Suspension for light duty trucks

Abstract

A conventional form of vehicle axle suspension comprises on each side of a vehicle-a leaf spring pack and a shock absorber system. A height control system may also be included. According to this invention the leaf spring pack is replaced by a single leaf spring and a pair of air springs. The opposite ends of the single leaf spring are shackled to the existing shackle attachments and their vehicle frame mounts. Midway between its ends the single leaf spring is connected to the adjacent axle end by the existing spring-to-axle attachment components. In order to compensate for the difference in thicknesses of leaf spring pack and the single leaf spring at their midpoints, a spacer having a vertical thickness equal to the difference in the thicknesses is mounted on top of the single thickness spring at the axle. Air spring support brackets are symmetrically mounted on the chassis frame member on opposite sides of the axle. The upper end of each air spring is attached to one of the brackets and the lower end of each air spring is attached to the single leaf spring. Preferably a-height control system is provided on each side so as to maintain the chassis at a predetermined level. Except for the single leaf spring and the spacer, the other components may be of the type used in conventional leaf spring pack suspensions.