THOUGH “commercial vehicles” include motor trucks, omnibuses, and railcars, this paper discusses only the springing of the first two types. Railcar suspension is primarily a railroad development, and thus its problems are much different from those of automotive road vehicles.
A review of the fundamentals of spring suspension is given, outlining the requirements for comfort of the passengers of motor buses, or the safety from damage of the merchandise carried in motor trucks. The special problems peculiar to commercial-vehicle springing, as compared with the passenger automobile, will be discussed, notably the difficulty of obtaining satisfactory riding qualities, long life of springs, and reasonable limitation of side-sway, throughout much wider ranges of loading.
Various methods of meeting the problems will be described, some already familiar through common usage, whereas others, though promising in the experimental stages, are not as yet commercial.