"Liquid Springs" - comments?

[JayMaechtlen]

An outfit is promoting packaged struts having "compressible liquid" springs and controllable damping.

www.liquidspring.com

Snake oil?
Or some combination of good technology and **?

cheers
Jay

Jay Maechtlen

http://www.laserpubs.com/techcomm

 

[Screwman1]

It is obviously not "compressible liquid"; that is marketing fluff. It sounds like a hydro pneumatic with some sort of a pressurized reservoir. I always get real cautious when they let the Marketing people take liberties with descriptions like this; I wonder what else they have cut corners on. The trick for a system like this would be the skill of the programmer and how well the units can adjusted and adapted to fir the needs of a given application.

 

[sbozy25]

Jay,
I have worked with Liquid Spring quite extensively in the past and know their main people very closely as we have worked together for years. I also am close friends with the person that developed their technology.

Their system is a very advanced hydropneumatic system that is very close to being active, just not quite over that hump. Their system uses pressurized dampers and reservoirs with specialized valving and plumbing side to side and front to back and uses position sensors as well as an ECU to make adjustments and ride changes. You can also add controls internal and external to the vehicle to have a manual adjustment mode. Overall, I would say their system is top notch and well worth the cost, for medium and light duty vehicles. Unfortunately, they just do not have the capacity yet to handle the heavy duty vehicles (Class 7+).

Oh, and their patented fluid is mildly compressible. I've seen it with my own eyes.....

I can send you the information I have, or put you in contact with the right person at their facility if you want to know more. Just email me, as I do not want to publicly display this info or contact info.

saab_25@hotmail.com

Definition of irony: A Ford Focus driver with ADD...

 

[MikeHalloran]

Serious mine haul trucks, the kind that can carry a Peterbilt in the dump body, have used liquid springs for a while. Low tech stuff, really, just ordinary oil AFAIK. Not noted for ride quality, of course.

In this case, whether the shock fluid is compressible or not (all of it is, just normally not much), the value is in the electronics.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[JayMaechtlen]

Cool - I don't have an application, but my sister the truck driver heard of it and asked me.
So her rig is in the middle - bigger than their new system can support, and much smaller than their classic systems are built for.

So - how is a liquid made compressible? Dissolved gases? Tiny bubbles?


Jay Maechtlen

http://www.laserpubs.com/techcomm

 

[MikeHalloran]

All liquids are compressible. See "bulk modulus".


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[sbozy25]

I wish I still had it, but I had a video where we had a very large military style troop transport hitting a 5G event and pretty much blowing the L/S components to bits. It was quite fun to watch over and over and over...

Definition of irony: A Ford Focus driver with ADD...