Suspension is an important part of semi-trailer connecting chassis to frame.
The vehicle’s supporting force, braking force, driving force, etc. are all transmitted through the suspension system. It can also reduce the impact of bad roads on vehicles and ensure the stability of vehicles.
Suspensions are generally divided into independent and non-independent suspensions. For semi-trailers, non-independent suspensions are used because of the need for strong carrying capacity.
There are four kinds of common suspensions for flatbed container trailer:
The rigid suspension is that the left and right wheels are connected by an axle, and the body chassis directly acts on the axle. This kind of axle’s shock absorption effect is very poor, the longitudinal unevenness of the road surface is completely adjusted by the swing of the balance beam, so as to maintain the relative balance of the front and rear axles.
Such suspensions are currently used relatively rarely, and are mainly used for low-axis semi-trailers that carry goods at low speeds.
The bogie suspension is to reduce the common leaf spring front and rear brackets to a single bracket connected to the car body. Its load point is shared on the front and rear axles. Compared with ordinary leaf spring suspension, the bearing capacity of bogie suspension is bigger.
This suspension is less commonly used on ordinary semi-trailers, mainly on heavy vehicles. This 2 axle flatbed trailer from TITAN use bogie suspension. If you are interested in this trailer, you can click “Bogie Suspension Flatbed Trailer” to learn more.
TITAN 2 axle flatbed semi trailer with bogie suspension
The mechanical suspension is our common leaf spring. It is mainly composed of leaf spring, suspension support (commonly known as lifting ear), connecting rod, U-bolt and other parts. The longitudinal force of the body falls directly on an axle.
The biggest advantage of this suspension is that it is cheap, reliable, and easy to maintain.
At present, more than 80% of ordinary semi trailers use a leaf spring balanced suspension.
TITAN 3 axle flatbed truck trailer with mechanical suspension
The most obvious feature of an air suspension is its airbag-type air spring. The weight of the air spring itself is relatively light, the air medium friction in the airbag is small, there is almost no noise during operation, and its life is 2-3 times that of the leaf spring.
However, when using an air spring, a rod system capable of transmitting various forces and moments other than the vertical force must be provided, so the suspension structure is complicated; in addition, the air spring has strict requirements on sealing and its cost is also high.
At present, air suspension for semi-trailers is mostly in high-end fields such as precision instrument transportation and hazardous chemical transportation.
TITAN 4 axle container flatbed trailer with airbag suspension
If you want more information about our semi-trailer, please click “Flatbed Semi Trailer“.
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