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Unsprung mass is a consideration in the design of a vehicle's suspension and the materials chosen for its components. Beam axle suspensions, in which wheels on opposite sides are connected as a rigid unit, generally have greater unsprung mass than independent suspension systems, in which the wheels are suspended and allowed to move separately.
Sprung and unsprung mass are shown. Sprung mass (or sprung weight), in a vehicle with a suspension, such as an automobile, motorcycle, or a tank, is the portion of the vehicle's total mass that is supported by the suspension, including in most applications approximately half of the weight of the suspension itself.
Ignoring the flexing of other components, a car can be modeled as the sprung weight, carried by the springs, carried by the unsprung weight, carried by the tires, carried by the road. Unsprung weight is more properly regarded as a mass which has its own inherent inertia separate from the rest of the vehicle. When a wheel is pushed upwards by a ...
The mass of the beam is part of the unsprung weight of the vehicle, hurting ride quality. The need for lateral location devices such as a Panhard rod or Watt's linkage adds more unsprung weight and partially offsets the beam axle's advantages in terms of simplicity, space efficiency, and cost.
This is an especially severe problem when a swing axle is used in a rear-engine design, because of the greater side-g forces on the rear wheels from the mass of the engine. Camber changes during deceleration can increase the severity of lift-off oversteer. 1964 Corvair swing-axle rear suspension with transverse leaf spring
Independent suspension typically offers better ride quality and handling characteristics, due to lower unsprung weight and the ability of each wheel to address the road undisturbed by activities of the other wheel on the vehicle. Independent suspension requires additional engineering effort and expense in development versus a beam or live axle ...
Torsion bar suspensions are used on combat vehicles and tanks like the T-72, Leopard 1, Leopard 2, M26 Pershing, M18 Hellcat, M48 Patton, M60 Patton and the M1 Abrams (many tanks from World War II used this suspension), and on modern trucks and SUVs from Ford, Chrysler, GM, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan, Isuzu, LuAZ, and Toyota.
This reduces the unsprung mass and changes the kinematics slightly. This arrangement was used on Australian V8 Supercars until the end of the 2012 season. Watt's linkage can also be used to prevent axle movement in the longitudinal direction of the car.