same theme.
Coil Spring type 1
coil spring car suspension
This is a type of double-A or double wishbone suspension. The wheel spindles are supported by an upper and lower 'A' shaped arm. In this type, the lower arm carries most of the load. If you look head-on at this type of system, what you'll find is that it's a very parallelogram system that allows the spindles to travel vertically up and down. When they do this, they also have a slight side-to-side motion caused by the arc that the wishbones describe around their pivot points. This side-to-side motion is known as scrub. Unless the links are infinitely long the scrub motion is always present. There are two other types of motion of the wheel relative to the body when the suspension articulates. The first and most important is a toe angle (steer angle). The second and least important, but the one which produces most pub talk is the camber angle, or lean angle. Steer and camber are the ones which wear tyres.
Coil Spring type 2
coil spring car suspension
This is also a type of double-A arm suspension although the lower arm in these systems can sometimes be replaced with a single solid arm (as in my picture). The only real difference between this and the previous system mentioned above is that the spring/shock combo is moved from between the arms to above the upper arm. This transfers the load-bearing capability of the suspension almost entirely to the upper arm and the spring mounts. The lower arm in this instance becomes a control arm. This particular type of system isn't so popular in cars as it takes up a lot room.
Multi-link suspension
multi link car suspension
This is the latest incarnation of the double wishbone system described above. It's currently being used in the Audi A8 and A4 amongst other cars. The basic principle of it is the same, but instead of solid upper and lower wishbones, each 'arm' of the wishbone is a separate item. These are joined at the top and bottom of the spindle thus forming the wishbone shape. The super-weird thing about this is that as the spindle turns for steering, it alters the geometry of the suspension by torquing all four suspension arms. They have complex pivot systems designed to allow this to happen.
Car manufacturers claim that this system gives even better road-holding properties, because all the various joints make the suspension almost infinitely adjustable. There are a lot of variations on this theme appearing at the moment, with huge differences in the numbers and complexities of joints, numbers of arms, positioning of the parts etc. but they are all fundamentally the same. Note that in this system the spring (red) is separate from the shock absorber (yellow).
Trailing-arm suspension
Trailing arm car suspension
The trailing arm system is literally that - a shaped suspension arm is joined at the front to the chassis, allowing the rear to swing up and down. Pairs of these become twin-trailing-arm systems and work on exactly the same principle as the double wishbones in the systems described above. The difference is that instead of the arms sticking out from the side of the chassis, they travel back parallel to it. This is an older system not used so much any more because of the space it takes up, but it doesn't suffer from the side-to-side scrubbing problem of double wishbone systems. If you want to know what I mean, find a VW beetle and stick your head in the front wheel arch - that's a double-trailing-arm suspension setup. Simple.
Read more: Car Bibles : The Car Suspension Bible page 1 of 5
Front suspension - independent systems
So-named because the front wheel's suspension systems are independent of each other (except where joined by an anti-roll bar) These came into existence around 1930 and have been in use in one form or another pretty much ever since then.
MacPherson Strut or McPherson strut
macpherson strut car suspension
This is currently, without doubt, the most widely used front suspension system in cars of European origin. It is simplicity itself. The system basically comprises of a strut-type spring and shock absorber combo, which pivots on a ball joint on the single, lower arm. At the top end there is a needle roller bearing on some more sophisticated systems. The strut itself is the load-bearing member in this assembly, with the spring and shock absorber merely performing their duty as oppose to actually holding the car up. In the picture here, you can't see the shock absorber because it is encased in the black gaiter inside the spring.
The steering gear is either connected directly to the lower shock absorber housing, or to an arm from the front or back of the spindle (in this case). When you steer, it physically twists the strut and shock absorber housing (and consequently the spring) to turn the wheel. Simple. The spring is seated in a special plate at the top of the assembly which allows this twisting to take place. If the spring or this plate are worn, you'll get a loud 'clonk' on full lock as the spring frees up and jumps into place. This is sometimes confused for CV joint knock.
Rover 2000 MacPherson derivative
macpherson strut car suspension
During WWII, the British car maker Rover worked on experimental gas-turbine engines, and after the war, retained a lot of knowledge about them. The gas-turbine Rover T4, which looked a lot like the Rover P6, Rover 2000 and Rover 3500, was one of the prototypes. The chassis was fundamentally the same as the other Rovers and the net result was the the 2000 and 3500 ended up with a very odd front suspension layout. The gas turbine wasn't exactly small, and Rover needed as much room as possible in the engine bay to fit it. The suspension was derived from a normal MacPherson strut but with an added bellcrank. This allowed the suspension unit to sit horizontally along the outside of the engine bay rather than protruding into it and taking up space. The bellcrank transferred the upward forces from the suspension into rearward forces for the spring / shock combo to deal with. In the end, the gas turbine never made it into production and the Rover 2000 was fitted with a 2-litre 4-cylinder engine, whilst the Rover 3500 was fitted with an 'evergreen' 3.5litre V8. Open the hood of either of these classics and the engine looks a bit lost in there because there's so much room around it that was never utilised. The image on the left shows the Rover-derivative MacPherson strut.
Potted history of MacPherson: Earle S. MacPherson of General Motors developed the MacPherson strut in 1947. GM cars were originally design-bound by accountants. If it cost too much or wasn't tried and tested, then it didn't get built/used. Major GM innovations including the MacPherson Strut suspension system sat stifled on the shelf for years because innovation cannot be proven on a spreadsheet until after the product has been produced or manufactured. Consequently, Earle MacPherson went to work for Ford UK in 1950, where Ford started using his design on the 1950 'English' Ford models straight away. Today the strut type is referred to both with and without the "a" in the name, so both McPherson Strut and MacPherson Strut can be used to describe it.
Further note: Earle MacPherson should never be confused with Elle McPherson - the Australian über-babe. In her case, the McPherson Strut is something she does on a catwalk, or in your dreams if you like that sort of thing. And if you're a bloke, then you ought to....
Double wishbone suspension systems.
The following three examples are all variations on the same theme.
Coil Spring type 1
coil spring car suspension
This is a type of double-A or double wishbone suspension. The wheel spindles are supported by an upper and lower 'A' shaped arm. In this type, the lower arm carries most of the load. If you look head-on at this type of system, what you'll find is that it's a very parallelogram system that allows the spindles to travel vertically up and down. When they do this, they also have a slight side-to-side motion caused by the arc that the wishbones describe around their pivot points. This side-to-side motion is known as scrub. Unless the links are infinitely long the scrub motion is always present. There are two other types of motion of the wheel relative to the body when the suspension articulates. The first and most important is a toe angle (steer angle). The second and least important, but the one which produces most pub talk is the camber angle, or lean angle. Steer and camber are the ones which wear tyres.
Coil Spring type 2
coil spring car suspension
This is also a type of double-A arm suspension although the lower arm in these systems can sometimes be replaced with a single solid arm (as in my picture). The only real difference between this and the previous system mentioned above is that the spring/shock combo is moved from between the arms to above the upper arm. This transfers the load-bearing capability of the suspension almost entirely to the upper arm and the spring mounts. The lower arm in this instance becomes a control arm. This particular type of system isn't so popular in cars as it takes up a lot room.
Multi-link suspension
multi link car suspension
This is the latest incarnation of the double wishbone system described above. It's currently being used in the Audi A8 and A4 amongst other cars. The basic principle of it is the same, but instead of solid upper and lower wishbones, each 'arm' of the wishbone is a separate item. These are joined at the top and bottom of the spindle thus forming the wishbone shape. The super-weird thing about this is that as the spindle turns for steering, it alters the geometry of the suspension by torquing all four suspension arms. They have complex pivot systems designed to allow this to happen.
Car manufacturers claim that this system gives even better road-holding properties, because all the various joints make the suspension almost infinitely adjustable. There are a lot of variations on this theme appearing at the moment, with huge differences in the numbers and complexities of joints, numbers of arms, positioning of the parts etc. but they are all fundamentally the same. Note that in this system the spring (red) is separate from the shock absorber (yellow).
Trailing-arm suspension
Trailing arm car suspension
The trailing arm system is literally that - a shaped suspension arm is joined at the front to the chassis, allowing the rear to swing up and down. Pairs of these become twin-trailing-arm systems and work on exactly the same principle as the double wishbones in the systems described above. The difference is that instead of the arms sticking out from the side of the chassis, they travel back parallel to it. This is an older system not used so much any more because of the space it takes up, but it doesn't suffer from the side-to-side scrubbing problem of double wishbone systems. If you want to know what I mean, find a VW beetle and stick your head in the front wheel arch - that's a double-trailing-arm suspension setup. Simple.
Read more: Car Bibles : The Car Suspension Bible page 1 of 5
The following users liked this post:
Black Betty (12-16-2013)
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
