The fundamental goal of the book is to provide the information necessary for someone to design their own suspension based on the specific needs of the vehicle. The only way to accomplish this is to cover how suspensions work and what effects the individual components have on the final design.
The book does this by first defining terms used in suspension development (for example: bump, droop, roll-steer, articulation, etc.), then by describing how the suspension reacts to different types of terrain at low vs. high speeds. Followed by covering fundamental suspension theories like Instant Center, shock/airbag theory, and driveshaft/u-joint theory (yes, 2-piece driveshafts are covered as well). From there, the book defines different types of link designs and lateral locators as well as the pros/cons associated with each system.
After the fundamentals have been covered, the book gives a crash course on how to design a suspension on your shop floor; you do not need a computer to design a suspension!
Finishing off the book, there is a section on bad habits to avoid and a section of suspensions that were designed using the concepts outlined in the book.
Since everyone learns in different ways, there are links to videos that cover the more fundamental subjects using animations as well as links to dedicated calculators that were developed specifically for the book.
This is the Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Defining Terms
- The Road/Suspension/Chassis Relationship
- Types of Joints
- Instant Center
- Different Types of Link Systems
- Lateral Locators
- Drive Shafts and U-joints
- Shock Theory
- Shock Installation
- Airbag Theory
- Airbag Install
- How to Choose an Airbag
- Putting it All Together
- Bad Habits
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Featured Vehicles
- Glossary