[Editor’s Note: This article originally ran in the May/June 1997 issue of Grassroots Motorsports]
Story by John Hagerman
For the last four decades, serious race cars have sported fully independent suspensions. Street cars, including some of the most notorious sports models, have tradition-ally used independent suspension at the front end only; at the rear, designers usually opted for the simplicity and low expense of leaf springs hooked to a live rear axle.
However, the import invasion of the ’70s introduced the average American to the pleasure of good handling vehicles, and all automobile manufacturers were forced to respond to the resultant consumer demand. Thanks in particular to the ubiquitous McPherson strut, fully independent suspensions have become commonplace.
Central to most independent suspensions is a simple device: the coil spring. Although alternative springs (such as the torsion bar) are available to suspension designers, coil springs have…
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