We all hear pushrod suspension is the ultimate solution to equip a car, but do you know why?

Pushrod suspension connects a rod from the outer lower control arm to the chassis via a rocker. As the car’s chassis lowers, the lower control arm pushes the rod into the chassis, which rotates the rocker and compresses the spring and shock absorber connected to the other side of the said rocker.

The benefits of pushrod suspension

1. Pushrod suspension moves the weight of the springs and shock absorbers inboard closer to the centre of gravity.
2. It also removes unsprung weight by transferring the weight of the springs and shock absorbers to the chassis.
3. It allows for suspension leverage ratio adjustment, which is essential when calculating wheel frequency. For example, you can adjust the effective spring coil rate without buying new coil springs.

Limitations

As the pushrod has to support the weight of the chassis (or a corner of it, to be precise), you will need to be sure the construction of the pushrod can support that weight under compression, but that’s a discussion for another time.

How do I enable pushrod suspension?

1. Open the Suspension Geometry Calculator
2. Click
3. Click to enable rockers
4. To enter edit mode click  so it becomes 
5. Any changes you make using drag and drop will only apply to the relative side
6. You can also use the form editor by clicking 

Want more?

As a subscriber you can see the suspension leverage ratio (for wheel frequency) and also see how the suspension leverage ratio changes as the suspension moves (rising rate suspension.)

to the Suspension Geometry Calculator