Spring beam suspension with compressed axle mounting

In a suspension comprising a pair of trailing arm assemblies adapted to mount on a vehicle frame having a pair of spaced frame rails, each trailing arm assembly including:

• a frame bracket adapted to be mounted to one of the frame rails;
• a spring beam pivotally mounted at one end to the frame bracket for pivotal movement about a pivot axis and adapted to carry an axle at another end;
• a spring mounted to the spring beam a spaced distance from the one end and adapted to mount to the corresponding vehicle frame rail to resist the rotational movement of the spring beam toward the frame;
• the improvement comprising:
• an axle seat integrally formed in the spring beam for mounting an axle thereto;
• the spring beam has a cylindrical-shaped portion that forms the axle seat;
• the cylindrical-shaped portion defines an axle opening that is adapted to slidably receive the axle;
• and
• the spring beam has a flange that extends longitudinally from the cylindrical-shaped portion along a central portion of the spring beam for clamping the cylindrical-shaped portion around the axle.

In a suspension comprising a pair of trailing arm assemblies adapted to mount on a vehicle frame having a pair of spaced frame rails, each trailing arm assembly including:

• a frame bracket adapted to be mounted to one of the frame rails;
• a spring beam made of spring steel and pivotally mounted at one end to the frame bracket for pivotal movement about a pivot axis and adapted to carry an axle at another end, wherein the spring beam is significantly wider than it is thick;
• a spring mounted to the spring beam a spaced distance from the one end and adapted to mount to the corresponding vehicle frame rail to resist the rotational movement of the spring beam toward the frame;
• the improvement comprising:
• an axle seat integrally formed in the spring beam for mounting an axle thereto;
• an axle mounted in the axle seats in each of the trailing arm assemblies and an adhesive layer between the axle and the axle seats bonding the axle to the axle seats, wherein:
• the axle seats are sized to substantially encircle the axle and are in tension along an inner surface of the axle seat and compress the axle and evenly distribute a compressive load on the axle across at least two sets of diametrically opposed external surfaces of the axle.

A suspension comprising a pair of trailing arm assemblies adapted to mount on a pair of spaced vehicle frame rails, each trailing arm assembly including:

• a frame bracket adapted to be mounted to one of the frame rails;
• a spring beam pivotally mounted at one end to the frame bracket for pivotal movement about a pivot axis, the spring beam having an end portion forming an open loop defining an axle seat adapted to carry an axle, the spring beam having a longitudinal centerline transverse to the pivot axis and a longitudinal centerline transverse to the axle seat and wherein:
• the axle seat longitudinal centerline is located outboard of the pivot axis longitudinal centerline;
• a spring mounted to the spring beam a spaced distance from the one end and adapted to mount to the corresponding vehicle frame rail to resist the rotational movement of the spring beam toward the frame.

In a suspension comprising a pair of trailing arm assemblies adapted to mount on a pair of spaced vehicle frame rails, each trailing arm assembly including:

• a frame bracket adapted to be mounted to one of the frame rails;
• a spring beam pivotally mounted at one end to the frame bracket for pivotal movement about a pivot axis and having an axle seat spaced from the one end and adapted to carry an axle, the spring beam having a longitudinal centerline transverse to the pivot axis and a longitudinal centerline transverse to the axle seat;
• a spring mounted to the spring beam a spaced distance from the one end and adapted to mount to the corresponding vehicle frame rail to resist the rotational movement of the spring beam toward the frame;
• the improvement comprising:
• the axle seat longitudinal centerline is located outboard of the pivot axis longitudinal centerline;
• the spring beam has a cylindrical-shaped portion that integrally forms the axle seat, and wherein:
• the cylindrical-shaped portion has a flange extending longitudinally therefrom along a central portion of the spring beam for clamping the cylindrical-shaped portion around the axle.