Smooth Road Shake Reduction in Pickup Trucks Using Hydraulic Body Mounts

The advantages of hydraulic mounts over conventional elastomeric mounts for NVH refinement are well known, particularly in the area of engine and suspension mounts. Recently, hydraulic mounts have been successfully employed as body mounts between the frame and cab, principally to control freeway hop in pickup trucks. Due to their ability to provide increased damping at small displacements, hydraulic body mounts also have good potential to reduce smooth road shake. This paper documents the reduction in smooth road shake performance of a full size pickup truck. Hydraulic body mounts tuned to the frequency of the smooth road shake sensitivity area were added to the rearmost cab mount location. Both tire-wheel balance and uniformity were set to the highest production level specification allowed and the effect of hydraulic cab mount was measured experimentally during smooth road driving at medium to high speeds. Hydraulic body mounts were found to be successful in reducing smooth road floor shake by up to 6 dB, thereby considerably refining the vehicle vibration due to first order tire-wheel input forces. Additional benefits for freeway hop and ride comfort on rough road were also realized with the hydraulic body mounts.