6.1.7 McPherson's suspension
McPherson strut (Figure 6.5) is perhaps one of the most common designs of suspensions at the present time. It is also called "candle" (the most striking example is the front suspension of the VAZ 2109 and the like). It is distinguished by its simplicity of design, cheapness, maintainability (which means that it will be easy to repair it) and relative comfort. The so-called McPherson strut is attached from above to the car body and has the ability to rotate in the support, and from below to the steering knuckle. The steering knuckle, in turn, is connected to the lower wishbone, which is connected to the car body - that's it, the ring is closed. Sometimes, in order to provide additional rigidity, a longitudinal thrust is installed in the structure, connecting it to the transverse lever (again, as an example, VAZ 2109). The strut has a lever, to which the track rod is attached. Thus, when driving a car, the entire shock absorber rotates, turning the wheel, without stopping to compress and stretch, overcoming the unevenness of the road surface. But you should also pay attention to the shortcomings of a single-link (and in the case described above, it is just a single-link) suspension. These are the "pecking" of the car when braking and a small energy consumption of the suspension.
Figure6.5 Suspension with McPherson strut.
2 MB