Is an airbag bridge or a steel plate bridge better for trailers?

Trailer suspension is used to connect the frame and axle components, the main role is to transmit the force and force torque between the wheels and the frame, buffer the impact of the road to the body, to maintain the smooth running of the vehicle. After the vehicle is installed with the suspension, it can not only protect the driving stability, but also help the vehicle to cope with complex road conditions, and achieve a certain degree of balance between comfort and operational performance.

At present, the most widely used suspension on the domestic ordinary trailer is the steel plate suspension, its proportion can reach almost 80% or more. But to say that the most discussed in the industry, but also to the air suspension. As a kind of suspension in some models by name mandatory installation of the relevant departments, air suspension also by virtue of its unique advantages continue to develop and grow.

So the question arises: if you can choose the type of suspension installed, steel suspension and air suspension, which one is better?

We first briefly understand the two types of suspension.

Steel plate suspension, full name is tandem steel plate spring balanced suspension, commonly known as steel plate spring, steel plate bridge, mainly consists of steel plate spring, suspension support (commonly known as lugs), connecting rod, U-bolts and other parts, the longitudinal force of the body falls directly on the axle.

Air suspension, also called airbag bridge, mainly consists of compressor, storage cylinder, height control valve, air spring, control rod, etc., in addition to the damper, guide arm, transverse stabilizer bar, etc.. One of the most obvious features is its airbag air spring, as an elastic element, the air spring can transfer the impact load from the road to the body through the axle to be moderated, in addition to automatic body height adjustment.

Compared with the airbag bridge, the most obvious advantage of the steel plate bridge is the simple structure, low cost and maintenance costs, more rigid, higher load-bearing capacity; the disadvantage is that its own weight is too large, increasing the weight of the vehicle, the need for a larger layout space.

Correspondingly, the advantages and disadvantages of the airbag bridge are also relatively clear. Its main advantage is its own light mass, can reduce the weight of the body, smoothness than the steel plate bridge, excellent damping performance, in addition, because the air medium in the air bag friction is small, almost no noise when working, service life can reach 2-3 times the steel plate spring, better damping performance. The disadvantage is that the structure is more complex than the steel plate bridge, maintenance and replacement costs are higher, not suitable for transporting heavy goods. In addition, some owners said that the airbag bridge in the empty car as upside down with the steel plate bridge, aging is also fast, easy to break.

And then back to just "airbag bridge good or steel plate bridge good" problem, any put aside the actual use of the vehicle needs and conditions simply evaluate which suspension better argument is a hooligan, because "A of honey, B of arsenic", suitable for their own is better.

Just like the steel plate suspension, indeed is its own high quality, poor damping performance, but suitable for those goods are not very afraid of bumping heavy trailer use, such as the transport of timber, steel coils, coal, gravel trailer, it is suitable for the steel plate bridge. Another example is the airbag bridge, although the maintenance cost is high, the load-bearing performance is not as good as the steel plate bridge, but those transporting dangerous goods, flowers, vegetables and fruits, electronic instruments, fragile goods and other trailers are suitable for the installation of airbag bridge, because the shock absorption performance is good, the cargo damage is small, the freight deducted is less.

It should be noted that these two kinds of suspension, although the advantages and disadvantages of each, but from the industry trend in recent years, airbag bridge or will become the national standard focus on promoting the direction, as to whether the steel plate bridge will be slowly eliminated, perhaps also depends on the airbag bridge shortcomings can be gradually overcome with the improvement of production technology.