5 Suspension Types Demonstrated with Lego

Enjoy watching! The custom springs video: https://youtu.be/FtiaOsQ_5O0

Really nice! I didn't think about the use of magnets, but I'm really curious how they'll perform in a Lego model.

trying to figure out a much larger scale lego suspension system, but this was a super inspiring and helpful visualization of some suspension types!

As someone who just started with lego technic with zero skill & trying to build my own RC car, this is extremely helpful, thanks!

A couple corrections in terminology since you asked for it, plus more info for anybody here who's interested in this type of info: At the beginning of the video you called the spring a "shock absorber". While they look very similar, a sping and a shock absorber are (usually) two separate devices in two separate parts. The spring provides all the force to support the weight of the vehicle, while the shock absorber is mainly to stop the vehicle from continuing to bounce up and down after going over a bump. It does this by resisting the motion of the suspension and essentially soaking up and energy it has in the form of physical oscillation. A common type that is very similar to one you did show is called the MacPherson Strut, it is essentially a strut (a combination of a spring and a shock absorber) on the top with a single control arm for the lower end. It it used in the front and sometimes in the rear as it is cheap and simple, but works well enough for light passenger vehicles. If used in the front, the strut can rotate to allow steering. It can be used with driven or non driven wheels. The problem you mentioned with the wheel angle changing is a real consideration, however by selecting specific angles and geometries for the lower control arm the actual change in wheel angle to the ground can be very small. This means that it is not a major issue in vehicles without very much ground clearance or suspension travel. A trailing arm suspension is typically used in the rear, and appears on a lot of small cars from the nineties and early 2000's, also you have it backwards in your last shot with it. They almost always point outwards from the centre of the car, and are only used in the front in very large/heavy duty trucks. The double wishbone suspension you showed is pretty good, the solution for the axles for driving it is to use special universal joints called CV joints (constant velocity), since regular universal joints actually have an output that varies in speed throughout each rotation. A torsion bar is not a type of axle, but rather a type of spring that is used in place of a coil spring on certain trucks, most commonly on mid-size or large pickup trucks. It's used with a double-wishbone suspension I think exclusively, because it uses it's twisting force to rotate the lower control arm downwards. Another type of spring is The lateral leaf spring, which would be hard to do with lego I guess, but it's essentially a long flat flexible piece of spring steel that is mounted to the frame and to a swivel attached to the frame elsewhere. Usually used with a solid axle, which is mounted to the middle of the spring, this type is often found in the rear of pickup trucks, which variable spring rates being a common feature achieved by having layers of springs of different thicknesses which start to bend at different points. More rare is the transverse leaf spring, which is used in a lot of corvettes including the c7 corvette. It is used in that case to save space. It goes across the rear and is used for both wheels. A solid axle is typically suspended by either normal springs or leaf springs, or occasionally by trailing arms. Other than that, yours isn't too bad. One other feature you missed is a part called a stabilizer bar (aka anti-sway bar, or sway bar for short). It functions to reduce the amiunt of roll the vehicle experiences when going around corners. It does this by connecting the left and right side of the suspension in such a way that one side tends to pull the other side towards being at the same height at it is at, and vice versa. This is most useful for high-speed cornering, and I've seen some people remove it or cut it on their offroad vehicles (though I wouldn't recommend doing that). There actually is a version for heavy duty offroad trucks that allows the system to physically disengage using a button inside the cab. The advantage of not having the system is that you can habe greater suspension travel with it disengaged, and therefore have the wheels in full contact with very uneven ground. Lots of other info is available of you want to learn about car suspension systems, it's a very interesting topic in my opinion because I like math and geometry, and as a mechanic I have some experience with most of these systems. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions. 😁

The magnets are very elegant ❤

It would be very cool if you use suspensions with magnets, but also rubberbands to avoid aggressive decompression and boucy behaviour. But magnets need to be a bit stronger than rubberbands or you'll get a non fully extended decompression. I believe that this would work great on heavy vehicles.

This was actually super informative. I'm glad this got recommended to me

If you build swing axle properly, you will get grip, even with normal ride height. Sure the axle will lose grip at full droop, but this is also an benefit, as the opposite happens with compression. As the suspension compresses, the wheels get positive Camber, which then in turn allows for better grip during cornering.

i love all your vids, specially in the night before sleep

Very sophisticated 👌

Great video as always.

you deserve more attention... this stuff is great

You should do front wheel steering and driving

Very nice

very nice video. (:

3:28 aka Tatra suspension! (At least this type)

Hi I love this channel it's helped me so much 3:16

can you do a pushrod suspension but at the cantilever you don't attach a regular spring but use one of thos x axles as a torsion bar? this is how F1 do their suspension. so a normal pushrod (or pullrod) suspension but there is no spring attached to the cantilever, but the cantilever pivot point is a x axle that is attached to the chassis away from the cantilever in an x hole, and then held in place close to the cantilever in a round hole and the cantilever is attached to the x axle with an x hole also. this x axle will then twist around itself to provide the spring action. very small setup is possible unlike with spring parts

but for steering?🤔🤔