Design and Fabrication of a Suspension Rig

Owing to its placement under the vehicle body, the suspension system is one of the parts of the vehicle which are difficult to comprehend completely, albeit being a vital component. For demonstrating the working of a suspension system, a physical model in which one can actually see the movement of all the components would be a great tool. A Mustang II independent front suspension system was purchased from Heidts Engineering Performance and a rig that can emulate some of the real world situations of vehicle suspension action was designed and fabricated. All the components are accessible and conditions like bounce, rebound and roll can be emulated manually using two jack screws. The rig was instrumented to measure the roll angle, the angle of the upper arm and the steering rotation. Motion simulation study of bounce, rebound and roll was done using NX 10 and the results were compared with the data obtained from the rig.