Integrated chassis and suspension systems for monorail vehicles

A monorail vehicle support system for supporting a vehicle body along a monobeam rail having top and side running surfaces, said support system comprising an attachment frame secured to opposed ends of a vehicle chassis, a single steerable load carrying wheel supported in a vertical plane by said attachment frame for support engagement with said top running surface of said rail, a pair of side wheels having pneumatic tires and supported spaced apart in parallel horizontal planes below said carrying wheel and on one side thereof for frictional engagement with one of said side running surfaces of said rail, a load arm being secured at one end to said attachment frame and at an opposed end to one end of an axle of said carrying wheel, said load arm extending to one side of said load carrying wheel thereby to permit said load carrying wheel to be removed from the other end of said axle, said axle extending through said load arm through a gear box attached to said load arm and a brake system is secured to an extended end of said axle, a leveling means maintains said vehicle chassis at a substantially constant level with respect to said rail by compensating for vertical displacement of said axle caused by the variation of the load on said carrying wheel thereby maintaining said side wheels substantially fixed in their horizontal plane to minimize transverse friction wear of said pneumatic tires of said side wheels, and sensing means connected to said load arm for controlling said leveling means to displace said chassis to maintain same at said substantially constant level.