Trailing arm axle
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Axle_-_Semi_trailing-arm_23.svg/220px-Axle_-_Semi_trailing-arm_23.svg.png)
The trailing arm axle is a type of independent wheel suspension . It is used almost exclusively in motor vehicles as a wheel suspension on the rear axle and consists of a triangular rocker that is firmly connected to the wheel carrier and is mounted at two points on the body or on a subframe (subframe). The axis of rotation formed by both bearings points diagonally backwards towards the center of the vehicle, so that the wheels get a little toe-in and negative camber during compression .
Compared to the pendulum axle , the semi- trailing arm axle has less camber change and a lower instantaneous center . Drive shafts must each have two joints instead of one. Compared to modern multi-link axles , the semi- trailing arm axle tends to oversteer under side forces and is therefore considered technically outdated.
Lancia patented the trailing arm rear axle in 1947 and installed it in the Lancia Aurelia from 1950 . Renault used them from 1951 ( Renault Frégate ), Fiat from 1955 ( Fiat 600 ) and 1957 ( Fiat Nuova 500 ) (in both types together over 6.5 million times). German manufacturers began to install semi-trailing arm axles in the late 1950s: Lloyd ( Lloyd Alexander TS from 1958), Barkas (B 1000 from 1961), BMW (" New Class " from 1962), AWE ( Wartburg 312 from 1965), NSU (Ro 80 from 1967), Mercedes-Benz (type W114 / 115 - " Strich-Acht " from 1968) and Volkswagen ( VW Beetle with semi-automatic , VW Transporter T2 , both 1967), VW 411 1968 and K 70 1970.
In Great Britain, Ford introduced it in 1966 in the Ford Zephyr , the successor Ford Granada from 1972 with the same axle construction was also available on the continent. BMC used them in the 1967 Austin 3-liter . GM introduced the semi- trailing arm axle in the Chevrolet Corvair in 1964 and in Europe from 1977 in the Opel Senator and Vauxhall Royale. In France it was again in the Peugeot 504 from 1968 .
Since the beginning of the 1980s it has been replaced by the multi-link axle in rear-wheel drive vehicles , as it was used for the first time in the Mercedes 190 ( W 201 ).
Daimler-Benz used the designation " diagonal pendulum axle" for the rear trailing arm axle of the W114 / 115 series presented in 1968 . The name was chosen for marketing reasons to the then current S-Class ( W 108 / 109 ) to let do not appear with swing axle as outdated design.
The Barkas B 1000 is one of the few vehicle models with semi-trailing arms also on the front wheels.
literature
- Peter Gerigk, Detlev Bruhn, Dietmar Danner: Automotive engineering. 3rd edition, Westermann, Braunschweig 2000, ISBN 3-14-221500-X
- Wolfgang Matschinsky: Wheel guides for road vehicles . 3rd edition, Springer, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-540-71196-4 .
Web links
- Trailing arm on kfz-tech.de
- Semi-trailing arm axle on oldtimer-markt.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.barkas.de/Fanshop/Handbuecher/Pflegeplan.jpg Schematic plan of the chassis and chassis