Suspension and steering

systems

Name: karim wagdy

ID: 12p5095
 Suspension system

Suspension is the system of tires, tire

air, springs, shock absorbers and
linkages that connects a vehicle to its
wheels and allows relative motion
between the two.

Main components of the

Suspension System:

 Tires
 Wheels (rims)
 Shock Absorbers (dampers)
 Springs
 McPherson Strut Suspension
 Upper Control Arms (A-arms)
 Lower Control Arms
PAGE 1
 Sway Bars (anti-roll bars)
 Torsion Bars
 Axle System
 Driveshaft
 Wheel Alignment
 Tire Pressure

PAGE 2
How does the Suspension System
work?

The suspension system connects your

vehicle to its wheels. It is designed to
counteract the forces of gravity, propulsion
and inertia that are applied to your vehicle
as you accelerate, slow down or stop in
such a way that all four wheels remain on
the ground.

The tires: which are mounted on your

vehicle’s wheels (or rims) - are the most
important and visible components of the
system. They transfer the power of the
engine to the ground when your vehicle
moves and they counter that motion when it
stops.

As you drive over a bumpy road, shocks are

absorbed by the combined work of a shock
absorber (or damper) ,
And a coil or leaf spring mounted on each
wheel.

PAGE 3
The spring is a device that stores energy in
order to supply it later on. It is actually the
spring that handles the abuse of the road by
allowing the wheel to move up and down
with respect to the frame of the vehicle. In
return, the shock absorber softens the
suspension moves entailed by the spring by
“absorbing the shocks”.

The shock absorber is a steel or

aluminum hydraulic cylinder filled with oil
and pressurized with nitrogen. As the
suspension moves, a piston is forced to
move through the oil-filled cylinder. The
energy produced from the motion of the
piston is dissipated as heat which in turn is
absorbed by the oil.

The McPherson strut suspension differs

from a conventional shock absorber by
the way the spring is positioned around the
strut.

The surrounding upper control arm – or A-

arm or wishbone - and lower control
PAGE 4
arm form a pivoting frame allowing the
suspension to move up and down while
keeping the tire/wheel system perpendicular
to the ground at all times. These arms are
an integral part of the McPherson strut
which has become the most common
shock absorber used in recent front
wheel-drive vehicles.

Sway bars or anti-roll bars control

body roll motion during turns.
They are made of spring steel and attached
between the left and right wheels, at the
front and rear of your vehicle. These bars
are designed to keep your vehicle as
leveled as possible under all driving
conditions. For instance, when the left
wheel is forced upon - as you are turning
left - the sway bar pushes down on the right
wheel counteracting the body roll.

Steel torsion bars are also part of the

suspension system. For each wheel, the
torsion bar has one end attached to the
frame of your vehicle while the other end is
PAGE 5
attached to the moving suspension of the
wheel.
Torsion bars act like springs, twisting with
varying load forces.
The suspension response time with torsion
bars is slightly faster than with springs and
there is no bouncing effect.

finally, it is
the axle system or driveshaft
that the power from the engine is
transmitted to the wheels and tires.

Signs of troubles related to the

Suspension System:

 Excessive tire wear.

 Poor steering control or off-center

steering wheel.

PAGE 6
 Excessive bouncing over road
bumps.

 Loss of control during sudden

stops.

 Excusive swerving while

changing lanes.

 Front-end nose diving during

quick stops.

 Vehicle sag in front or rear.

PAGE 7
 Steering system

The system allows a driver to use only

light forces to steer a heavy car.
The steering effort passes to the wheels
through a system of pivoted joints.
These are designed to allow the wheels
to move up and down with the
suspension without changing the
steering angle.

PAGE 8
They also ensure that when cornering,
the inner front wheel - which has to
travel around a tighter curve than the
outer one - becomes more sharply
angled.

The joints must be adjusted very

precisely, and even a little looseness in
them makes the steering dangerously
sloppy and inaccurate.

There are two steering systems in

common use - the rack and pinion and
the steering box.

On large cars, either system may be

power assisted to reduce further the
effort needed to move it, especially
when the car is moving slowly.

PAGE 9
The rack-and-pinion system:

At the base of the steering column there is a

small pinion (gear wheel) inside a housing.
Its teeth mesh with a straight row of teeth
on a rack - a long transverse bar.

Turning the pinion makes the rack move

from side to side. The ends of the rack are
coupled to the road wheels by track rods.

This system is simple, with few moving parts

to become worn or displaced, so its action is
precise.

A universal joint in the steering column

allows it to connect with the rack without
angling the steering wheel awkwardly
Sideways.

PAGE 10
The steering-box system:

At the base of the steering column there is

a worm gear inside a box. A worm is a
threaded cylinder like a short bolt.

Imagine turning a bolt which holding a nut

on it; the nut would move along the bolt. In
the same way, turning the worm moves
anything fitted into its thread.

Depending on the design, the moving part

may be a sector (like a slice of a gear wheel),
a peg or a roller connected to a fork, or a
large nut.

The nut system has hardened balls running

inside the thread between the worm and the
nut. As the nut moves, the balls roll out into
a tube that takes them back to the start; it is
called a recirculating-ball system.

PAGE 11
The worm moves a drop arm linked by a
track rod to a steering arm that moves the
nearest front wheel.

A central track rod reaches to the other side

of the car, where it is linked to the other
front wheel by another track rod and
steering arm. A pivoted idler arm holds the
far end of the central track rod level. Arm
layouts vary.

The steering-box system has many moving

parts, so is less precise than the rack system,
there being more room for wear
and displacement.

PAGE 12
Power-assisted steering:

On a heavy car, either the steering is heavy

or it is inconveniently low geared - the
steering wheel requiring many turns from
lock to lock.

Heavy gearing can be troublesome when

parking in confined spaces. Power-assisted
steering overcomes the problem. The
engine drives a pump that supplies oil
under high pressure to the rack or the
steering box.

Valves in the steering rack or box open

whenever the driver turns the wheel,
allowing oil into the cylinder. The oil works a

PAGE 13
piston that helps to push the steering in the
appropriate direction.

As soon as the driver stops turning the

wheel, the valve shuts and the pushing
action of the piston stops.

The power only assists the steering - the

steering wheel is still linked to the road
wheels in the usual way.

So, if the power fails, the driver can still steer

but the steering becomes much heavier.

PAGE 14