When people think of automobile performance they normally think of horsepower torque and acceleration but all of the power generated by a piston engine is useless if the driver can control the car that's why automobile engineers turn their attention to the suspension system to maximize the friction between the tires and the road to provide steering stability and better handling in today's world the modern cars are the true wonders of engineering they rely on multiple components and mechanical systems working together to guarantee smooth and safe operation many don't understand what suspensions are and what exactly it does let's take a closer look together your car's suspension system is a protective lattice of shock absorbing components such as springs and dampers your car's suspension helps ensure that your drive is safe and smooth by absorbing the energy from various road bumps and other impacts furthermore it helps your tires to stay in contact with the road by increasing tire friction however while most people know a little bit about their car's functions like how engine works how brakes work and how suspension work so today we look into what are the different types of suspension system and their components suspension comes with two basic components such as springs and dampers now let's find out how these components works starting with the springs springs act as reservoirs of energy when the vehicle passes over irregularities of the road it compresses the spring this energy is released when spring expands subsequently and with the help of dampers the energy is converted into heat and the spring absorbs the shock and avoids transfer to the vehicle frame there are three types of springs are used they are leaf springs or laminated springs coil springs and torsion bars leaf springs are also known as laminated springs they are basically steel strips that are mounted over one another they are also called semi-elliptical springs as they are bent in that form however nowadays they are almost straight coil springs can have constant and variable rigidity items with constant stiffness have the same diameter on both ends as for the second type the diameter of spring and rod vary on different ranges in the center of both spring types a rubber bump stop is installed this detail is required to smooth in fluctuations and prevent springs damage when it is fully compressed a torsion bar is a metal tube with rods inside they work on the principle of twisting it means that before installation torsion bars are torqued around the axle and then make the force of untwisting this function is controlled with special levers and shock absorbers using the bars as an elasticity element dampers commonly known as shock absorbers protect the chassis from the force caused when a wheel hits a bump and prevents the springs from continuously bouncing they also push the wheel back to the road surface a damper is a piston filled with oil that separates the chassis from the wheel when the car hits a bump the piston pushes into the casing and is slowed by the oil which flows into another chamber as it's compressed knuckle or upright this is used to connect the wheels to the suspension system the knuckle arm is positioned at the front wheel of the car the wheels will be rotate continuously on the spindle shaft that comes from the knuckle arm it is also connected to the lower arm using a ball joint the knuckle is having a caster angle and a kingpin on the front wheels which helps in steering a vehicle in left or right direction strut strut is main component of suspension system strut is basically the combination of spring and damper which is having two ends which will be attached to the frame and the wheel spring is used to store kinetic energy into potential energy and damper dissipates the kinetic energy into heat energy both these components works together to form a stride assembly the size of spring used in strut depend upon the load capacity of the vehicle anti-sway bars these are also known as anti-roll bars anti-sway bars play a key role in passenger comfort and vehicle stability to improve performance anti-sway bars acts as one of the key components in a vehicle suspension system as the name suggests their purpose is to reduce body roll or sway when operating under cornering conditions the ball joint functions to accept various lateral and horizontal loads on the car it is also helpful as a rotation axis when the vehicle is turning ball joints consist of a metal housing and stud the stud is able to swing and rotate within the housing in this joint you will usually find helpful oil for lubricating the various parts that rub against each other the grease lubrication is also provided in the socket of ball joint there are two types of ball joints namely upper ball joints and lower ball joints if there is no oil the friction will not work correctly and the ball joint will tend not to function properly and it sounds like this there are different types of suspension system will be used in automobile vehicles they are independent suspension system and non-independent or rigid axle suspension system independent suspension system independent suspension is an automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically and independently of the others in this system the wheels are linked movement on one side does not affect the wheel on the other side it is common for the left and right sides of the suspension to be connected with anti-roll bars or other mechanisms most modern vehicles have independent front suspension many vehicles also have an independent rear suspension it has almost same advantages of the independent front suspension but the main advantage that it reduces the unsprung weight of the vehicle in independent suspension there are various types are available they are mac first and strut suspension double wishbone suspension multi-link suspension and trailing arm suspension mac strut assembly earl s macpherson an engineer with ford usa developed a single wishbone with a telescopic strut type system in 1947. both the strut and lower control arm are connected to the frame of the vehicle with a flexible joint in the whole system the main component is the strut it consists of spring and a damper when the vehicle comes in contact with the irregularities of the road the wheel moves up and down on the radius of the lower link due to this motion all the shock is transferred to the strut which absorbs the maximum amount of force it has relatively simple construction which results in a compact design and cheap double wishbone suspension system in this system the wheel is mounted on the wheel hub the wheel hub is provided with two links that is upper link and a lower link both the links are pivoted with the frame of the vehicle a shock absorber is also placed between the frame and the lower link which consists of a flexible joint when the vehicle moves on uneven surfaces the wheel faces shocks these shocks are transferred to the shock absorber through the lower link the shock absorber absorbs the maximum amount of shocks the upper link is used to maintain the camber of the wheel this system is complex as well as costly and it requires more space multilink is a suspension developed by double wishbone and multi-link that has a fairly complicated construction design because it has separate parts that are held together by joints this type of suspension has a quality grip and controlling the car becomes easier the multi-link suspension also has many variations if this suspension is damaged then the replacement process takes a long time and the spare parts are still rare so the price is relatively more expensive than other suspensions trailing arm independence suspension maintains constant track and wheel altitude with a slight change in wheelbase and caster angle a coil spring is attached to the trailing arm which itself is attached to the shaft carrying the wheel hub when the wheel moves up and down it winds and unwinds the spring a torsion bar has also been used in certain designs in place of the coil springs non-independent or rigid axle suspension system in this both the wheels on same axle are dependent to each other there is a solid or live axle it allows both left and right wheel to connect together as team if one side of automobile bends in one direction then other side will also bends in the same direction this is called dependency in non-independent or rigid axle suspension system there are two types they are solid axle leaf spring suspension and solid axle coil spring suspension in solid axle leaf spring suspension leaf springs are used as suspension members the longest spring in the setup bends into a circle to form a spring's eye this spring's eye is bolted to the spring hanger and the other end of spring's eye is attached to the shackle this shackle allows the change in length of the leaf spring when it bends also the shackle includes a rubber bushing which absorbs vibrations and prevents them from reaching the vehicle the center portion of the leaf spring is attached to the rear and axle housing with the help of u-bolts and a rebound clip holds all the springs together this type of suspension is used in truck intended for more severe operations and with rear axle with high payload solid axle coil spring suspension in this type the coil springs are seated on pen shaped brackets which are attached to the rear axle torque tube drives are also attached to this setup and the coil springs are not subjected to the driving thrust the shock absorbers prevent the vehicle from rolling and the energy stored in the coil springs is greater than the leaf springs this type of suspension is always used in conjunction with torque tube torque reaction link or torque raw drive therefore the coil springs are not subjected to driving thrust or twist in air suspension system air spring is used instead of a mechanical spring air spring has a higher load carrying capacity than mechanical spring air spring also has the advantage of variable spring rate by adjusting air pressure which is not possible in the case of mechanical spring in air spring two ends are provided one is mounted on the frame and the others to the swing arm three connection lines which are pressure line return line and control align are also provided for the operation and control in this type of suspension system there is an integrated fluid filled displacer fitted to each wheel the front and rear units were connected making them two pairs the units were filled with a mixture of alcohol water and additives to prevent corrosion when wheel on one side of the car hit a bump in the road the fluid was displaced and caused the unit on the other wheel to react in this way a bump at the front made the rear of the car rise to a corresponding height and the car always remain level so that's it that's all about the suspension system if you think i have missed anything then please let me know in the comments so now you know everything about suspension system but the transmission is also one of the most important function in automobile vehicles there are different types of transmissions are available click on this video and find out which type of transmission is better for your new car you