The Casting Technology for the Aluminum Suspension Cross-Member

An aluminum cast suspension cross-member (Al-susmen) was first used for TOYOTA LEXUS LS400 in Japan. Al-susmen, compared with steel-susmen, has several advantages such as weight reduction, interior noise reduction and improvement in running stability.

However it has a large aspect ratio and is, therefore, difficult to produce.

This paper describes the development of two main casting techniques, namely, (1) permanent mold construction technique and (2) warp minimization technique to produce the high quality Al-susmen.