The Development of the ZQ8 Sport Handling Suspension for GM's Midsize Pickup Trucks

A new Sport Handling Suspension has been developed for the 1996 Chevrolet S-Series and GMC Sonoma pickup trucks, which provides a sports-car-like level of handling with an aggressive, lowered appearance in an affordable package while maintaining the truck's payload and trailering capability This paper discusses the process by which the suspension was developed It provides an explanation of how the market opportunity was observed, and how the product concept was tailored to fulfill the market demands The paper also contains a discussion of the history of the sport truck market segment, and a presentation of handling data for a truck with this suspension

During the development process, an effort was made to utilize existing components that are shared with other car and truck lines, to help contain tooling and piece costs This enabled the package to be marketed for a very reasonable price The components comprising the system are as follows

• Specific front and rear springs
• DeCarbon monotube gas shock absorbers
• Front and rear stabilizer bars
• Urethane front and rear jounce bumpers
• 12 7 1 Steering Gear
• P235/55R16 Goodyear Eagle GA tires
• 16x8 aluminum wheels