Truck Chassis Component Redesign To Reduce Weight

This paper discusses the means by which several major heavy-duty truck components have been redesigned from conventional material, such as malleable iron, nodular iron, or fabricated steel, to cast, stamped, extruded, or forged aluminum in order to reduce overall vehicle weight. Design life for lightweight parts had to meet the same criteria as the standard parts they replaced. All components discussed in this paper are available in current production trucks.