REAR SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR FOUR-WHEEL-STEERED VEHICLE

摘要

A rear suspension system for a four-wheel-steered vehicle has a wheel support which supports a rear wheel for rotation and is connected to a rear wheel turning rod of the rear wheel turning mechanism. A pair of suspension arms are connected to the wheel support and guide the wheel support so that the rear wheel on the wheel support is turned about a kingpin axis in response to displacement of the rear wheel turning rod member. One of the suspension arms includes a so-called I-shaped arm which is connected for rotation to the wheel support at one end and to the vehicle body at the other end, and the kingpin axis intersects the tread of the rear wheel at a point which is offset in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body from the point at which a side force acts on the rear wheel during cornering. A damping system is connected between the I-shaped arm and the vehicle body. The I-shaped arm is positioned so that the counterforce of the damping system generates a moment which tends to turn the rear wheel in the direction opposite to the direction in which the moment generated by the side force acting on the rear wheel when the vehicle corners with the rear wheel being the outer wheel tends to turn the rear wheel.