For 1990-2009 cars

The rear suspension has two primary purposes:

• | Isolate the driver from irregularities in the road surface.

• | Define the ride and handling characteristics of the vehicle.

The rear suspension absorbs the impact of the tires travelling over irregular road surfaces and dissipates this energy throughout the suspension system. This process isolates the vehicle occupants from the road surface. The rate at which the suspension dissipates the energy and the amount of energy that is absorbed is how the suspension defines the vehicle's ride characteristics. Ride characteristics are designed into the suspension system and are not adjustable. The ride characteristics are mentioned in this description in order to aid in the understanding of the functions of the suspension system. The suspension system must allow for the vertical movement of the tire and wheel assembly as the vehicle travels over irregular road surfaces while maintaining the tire's relationship to the road.

The knuckle is suspended between 2 lower control arms, a trailing arm, and a strut assembly. The outer ends of the lower control arms attach to the knuckle with semi-rigid bushings. The inner ends of the lower control arms attach to the crossmember with semi-rigid bushings. The upper portion of the knuckle is attached to a strut assembly. The strut assembly then connects to the vehicle body by way of an upper bearing. The steering knuckle moves up and down independent of the vehicle body structure.

The up and down motion of the knuckle as the vehicle travels over bumps is absorbed predominantly by the coil spring. This spring is retained under tension over the strut assembly. The strut has an absorber in order to dampen out the oscillations of the coil spring. A strut is a basic hydraulic cylinder. The strut is filled with oil and has a moveable shaft that connects to a piston inside the strut. Valves inside the absorber offer resistance to oil flow and consequently inhibit rapid movement of the piston and shaft. Each end of the strut is designed as the connection point of the suspension system to the vehicle and acts as the coil spring seat. This allows the strut to utilize the dampening action to reduce the recoil of a spring alone. The lower control arm is allowed to pivot at the crossmember in a vertical fashion.

The rear suspension utilizes a stabilizer shaft. The stabilizer shaft connects between the left strut and the right strut with the stabilizer shaft links and the stabilizer shaft insulators. This controls the amount of independent movement of the suspension when the vehicle turns. Limiting the independent movement defines the vehicles handling characteristics on turns.