Suspension system for a steerable vehicle axle

A suspension system for a steerable axle of a motor vehicle comprising, in combination:

• a. an axle;
• b. a vehicle wheel mounted on said axle;
• c. a spring member extending approximately vertically between said axle and the frame of the vehicle, said spring member having a longitudinal axis forming an angle .alpha..sub.F with respect to the vertical, and said spring member including a shock absorber having a piston arranged within a cylinder and a piston rod extending between said piston and one end of said shock absorber;
• and
• d. a control arm extending approximately horizontally between said spring member and the frame of the vehicle, the point of articulation between the control arm and the spring member being a vertical distance h above the point of wheel contact with the ground and a vertical distance l below the point of articulation between the spring member and the vehicle frame, said control arm having a longitudinal axis forming an angle .alpha..sub.L with respect to the horizontal;
• the transverse rigidity of the vehicle wheel at the point of contact with the ground being c.sub.Ry, and the transverse rigidity at the point of articulation between the spring member and the vehicle frame, as determined essentially by the flexural rigidity of the piston rod, being c.sub.By ;
• wherein the parameters .alpha..sub.F, .alpha..sub.L, h, l, c.sub.Ry and c.sub.By are so chosen that the following factor, called the "wheelfight factor", is approximately zero:
• ##EQU9## whereby, in operation, the steering system will not be susceptible to wheelfight.