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 DEDICATION

“I would like to dedicate this book to my mom and dad.”

.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page No.

1. An Introduction to Suspension Parameters 1
2. Designing of Suspension Parameters 8
3. Selecting a suspension Prototype 12
4. Damper Design 18
 AN INTRODUCTION
TO SUSPENSION important. Tire scrub across the track surface
through compression or droop in either cornering
PARAMETERS or bump travel can cause a loss in traction. With
The Off-road Competition Rules states that the this in mind, track width and the distance between
course is designed around a vehicle “with the contact patches are important considerations in the
maximum dimensions of 64 inches’ width by 108 design.
inches’ length”. Considering this overall width and Other factors, such as wheel travel, are constraints
the size of the tire and wheel combination, the in the design of the front suspension. The wheel
suspension must be designed around a maximum travel is ultimately limited by the available angle
width tire edge surfaces of 64 inches at ride height. change of the chosen suspension joint. It is
The rear track width is designed to be smaller than important to monitor the steering angles and bump
the front to aid in manoeuvrability. Furthermore, steer through travel to create an envelope for the
through mock chassis, driver dimensions, drive- steering rack. Furthermore, some level of
train considerations, and performance adjustment must be available to change camber at
requirements a wheelbase between 58 to the ride height, differences in castor angle due to
maximum 63 inches can be chosen prior to further manufacturing, and toe at ride height.
design. To maximize obstacle avoidance and Kinematic Suspension Performance Goals
account for varying terrain, a ground clearance of Wheel Travel
11-14 inches from the ground to the lowermost Up 7 inches
member on the chassis can be taken. Down 5 inches
Toe
Design Goals
Minimize change
Vehicle Dimensions at Ride Height during travel
Track Width
Adjustment via tie
Front 51-55 inches
rods
Rear 50-53 inches
Roll and Bump Steer
Wheelbase (center of rear wheel to center of front
wheel) Minimise
50-54 inches Minimise movement
Ground Clearance of Roll Centre
Keep Roll Centre
13 inches above ground at
Wheel Size maximum bump
Camber less than zero
Both Front and Rear 17 inches at maximum body roll
Tire Size angle
Both Front and Rear 25 inches Minimise tire scrub
with bump
The parameters listed here are the basic design
Ride Height 0 degrees
goals for the front suspension prior to choosing a
link configuration or performing either Compression Maximum Negative
mathematical modelling or utilizing computer Droop Minimum Positive
aided design methods. With ground clearance,
available joints, and possible link lengths due to the Adjustment Adjustment via heim
track width and foot box area, 7 inches of up travel joints
and 5 inches of droop from ride height is Track Width
acceptable. As stated earlier, change in toe angle Minimize change
of the tire during suspension travel is undesirab le. Choosing the suspension geometry angles
Keeping the distance between contact One of the main advantages of the Short Long
patches constant throughout suspension travel is Arms Independent suspension is that it allows the
orientation of the wheels to be easily adjusted by
setting the suspension geometry. The main
suspension alignment parameters are the camber
angle, the toe angle as well as the caster angle. It is
very important to select the static angles to
optimize the performance of the vehicle since these
angles have an impact on acceleration, braking and
steering. The following describes the factors that
are considered when designing the suspension
geometry angles:
Camber Angle: The camber angle has a great
impact on the handling characteristics of the
vehicle. Depending on the application, the camber
angle can be designed to be positive or negative. A
positive camber angle reduces the contact patch of
the tire, which maximizes the amount of forces
acting on the tire during cornering, result in an
undesirable tire wear patterns and hence affects the
handling of the vehicle. Therefore, the off-road
vehicles are designed with a small negative camber
angle in the front and rear suspension systems to
allow for better cornering characteristics and
reduce the lateral load going through the control
arms. In addition to that a negative camber angle in
cornering allows the vehicle to have an over steer
characteristic which is desirable. If the initial static
camber angle is set to zero the suspension will gain
positive angle as the wheel travel, thus it is
important to set the static camber angle at a small
negative value in order to maintain the negative
camber angle throughout the range of wheel travel.
Toe Angle: The main performance areas that are
affected by the toe angle are the tire wear, straight
line stability, steering, acceleration and breaking. If
the vehicle is designed with a toe out angle the
wheels become at odds with each other, and thus
any slight turn in front wheels will cause the inner
wheel to turn at a sharper angle than the outer
wheel and prompt a quick steering response. On the
other hand if the vehicle is designed with a toe in
angle the wheels are aligned towards each other,
which gives the vehicle more straight line stability
and makes the steering less responsive. You can opt
for slight toe in angle in order to maintain the
straight line stability of the vehicle, which plays an
important role in the acceleration and hill climb
events. Another factor that are considered is the tire
wear, in order to insure uniform tire wear patterns,
it is logical to think that the toe angles should be set
Table 1: Static Suspension Angles
Setup 1 Setup 2
Front Camber -3 degrees -3 degrees
Rear Camber -2 degrees -2 degrees
Front Toe 0 degree 1 degree
Rear Toe 0 degrees 0 degrees
Caster 10 degrees 4 degrees
at zero to keep the tires aligned straight. However,
due to the small compliance in the suspension
system, as the vehicle accelerates the tire will try to
toe out. Therefore, the static toe in angle set up on
the Off-road car will accommodate for the toe out
effect as the vehicle accelerates. The toe angle
alignment is perhaps not as important in the rear
suspension as it is in the front suspension and so
the rear tires are aligned to zero toe angle.
Caster Angle: The caster angle has a great impact
on the handling characteristics. Depending on
whether the vehicle is front wheel drive or rear
while drive the caster angle can be chosen to be
negative or positive. Choosing a zero angle of
caster is undesirable since it allows the external
vertical forces to travel through one point of
contact which introduces instability in the vehicle.
Given the fact that most of the Off-road vehicle is
rear wheel driven, a trailing positive caster angle
can be set at the front and rear wheels. The positive
caster angle provides a self centering force for the
steering and makes the car easier to drive in a
straight line. On the other hand, a large caster angle
is not recommended since it will make the steering
much heavier and less responsive. In the case of a
Off-road vehicle where no power steering is
available, keeping the caster angle within a small
range is crucial. Thus, the caster angle should be
kept between 0 degrees to 5 degrees (positive
trailing).
Choosing the inner suspension points
As mentioned earlier the outer suspension points
are dictated by the vehicle dimensions and the
wheel hubs and uprights. Once the outer points are
chosen, the inner points are designed to optimize
the suspension performance of the vehicle. The
next step is to use ADAMS/Car to manipulate the
geometry and check the suspension characteristics
until the optimal suspension geometry
configuration is obtained. The suspension points
are input in ADAMS as shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1: ADAMS/Car suspension modelling
One constraint that dictates the inner suspension
geometry is the ride height of the vehicle, since the
lower inner suspension points have to be the lowest
points on the chassis at a height of 10 inches from
the ground. Another restraint is the steering rack
position, the steering rack points are chosen so that
the rack is as low as possible, which gives the
driver more leg room in the front. Therefore, once
the steering rack points and the lower control arm
points are decided, the upper control arm points are
designed to optimize the suspension performance.
When choosing the inner suspension points the
following factors are taken into consideratio n.
Anti-Squat and Anti-Dive: The main causes for the
“squat” and “dive” effects are the braking and
acceleration of the vehicle. In the case of the Off-
road vehicle which is a rear wheel drive, as the
vehicle begins to accelerate the vertical loads
acting on the rear suspension begin to increase as a
result of the sprung mass distribution shifting to the
rear. At the same time the shift in weight
distribution to the rear decreases the loads acting
on the front suspension. Therefore, as the vehicle
accelerates the rear suspension is forced to jounce
and the front suspension is forced to rebound, this
combination of jounce and rebound results in the
vehicle pitching towards the rear end. The same
concept applies when the vehicle is braking where
in this case the weight will be transferred to the
front instead resulting in a forward “dive” resulting
in large moments acting on the suspension.
Therefore, in order to reduce the amount of loads
acting on the suspension components during
braking and acceleration, the suspension geometry
has to be designed to provide anti-squat and anti-
dive forces, which will also reduce the vehicle
pitch. Ideally the vehicle should be designed to
have both anti-squat and anti-dive, however, that
requires the front and rear suspensions are oriented
opposite to each other. Therefore, the Off-road
vehicle are designed to have anti-squat in the front
and rear suspensions by orienting the suspension
geometry at 5 degrees from the horizontal as shown
in Figure 2:
θ θ
θ = 5 degrees
Figure 2: Anti Squat Angle
This suspension geometry configuration allows the
vehicle to go over bumps and rough terrain more
easily by reducing the amount of loads acting on
the suspension system components as the tire
approaches a bump. This can also be explained by
the fact that the wheel travel will follow a lateral
profile that is perpendicular to the road profile.
Road Profile
Longitudinal Wheel
Travel Profile
Figure 3: Anti Squat Reaction
The longitudinal wheel travel profile of the front
and rear suspension systems is plotted below
versus the vertical wheel travel of the wheels using
ADAMS/Car (see Figure 4). It is clear to see from
the curves that the front and rear longitud ina l
curves almost line up with each other and that
implies that the front and rear wheel move in the
same longitudinal direction. It is also important to
notice from the graph that for every 1 inch of
vertical wheel travel there is approximately 0.1
inch longitudinal wheel travel and thus the
wheelbase length of the vehicle does not change
much as the wheels go through wheel travel.
Figure 4: Longitudinal wheel travel
Roll Center Location: As the vehicle approaches a
corner, the sprung mass distribution is transferred
laterally from one side to the other resulting in
higher loads on the outside turning wheels. This
transfer in the weight distribution may cause the
vehicle to roll depending on the roll moment acting
on the vehicle. The roll moment depends on the
location of the roll center and the vehicle center of
gravity, where the distance between the roll axis
and the center of gravity represents the roll moment
arm. The longitudinal position of the roll center is
not considered due to the fact that it does not have
a great impact on the roll moment arm; the lateral
location of the roll center on the other hand is given
to be at the center line of the vehicle. Therefore,
only the vertical position of the roll center is
considered when designing the suspension
geometry. By connecting the roll centers in the
front and rear the vehicle roll axis is formed. The
orientation of the roll axis has a great impact on the
oversteering and understeering characteriscs,
desiging the roll axis to be inclined towards the
front of the vehicle results in understeering, while
oversteering is obtained when the roll axis is
inclined towards the rear of the vehicle. In general
it is desirable to design the vehicle to have a small
oversteering characteristic, however, in case you
are incorporating a limited slip differential that will
help you to whip the rear end of the car around
corners which contributes to oversteering.
Therefore, the front roll center height is designed
to be lower than the rear roll center height so that
the roll axis is inclined towards the front,
contributing to understeering and balancing off the
oversteering effect caused by the differential and
the weight transfer.
Figure 5: Roll Centre Height and Swing Arm Length
Figure 5 illustrates how the vertical position of the
roll center is located by intersecting a line running
from the center of the tire contact patch with the
instant center of the suspension. The lower
suspension points are dictated by the ride height
and hence they cannot be modified, however, the
upper suspension points are used to adjust the roll
center as needed. The figure above shows that as
the upper control arm points are brought closer to
the lower control arm points the roll center is
increased, at the same time the “Swing Arm
Length” increases resulting in less track width
change. Less track width change with wheel travel
reduces the camber gain. Thus, there is a trade-off
between the optimal roll center and the optimal
camber gain.
Camber Gain: As mentioned earlier, a small
negative camber angle is set in the rear and front
suspensions at static in order to prevent positive
camber gain during cornering. However, even with
the static angle set at a small negative camber, there
will still be some positive camber gain as the
vehicle rolls during cornering. Therefore, the
suspension geometry is designed to increase the
camber gain as the wheel travels. In other words,
the camber angle is maintained negative during
bump and rebound. This can be achieved by
designing the control arm points such the A-Arms
are unequal in length. The following figure shows
two possible configurations of the upper
suspension points:
 IC

Figure 7: Steering tie rod length

Lower A-Arm Longer Upper A-Arm Longer
The position of the inner tie rod point however is
also dictated by the clearance with the frame. The
Figure 6: Camber Gains
worst case scenario is when the wheel is at
maximum rebound and the steering wheel is turned
Bump Steer: The bump steer effect is simply the
360 degrees.
change in toe angle as the wheel travels. Bump
The tie rod point has to be designed to
steer can be used to influence the oversteering or
accommodate for the clearance between the frame
understeering characteristics of the vehicle. If the
and tie rod. Therefore, choosing the tie rod points
front wheels are set to toe out during bump it will
requires a lot of iterations to obtain the optimal
make the vehicle understeer, while on the other
bump steer characteristic while still maintain the
hand, the vehicle will tend to oversteer if the front
clearance with frame.
wheels toe in with wheel travel. It is always
desirable however to minimize the bump steer in
Choosing the strut mounting points
both the front and rear suspension systems, infact
ideally the rear suspension system should have no
The position of the strut mounts has a great impact
bump steer at all. The design criteria followed for
on the wheel travel range of the suspension.
the Off-road car are to keep bump steer as much as
Therefore, the intended maximum wheel travel
possible within +/-1 degree of toe.
range for the suspension must be decided first, and
then the strut mounting points can be designed to
Choosing the steering tie rods lengths
obtain the desired wheel travel range. The amount
As mentioned earlier, bump steer is a very
of plunge in the shock is related to the suspension
important parameter when it comes to the
wheel travel using the motion ratio, where the
suspension geometry. The length of the tie rod is
motion ratio is defined as the ratio of displaceme nt
basically designed to minimize the bump steer as
in the shock to the wheel displacement.
much as possible. Given the fact that the outer
steering points are already decided by the upright,
and the steering rack height is chosen to allow for Shock = Displacement
.t
Motion Ratio
better leg room for the driver, the only point that is = Wheel Displaceme nt.
left to be chosen is the inner tie rod point. An
important concept that needs to be considered is the
instant center (IC) of the suspension system; this
point represents the center of rotation of the
suspension swing arm as the wheel bumps or
rebounds. In order to minimize bump steer, a line
connecting the inner tie rod point and the outer tie
rod point has to intersect the instant center of the
suspension (see figure below). By choosing the tie
rod point to lie on that line, the control arms and
the steering tie rod will move together as one a b
mechanism with the same center of rotation, which
reduces the change in the toe angle as the wheel Figure 8: Motion Ratio
travel.
From the figure shown above, the motion ratio can
be calculated using the following equation:
MotionRatio = 𝑏/(𝑎 + 𝑏) Lateral Roll Center Position: The roll axis of the
vehicle is formed by connecting the front and rear
Knowing the plunge displacement in the shock and roll center points. The lateral positions of the front
a desired total range of wheel travel, the motion and rear roll centers have to follow the same pattern
ratio can be calculated and the position of the lower over wheel travel, otherwise the roll axis will not
shock mount can be obtained from the equation be perpendicular to the centerline of the vehicle and
above. The factors that are considered when the vehicle will be subject to yaw. The following
designing the motion ratio are: graph compares the front and rear lateral roll
centers as they vary with wheel travel.
Bending moment: When choosing the lower shock
mounting point, the amount of loads applied by the
shock on the control arms must be considered.
From diagram shown above, if the lower shock
point is chosen to be very close to the wheel, the
strut force has a larger moment arm and thus
inducing higher bending stress in the lower control
arm.

Suspension Stiffness: The orientation of the shock

(angle θ) affects the overall stiffness of the
suspension. If θ is set to be close to 90 degrees, then
the shock is almost vertical and the suspension has
a very high stiffness (wheel rate), while on the
other hand, if the θ is set to be close to zero, the
suspension stiffness is very low. The roll stiffness
is similarly affected by the shock mount point
positions, therefore, an iteration process are used to
obtain the shock points that achieve the desired
wheel travel and optimize the overall suspension
stiffness.
Figure 9: Roll Center Lateral Position
Vertical Roll Center Position: The vehicle is
designed with a roll axis that is inclined towards the
front in order to balance the oversteering
characteristics. The vertical front and rear roll
center positions should also follow the same
pattern throughout wheel travel with the rear roll
centre being always higher than the front:

Half Shafts: In the rear suspension the wheel travel

is constrained by the angle limitations of the
Universal Joints of the half shafts. Therefore, it is
important to design the motion ratio such that at
maximum bounce and rebound, the shocks are the
first components that bottom out by hitting the
bump stops, since the bump stop help absorb some
energy. Otherwise, if the Universal Joints bottom Figure 10: Roll Centre Vertical Position
out first, large amounts of loads will be applied to
the half shafts and transferred to the drive train Roll Stiffness: The roll stiffness is designed so that
assembly. the front suspension is always stiffer than the rear.
Higher roll stiffness in the front allows the vehicle
Design front and rear suspension to be consistent to have an oversteering characteristic during
The front and rear suspension systems geometry cornering.
are designed by considering each system
separately, however, it is important to make sure
that the front and rear suspension characteristics are
consistent with each other in order to optimize the
full vehicle suspension performance. The
following parameters are to be compared for the
front and rear suspension systems.
 Table 2: Summary of material properties
Material Carbon Yield Tensile Elastic Density
Conten Streng Strengt Modul (×1000
t th h us kg/m3 )
(%) (Mpa) (Mpa) (Gpa)
Steel 30 % 436 670 190- 7.7-8.03
4130 210
(Anneal
ed)
Steel 20 % 390 470 190- 7.7-8.03
1020 210
CD
Figure 11: Roll Stiffness Steel 18 % 370 440 190- 7.7-8.03
1018 210
Track Width: The change in track width in the CD
front and rear should follow the same pattern,
where the front track width should always be There is not weight difference between any of these
higher than the rear track width in order to reduce materials since they all have the same density. Steel
the vehicle turning radius. 4130 has higher carbon content than the other two
alloys, therefore, it has better mechanic a l
properties. The only disadvantage with steel 4130
is cost.

Tabs materials: Steel 4130 can be preferred for the

tabs materials due to its superior properties. You
can use a minimum thickness of 0.08 inches steel
plate for all the tabs in the suspension systems.
Laser and water jet cutting are preferred to
fabricate the sheet metal into the required shapes
and geometry for the suspension pick points tabs.

Bushing materials: Delran Nylon are mostly used

for all the suspension bushings due to its durability
and ease of machining. Delran Nylon can withstand
Figure 12: Track Width wear and provide very smooth connections.
DESIGNING OF However, you can try a different cheaper material
which is HDPE (High Density Polyethylene).
SUSPENSION Bronze “oil impregnated” can also be used to make
the bushings, this material has a much higher wear
PARAMETERS resistance yet at the same time it is much heavier.

Front Suspension System

Choice of Materials
Tubing materials: The suspension control arms
are constructed of circular steel tubing. Factors
such as strength, weight and cost are considered
when choosing the control arm tubing materia ls.
Table 2: Summary of material properties compares
the different aspects of some of the materia ls
considered:
Control Arms
Once the suspension points are designed in
ADAMS/Car they are input into CATIA in order to
design the control arms structure. Each one of the
designed suspension points represents the centre of
a joint between two tubes. First CATIA is used to
form a wire frame model of the control arm by
joining the suspension points. The next step is to
choose the appropriate tubing profile for each
member of the control arm structure. A circular
profile can be chosen for the tubing, due to its ease
of manufacturability and better aesthetics aspects.
Given the fact that the strut is mounted to the lower
control arm, it is exposed to large loads during the
suspension bounce and rebound. Circular tubing of
an outer diameter of 1 inch and a thickness of 0.065
inches is apt for the front lower control arm. The
control arm members are drawn separately as
shown in Figure 13 below in order to obtain the
exact dimensions and notch sizes for all the
members:
Room
Figure 13 : Front lower control arm
Similar procedure are followed when designing the
upper control arm structure. The loads travelled
through the upper control arm are not as critical as
the lower control arm. A combination of two tube
sizes are used for the upper control arm, where the
main control arm structure are made of 0.75 inches
OD by 0.049 inches Thickness, while the back tube
that forms the pivot of the control arm with the
frame is 1 inch OD by 0.049 thick inch. Despite the
fact that the loads transferred through the upper
control arm are small, the back tube are added to
support the structural rigidity of the control arm.
Figure 14 below shows the structure of the upper
control arm (Appendix H). The clearance between
the control arms, shocks and steering tie rods at full
wheel travel and steering are taken into
consideration as well. An iterative design process
are used, where the control arms design are
checked for clearance in ADAMS/Car then
modified accordingly in CATIA until a design that
is easy to manufacture and at the same time
provides the required clearance are obtained.
Figure 14: Front upper control arm
Finite Element Analysis
In order to accurately model the effects of lateral,
normal and strut loads, an assembly finite element
model should be used. Furthermore, an FEA
assembly model can be used to examine the
stresses acting on each of the suspension
components. However, in the case of the front
suspension system it is very difficult to model the
ball joint between the control arms and the
upright. Therefore, FEA analysis are done
separately on each of the front suspension
components with special emphasis on critical
parts. The part that is most likely to experience the
largest loads is the lower control arm. The
boundary conditions for the control arm are
modeled as shown in below, where the ball joint,
the spring and the pivots where taken into
consideration and modeled as restraints. The load
is applied at the lower strut mount as shown in
Figure 15, the direction of the force are chosen be
acting along the strut line.
Spring
Element
Loads
Pivot
Ball Joint Restraint
Restraint
Figure 15: Front lower control arm FEA
The magnitude of the load are calculated based on
the maximum vertical force acting on the tire using
the following equation:
Strut Force = (Normal Tire Force) X(Motion Ratio)
Where, the motion ratio is used to convert the
normal tire force into the force acting through the
shock. A finite element analysis on the front
suspension upright is also done. The upright are
modelled with the upper and lower ball joints
boundary conditions and the normal tire force
acting on the spindle of the upright. Figure 16
further explains how the upright are modelled and
the FEA results:
Upper Ball Joint Restraint
Maximum Stress
Steering Tie Rod
Ball
Joint
Normal Tire
Lower Ball Joint
Figure 16: Front upright FEA
Performing finite element analysis on the front
suspension as one mechanism is difficult due to the
fact that it is not possible to model the ball joint
connect between two members, and thus the
degrees of freedom of the system will not be
accurately modelled. However, if the ball joints are
modelled as solid part that are fastened to the
control arms and the upright, then the results from
the finite element analysis will simulate the worst
case scenario of the ball joint reaching their
maximum rotation angle and the front suspension
bottoming out. Despite the fact that this model does
not give an accurate measure of the amount of
stress through each member, it allows for
simulating the effect of the normal tire force as well
as the strut force simultaneously. The full front
suspension FEA model is shown in Figure 17 Front
suspension assembly FEA.
Figure 17: Front suspension assembly FEA
Joints
Pivot Joints: The tabs are used to form pivot joints
between the control arms and the frame which
allows the control arms to rotate as the wheel
travel. The control arms are connected to the frame
by attaching them to steel tabs that are welded to
the frame. The tabs are made from a 0.080 inches
thick steel 4130 sheet metal. Being subjected to
large bending and tensional stress, the tabs are
considered the weakest link in the suspension
assembly and thus the strength of the suspension
system is only as strong as the tabs. In order to give
the tabs more resistance to bending stress and
increase the weld area, bends are incorporated to
the tabs structure as shown in Figure 18.
Figure 18: Laser cut tabs
The tabs are manufactured using water jet cutting,
where the desired profiles are cut and then a
bending machine is used to obtain the correct
bends. Designing the pivots and connection points
to be as smooth as possible contributes to the
overall suspension stiffness. Any small resistance
in the pivots or connections degrees of freedom
will add up to slow the movement of the suspension
system as it rotates about its instant center.
Therefore, the suspension joints are designed with
the appropriate bushings and lubrications to reduce
friction and improve the suspension response. The
front suspension system incorporates two joints on
each control arm, connecting it to the frame and the
wheel upright. The basic construction of a pivot
joint is shown in Figure 19.
 Bushing Tube Insert
Tubing
Gap Tab Bolt
Figure 19: Pivot joint construction
As shown in the diagram, bronze bushings are used
to prevent direct metal on metal contact and allow
Tie rod
Ball Joint Heim Joint
Steering tie rod
the joint to move smoother. A small steel tube is
used to run through the joint assembly so that the
joint pivots about that tube, it is also used as a
protection to the bolt that fastens the whole joint
together. It can be seen from the diagram above that
the insert tubing that runs through the joint
assembly are made slightly longer than the length
of the tube and the bushings, which leaves a small
gap between the bushing and the tab. This is done
intentionally to prevent the tabs from crushing on
the bushings as the bolt is tighten to fasten the
whole assembly and thus allowing the joint to pivot
freely. The bushings are also used in the front
suspension system to give more control over the
caster angle orientation. The caster angle can be
changed by adjusting the bushing sizes on each side
of the upper control pivot joint. This caster
adjustment method can be better understood from
the following simplified diagram (Figure 20:
Caster adjustment mechanism).
Ball Joints: The control arm is connected to the
upright using a ball joint which allows for the front
suspension to control the vertical travel and the
steering angle of the wheel. A Ricky Stator ball
joint that allows 30 degrees rotation range is used
in the front suspension. The ball joint is attached to
the control arm using a threaded steel insert that has
a hex head lip (see Figure).
Bushing Control Arm Bushing
Figure 20: Caster adjustment mechanism
The ball joint is fastened to the steel insert using the
two nuts as shown in the figure. If the nuts are
unfastened and the steel insert is rotated it will
result in moving the ball joint out towards the
wheel or in towards the frame. Thus, given the fact
that this mechanism is used for both the upper and
lower control arms, it can be used to adjust the
camber angle orientation of the wheel without
having to disassemble the suspension system. This
camber adjustment mechanism is very handy when
it comes to finalizing the suspension geometry
before driving the car as it is very convenient to test
different camber angles.
Steering tie rod and bump stop
The tie rods are linkages connecting the steering
rack to the wheel upright, where the tie rod is
connected to the steering rack through a left handed
heim joint and to the wheel upright though a right
handed ball joint. The steering tie rods are
considered one of the weakest links in the front
suspension assembly. The tie rods take some of the
loads transferred from the wheel through the
upright, breaking the steering tie rods after landing
from a jump are the main issue for off-terrain
vehicles. It is also noticed in the past that the tie rod
material itself can withstand high loads, however, suspensions have a centrally mounted final
it is at the joints between the tie rod and the steering driver with axles extending from it. In an
rack and the wheel upright is where the tie rod will independent rear suspension system, each rear
most likely to break. Therefore, you can opt for a wheel can move independently of the opposite rear
heim and ball joints with stronger material and wheel. There are double wishbone suspension,
bigger diameter, also steel 4130 with an OD of 0.75 McPherson struts suspension, trailing link
inches and a thickness of 0.065 inches are used to suspension and semi-trailing link suspension.
make the tie rods. A left hand and right hand Combined with double A arm and semi trailing
threaded inserts are welded to each end of the tie arm, you can try to develop a new semi trailing
rods. The combination of left and right hand arm. Here, we are only taking the following
threads allows the length of the tie rods to be suspensions to compare and analyze: trailing arm,
easily adjusted to change the toe angle of the semi trailing arm and new semi trailing arm.
front wheels. The steering system also incorporates
a steering stop that dictates the maximum and
minimum angle of steering. The main purpose of
the steering stop is to prevent the wheel upright
from hitting the control arm as the wheel reaches
maximum steering angle and maximum wheel
travel. A rubber sleeve is attached to the steering
stop to absorb some of the impact energy. For the
convenience of packaging, the steering stop are
mounted on the upright where the tie rod attaches
to the wheel upright.

SELECTING A
SUSPENSION
PROTOTYPE
Background & Research

Prototype design goal is to find an ideal rear

suspension which includes maintaining traction at
all times, minimizing bump steer, and providing Tailing arm and Semi trailing arm
enough travel to absorb the impacts from the rough
terrain. Various independent suspension systems
are analyzed by ADAMS and CATIA software.
The analysis concentrated on system’s 3.2) ADAMS Modelling
performance, including camber angle, toe angle,
roll centre height, anti squat and wheel travel track. Design goals for the rear suspension include
Three possible options are considered, the trailing maintaining a certain ride height and roll center
arm, semi trailing arm and the new semi trailing height, minimizing toe angle during the wheel
arm. travel, and achieving a certain range of camber
angle and anti-squat during whole wheel travel.
3.1) Concepts & Brainstorming Based on above factors and issues, three possible
options are considered, the trailing arm, the semi
The rear suspension system is important to a trailing arm, and new semi trailing arm.
vehicle’s overall ride and handling, which include
live axle, semi-independent, and independent. 1. Semi-trailing arm
Independent rear suspensions are mainly found on
some RWD cars and 4WD vehicles. Independent
 Roll centre comparison

3. New semi-trailing arm Toe angle comparison

Anti Squat comparison

Camber angle comparison Wheel travel track comparison

The difference between the trailing arm and semi-

trailing arm is that the axis of the trailing arm is at
right angles to the vehicle centerline whereas the
semi-trailing arm axis angle inboard and toward the
rear.
The trailing arm is relatively simple and is popular
on FWD vehicles. It offers the advantage that the
car body floor pan can be smooth and more free
space can be obtained for power train between the
suspension control arms. If the pivot axes lie
parallel to the floor, the compressing and
rebounding wheels undergo no track width, camber
or toe-in change, and the wheel base simply
shortens slightly. If torsion springs are applied, the
length of the control arm can be used to influe nce
the progressivity of the springing to achieve better
vibration behaviour under load. The low body roll
centre at floor level is a disadvantage as is the fact
that the wheels incline more with the body when
cornering than with other independent wheel
suspensions.
The semi trailing arm is a special type of half
trailing and half transverse, which is fitted mainly
in RWD and four-wheel drive cars. We can analyse
it by splitting it into two vectors, one is the trailing
component and another is the transverse
component. The trailing component leads to
understeer. On the other hand, the transverse
component is actually equals to a swing axle
suspension, which always introduce oversteer due
to body roll. As a result, the two components cancel
each other and result in near neutral steering
response. Semi-trailing has a disadvantage - when
the wheel moves up and down, camber angle
changes, unlike double A arm.
angles; however this system is more considered on
frontwheel drive vehicles, and more exposed to
harsh conditions. Instead of using just 4 rod ends
on the double A arm, the trailing arm and semi
trailing arm uses more complex components. This
dramatically increases the overall cost for the
system, and is not worth the added adjustability.
The new semi trailing arm is not chosen due to the
uncertain performance. The added simplicity of
the system and better manoeuvrability are
outweighed by the better performing double a-arm
in this scenario. Combined with the large travel,
wheel angle control and better performance the
double A arm is selected.
3.4) CATIA & FEA
The rough design of the prototype rear suspension
can be modelled in Catia v5 in an assembly
drawing. The design is to be based on
ADAMS/CAR simulation. Since this is a prototype
design, the default property of steel in Catia should
be applied.

No matter semi-trailing arm or trailing arm Prototype Suspension Assembly 1

suspensions, since they are rigidly attached to the
wheels, inevitably more shock and noise could be
transferred to the car body. The new semi trailing
arm is a combination type of double A arm and
semi training arm. It is simpler than double A arm,
which will reduce the unsprung weight. However,
it will keep the advantage of double A arm, such as
characteristic of no mutual wheel influe nce.
Moreover, it will overcome some of the
disadvantages of semi-trailing arm, especially
under hard cornering or running on bumpy roads.

3.3) Additional Analysis

Prototype Suspension Assembly 2
The double a-arm offers good wheel control and
large wheel travel abilities. The trailing arm Upper and Lower control arm should be separated
suspension allows even more control over wheel for the Finite Element Analysis. For the upper
control arm the resultant force should be applied on
the end connecting to the upright. And also the Product Assembly & Maintenance
force applied by the shock mounted on the lower The following pictures show the different views of
control arm is considered. For the lower control the prototype:
arm, the resultant force is only applied on the outer
point while the inner ends are assumed to be
clamped in the analysis.

Rear Lower Control Arm FEA

Prototype front view

Rear Upper Control Arm FEA

Prototype back view

3.5) Materials & Manufacturing Procedure

Based on feasibility and cost factors, prototype

team can built a suspension prototype, take for ex.
new semi trailing arm. The material is PVC pipes.
Prototype team can draw the part draft in paper
according to ADAMS and CATIA data, then cut
PVC pipes into required parts and then glue it
together.
Actually, these parts cannot assembly together
when you attempted to attach them to frame
mockup. Therefore, the sizes of the final prototype Prototype top view
are modified to fit the frame mockup. The size
adjustment for lower control arms is not too much,
but the upper control arm is extent 1.5 inch.

3.6) Finished Product


Prototype side view
Joint and axis control Testing
After the prototype is built, the wheel travel
distance, camber angle, toe angle, caster angle and
force distribution are checked. The following
characteristics are got for this new semi trailing
arm:
1. Large wheel travel distance, larger than
12”;
2. Small camber and toe angle change;
3. Large caster angle change.
Camber checking 1
Camber checking 2
3.7) Recommendations for Improvements
Based on common competition experience and past
competition records, Hill climbing is the choke
point of any team. The original reason of this choke
point is too heavy during hill climbing when the
engine power is limited. Therefore, how to
effectively reduce vehicle weight will be the most
critical issue for the teams. As suspension team,
how to reduce the weight of suspension but keep a
good performance is the most important thing.
Prototype team should spent more time to pay
attention to various rear suspensions. There are
varieties of suspensions which are pretty simple but
achieve nice performances. Semi trailing arms are
pretty popular in competition; even though the
majority of vehicles are equipped with double A
arm. Dramatically, the champion teams from Brazil
are equipped with non-independent suspension,
some kind of live-axle suspension. There are also
some pretty simple independent suspensions,
which only connects one arm with the spring strut
and drive shift. The trend of future rear suspension
will be multiform, simple and light weight.
The following pictures are come from various Baja
competition teams.

1. Semi-trailing arm

Trailing arm 1

Semi trailing arm 1

Trailing arm 2

3. New semi-trailing arm

Semi trailing arm 2

New Semi trailing arm 1

2. Trailing arm
 Damper Design
I believe dampers are the most misunderstood
components on a race car. In fact in the U.S. they
are often called shock absorbers, even though they
really don’t absorb shock! Even the well know race
car engineer Carroll Smith remarked, “Sometimes
I think that I would have enjoyed racing more in the
days of friction shocks. Since you couldn’t do
anything much to them or with them, I would have
spent a lot less time being confused.” It is thought
by many that dampers are a black art, and that there
is some “magic” to developing and tuning dampers.
I am here to dispel those myths, and provide you
New Semi trailing arm 2 information and tools to develop dampers for
ATV’s. There is art to damper development and
4. Other suspensions tuning. The art is using engineering knowledge and
tools to optimize your car’s dampers.
Since you are college students, you probably don’t
have time to read this whole section of the book.
However, there is a lot of valuable informa tio n
contained in each part. If you decide to skim this
chapter, be sure to read the following:
 Gas pressure
 Proper Suspension Design
 Damping force calculations
 Damper Fit Check
 Handling
 The Care and Feeding of your Dampers

A Shock Absorber is a Damper

A shock absorber damps the motion of both the
sprung and unsprung masses of the car. The sprung
Other suspension 1
mass is the body and chassis of the car, and
everything supported by the springs. The unsprung
mass is composed of all the components not
supported by the springs. This includes the
suspension upright and all components attached to
it; the brake calliper, brake disc, wheel, tire and a
portion of the suspension arms.
Although there is a small amount of damping in the
tire (approximately 2%) the suspension damper
must do the majority of the damping for this whole
system. That means damping the sprung mass,
unsprung mass and the tire! While springs and
sway bars produce force based on their
displacement or deflection, dampers produce force
based on how fast you move them, or their velocity.
Therefore, the amount of damping produced is
Other suspension 2 proportional to velocity. This means the damper
works like a dynamic spring; it produces force only
when it is moving. The primary function of the
damper on the vehicle is to damp the sprung and
unsprung masses at their resonant frequencies. For
the sprung mass, this includes the pitch, heave and
roll resonant frequencies. A secondary function is
to control the rate of weight transfer during
transients such as braking, corner entry and
acceleration. In the best case, dampers are “The
frosting on the cake.” If everything else in the
suspension design and component selection is
correct they simply damp the vibrations at resonant
frequencies, control the rate of weight transfer and
enhance vehicle comfort and performance. In the
worst case dampers “Hold the cake together!” They
are asked to compensate for structural deficienc ies,
control heave, pitch or roll imbalances, and
compensate for design deficiencies like lack of
suspension travel.
Figure 1
How Much Damping?
The suspension on ATV is two
spring/mass/damper systems in series (see Figure
1). The first consists of the suspension spring,
body/chassis mass (sprung mass) and the damper.
The second consists of the tire (as the spring),
suspension parts (unsprung mass) and the little bit
of tire damping. Figure 1 shows the system for a
single corner of the car. Remember, there are
FOUR of these systems on your car. This means the
dampers must damp the 16+ degrees of freedom of
the car!!! However, for simplicity, we will deal
with the primary vibrations of the vehicle; heave,
pitch and roll of the sprung mass, and unsprung
resonance. First and foremost you must get these
under control. Once you do that, the rest is tuning
to optimize performance.
So how much damping do you want? Just enough!
Any more reduces grip, increases tire force
variation and tire wear, and makes the ride worse.
What we want is the correct amount of damping.
Overdamping or underdamping increases the
variation of tire force to the track, reducing tire
adhesion or grip.
Damper Construction
Before we get into damping force calculations let’s
examine the basic elements of a damper, compare
the three basic types of damper construction and
look at the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Elements of a damper
1. Main piston: In all dampers the main piston
contains the primary valving components and
produces the majority of the damping forces. In all
three constructions, all the rebound force is
produced by the Main Piston.
2. Compression Piston: The Compression Piston
has several functions:
 Produces compression force based on
the rod displacement through the
Compression Piston.
 This results in lower compression
pressures for the same damping
force, typically resulting in less tire
force variation and better grip.
 Provides a pressure balance to the
main piston during the compression
stroke to prevent cavitation.
 This enables dampers with
Compression Pistons to operate
with lower gas pressure.
Note that the Monotube damper does not have a
Compression Piston.
3. Gas Separator Piston: Keeps the gas separated
from the oil.
4. Main Piston Tube: This is the tube where the
Main Piston operates. Note in the Monotube
damper it is also the
outer tube.
5. Reservoir Tube: The Reservoir Tube is the outer
tube on a Twin Tube damper and creates the area
for extra oil and the gas pressure in a Twin Tube
shock.
Further for damper design and damping force
calculations kindly read our new segment of
books which are going to be launched soon!!!
Thank You