Dual strut wheel suspension

Claim 1

A front wheel suspension for the sprung mass of a vehicle having a steerable driving front road wheel with said sprung mass including a body frame and a sub-frame engine cradle supported thereon, said road wheel drivingly connected to a transversely extending drive half shaft assembly, said front suspension comprising: an A-type lower control arm extending transversely of the vehicle and swingly mounted to said cradle, said lower control arm defined by front and rear bifurcated leg portions joined at their outboard ends, each said leg portion having its inboard end pivotally attached to said cradle for rotational movement about a longitudinally extending lower control arm pivot axis; a pair of parallel fore and aft longitudinally spaced telescopic shock absorber struts operatively connected between a support structure on said cradle and said lower control arm, said struts arranged with their principal axes in a generally upright manner such that said drive half shaft assembly extends through the space between said struts; each said strut comprising a cylindrical casing having its lower end pivotally attached to an associated one of said lower control arm bifurcated leg portions intermediate its ends for rotational movement about a longitudinally extending strut lower pivot axis, each said strut having a piston rod extending exteriorly of its associated casing upper end and connected to said cradle structure; an upper control arm extending transversely of the vehicle, pivot connection means mounting the inboard end of said upper control arm to pintle pin means adjacent the upper ends of each of said strut cylindrical casing, said pintle pin means adapted to pivot said upper control arm about a longitudinally extending strut upper pivot axis parallel to said strut lower pivot axis; a wheel support member including a drive spindle rotatable therein connected to said drive half shaft assembly, said wheel support member having upper and lower ball stud pivots affixed thereto, said upper ball stud means operatively connected to the outboard ends of said upper arm and said lower ball stud means operatively connected to said joined outboard ends of said lower control arm leg portions, whereby said wheel support member is adapted for steered rotation relative to said upper and lower control arms; and a primary suspension spring comprising an elastic beam extending transversely of said vehicle body frame having its principal axis of symmetry located intermediate said pair of fore and aft struts, said elastic beam having its outboard end supported on said lower control arm and arranged to bear loads transferred between said cradle and said wheel support member whereby said front wheel suspension is mounted outboard of the vehicle frame on said sub-frame engine cradle.