Types of Leaf Springs Types of Leaf Springs Leaf springs are found in truck suspension systems. The extra weight of the vehicle and the load it carries require additional support. Available in a range of shapes, leaf numbers and capacities, leaf springs offer multiple options for different trucks.
This month’s blog at Paddington Motor Springs 020 8795 3300
Elliptical Elliptical leaf springs come in a few shapes; quarter, semi, three-quarters, and full shapes. Semi-elliptical springs are most commonly used on trucks and appear on both the rear and front axles. However, in cars, they are only fitted on the rear axle.
Older car models use the quarter-elliptical leaf springs which are less efficient. These looked like half a semi-elliptical spring. Some manufacturers thought that if semi-elliptical springs worked well, placing two of them facing each other into a full elliptical spring would work better. However, this failed as the pressure from the spring impacted the alignment.
Transverse Transverse leaf springs have the same shape as the semi-ellipticals. However, these fit under a truck with the base of the curve towards the chassis instead of facing the ground.
In addition to this, these springs are also located elsewhere. They go along the sides of the vehicle instead.
Platform Platform leaf springs use a pair of semi-elliptical leaf springs. One faces down and the other points up. When fastened to the vehicle, the springs support three different points of the vehicle’s weight along each side.
Multi Spring or Mono Another thing to consider when choosing leaf springs is the number of leaves they have. There are two types of leaf spring suspensions: mono and multi.
Mono leaf springs have only a single piece of metal. These will often have a thicker centre which gets narrower towards the edges. This provides similar support to multi-leaf springs.
Multi-leaf springs require spring clips between the layers. These clips allow each leaf to move as required while staying in line with other leaves. A centre bolt through the thickest multi-leaf spring holds all the layers together.
Find Out More For more information about the different types of leaf springs available, contact Paddington Motor Springs in Middlesex. Call us today on 020 8795 3300 07710 986688 contact form
