Swing axle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A swing axle is a simple type of independent suspension first used in early aircraft (1910 or before), such as the Sopwith and Fokker, usually with rubber bungee and no damping.
Many later motor car rear swing axles have universal joints connecting the driveshafts to the differential, which is attached to the chassis. They do not have universal joints at the wheels: the wheels are always perpendicular to the driveshafts. Swing axle suspensions traditionally used leaf springs and shock absorbers. Volkswagens built before 1967 used torsion bars as their spring.
This type of suspension was considered better than the more typical solid axle for two reasons:
- It reduced unsprung weight since the differential is mounted to the chassis
- It eliminates sympathetic camber changes on opposite wheels
However, there are a number of shortcomings to this arrangement:
- A great amount of single-wheel camber change is experienced since the wheel is always perpendicular to the driveshaft
- "Jacking" on suspension unloading (or rebound) causes positive camber changes on both sides
- Reduction in cornering forces due to change in camber can lead to oversteer instability and in extreme cases lift-off oversteer
These problems were evident on Volkswagen up until 1967, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL, the early versions of the Porsche 356, the Triumph Herald, Vitesse and Spitfire, Tatra T603 and others.
Swing axles were supplanted by deDion axles in the late 1960s, though live axles remained the most common. Most rear suspensions have been replaced by more modern independent suspensions in recent years, and both swing and deDion types are virtually unused today.
The first production (1960-1964) Chevrolet Corvair used this design. The alleged unsafe behaviour of the Corvair was described in detail by Ralph Nader in his book Unsafe at Any Speed. Second Production Corvairs (1965-1969) used a true independent rear suspension system.
Another use of the swing axle concept is Ford's "Twin I-Beam" front suspension for trucks. This has solid axles (so they do not transmit power). Though it is touted as an independent suspension system in that each tire rises and falls without affecting the position of the other, the parallelogram action of the A-arm suspension system is not present. Each tire in fact moves with a similar camber change to that of the powered swing axles for the rear wheels listed above. But the pivot point of the axles is located not in the middle of the car but nearly on the other beam of the chassis, so the effect is far less and quite safe.
