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Concept
Torsion bar suspension
Summary
A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end terminates in a lever, the torsion key, mounted perpendicular to the bar, that is attached to a suspension arm, a spindle, or the axle. Vertical motion of the wheel causes the bar to twist around its axis and is resisted by the bar's torsion resistance. The effective spring rate of the bar is determined by its length, cross section, shape, material, and manufacturing process.
Torsion bar suspensions are used on combat vehicles and tanks like the T-72, Leopard 1, Leopard 2, M26 Pershing, M18 Hellcat, M48 Patton, M60 Patton and the M1 Abrams (many tanks from World War II used this suspension), and on modern trucks and SUVs from Ford, Chrysler, GM, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan, Isuzu, LuAZ, and Toyota. Class 8 truck manufacturer Kenworth also offered a torsion bar suspension for its K100C and W900A models, up to about 1981.
Manufacturers change the torsion bar or key to adjust the ride height, usually to compensate for engine weight.
The main advantages of a torsion bar suspension are soft ride due to elasticity of the bar, durability, easy adjustability of ride height, and small profile along the width of the vehicle. It takes up less of the vehicle's interior volume than coil springs.
Torsion bars reached the height of their popularity on mass-production road cars in the middle of the 20th century at the same time that unitary construction was being adopted. At a time when the mechanics of stress and metal fatigue in unitary body frames was poorly understood, torsion bars were very attractive to vehicle designers as the bars could be mounted to reinforced parts of the central structure, typically the bulkhead. Using MacPherson struts to achieve independent front suspension with coil springs meant providing strong turrets in the frontal structure of the car.
Official source
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