TRUCK AXLE SUSPENSION SYSTEM

摘要

Described herein is a vehicle suspension system for mounting tandem steering axles to a vehicle frame wherein the steering axles include a front axle and a rear axle. The suspension system includes a pair of sub-systems each adapted to be mounted to respective side of the vehicle frame. Each sub-system includes front and rear serially arranged leaf springs by which front and rear axles respectively may be mounted to the frame. Also included are frontal intermediate and rear hangar brackets adapted to be fixed to the vehicle frame in spaced apart relationship. In a preferred embodiment, a frontal end of the front spring is connected at a fixed pivot to the frontal bracket. A balance beam having front and rear ends is pivotally connected adjacent its mid-point to the intermediate bracket. The rear end of the balance beam is pivotally directly connected to a forward end of the rear spring. The rear end of the rear spring is pivotally connected to the rear bracket by way of a pivot link. Furthermore, the rear end of the front spring is pivotally connected by way of a further pivot link to the front end of the balance beam. The arrangement is such that parallelism between the front and rear axles is maintained at all times under various vehicle loading conditions likely to be encountered. Proper tow-in and tow-out can be maintained; vehicle directional control is improved and tire wear rate is maintained within normal limits.