If having a comfortable driving experience is a big determining factor in whether or not you like a vehicle, you already know how integral suspension systems are to anything that moves on wheels. Suspension systems in modern automobiles are so ingrained into the technology that we hardly ever consider our suspension unless there seems to be a problem with it. It’s safe to say that without the development of proper suspension systems, the entire automobile world would not be where it is today.
So, how did this technology come to be? There is actually quite a bit of lore surrounding the origins and beginnings of modern suspension systems. You might be surprised to learn that the idea behind suspension systems is not actually as modern as it would seem. Whether you’re planning to be an auto mechanic yourself or you just happen to enjoy learning about how the vehicles we use every single day work, we can provide that information. This article will show you the complete history of automotive suspension to give you a little insight into how long it took to get to where we are today.
Despite how strange it may seem, suspension systems aren’t actually completely modern inventions. The earliest evidence of primitive suspension systems goes back thousands of years. Some historians believe that the idea may have started with how bow weapons use similar tension spring principles to correctly and accurately shoot arrows. While this is obviously very different from suspension principles used in automotive systems, even those ideas are older than you might think.
Historians made an incredible discovery when they opened the ancient Egyptian tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamen. The pharaoh’s personal chariot had been buried in the tomb alongside him, and it was remarkably advanced for the time period he lived in. Similar chariots dating back to roughly the same era had advanced suspension systems that incorporated things we still use today, such as primitive forms of springs and shock absorbers.
Modern-day suspension systems wouldn’t be possible without the discoveries of a 17th-century scientist named Robert Hooke. It was Hooke who originally explained the mechanics and scientific principles behind how a spring works under stress. Hooke’s Law explains that a body with elasticity, when put under stress, will change shape in proportion to the amount of stress applied over a certain range. While there is a certain amount of complicated mathematical theory behind this law, it’s important to know that this discovery eventually led to the creation of the coil spring, one of the most integral parts of modern-day suspension systems.
Before we can go too deep into more modern suspension systems, a complete history of automotive suspension wouldn’t be complete without talking about leaf springs. Leaf springs have been around almost as long as the idea of suspension systems. While they can certainly do the job of a suspension system, they tend to require a lot more maintenance over the same period of time when compared to coil springs. They aren’t completely obsolete, as many modern vehicles and machinery still have leaf springs somewhere in their design, but for a vehicle’s suspension system, they were beat out long ago.
The first patent for a traditional coil spring dates back to 1763. An “R. Tradwell” was the holder of the original patent for the coil spring in Great Britain. Despite this patent, coil springs don’t have too much history until the mid-1800s, where we see the first steel coil spring used in the design of an armchair. Given how old the coil spring is, it’s actually a little odd that it takes so long before we start to see it in older vehicles. Part of the reason for this is that carriages at the time moved at such a slow pace that they didn’t require suspension systems. The lack of a way to mass-produce these products is perhaps another reason we don’t see these springs pop up until much later during the industrial revolution.
We finally start to see the origins of modern suspension systems when we get to the beginning of the 20th century and meet the Brush brothers. After his brother William had a nasty accident by taking a corner too quickly, Alanson Brush had the idea for a suspension system that the brothers implemented into the new car he designed. In 1906, we see the introduction of the Brush Two-Seat Runabout. It was ahead of its time, with front coil springs and even shock absorbers incorporated into its design. Despite this incredible feat of engineering, it would still be over two and half decades before their innovations saw mass appeal.
It was in 1934 that General Motors finally hopped on the coil spring bandwagon. GM introduced vehicles in 1934 that used coil spring front suspension, but these cars had something new on top of that as well. Each wheel of the car sprung independently from one another, helping to reduce the bouncing effect of the springs. This was the turning point when many other manufacturers started to see the benefits of these kinds of suspension systems and started to incorporate them into their own vehicles.
Coil springs alone weren’t going to be enough to get the comfortable ride that we enjoy nowadays. It wasn’t until the advent of shock absorbers that car rides evolved to today’s standards. Before that, the odds that you could damage your vehicle going through a pothole or get flung out of your seat when going over a steep bump were much higher. By combining both coil springs and shock absorbers in the same system, we start to see the beginnings of the suspension systems that we now see in modern vehicles.
If all this talk has you ready to take a crack at your own vehicle’s suspension system, Norcal Diesel Performance can help you out. Find parts for your specific model on our store page, or take a look at some of the Duramax suspension parts we have ready to go right now.
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