The pendulum is part of the steering structure of the rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles. The vast majority of modern motor vehicles, especially the front-wheel-drive vehicles, use a gear-type steering control in which there is no pendulum.
The [ [ pendulum]] lever shall be used for the transmission of the energy which informs the driver by the steering wheel
However, if the vehicle is rear-wheel drive, it is not necessary that it has a pendulum. On the contrary, in the last 15 years there has been a tendency to refuse to use the classic steering scheme based on the steering gear with trapeze and pendulum. In modern rear-wheel-drive vehicles, the gear has practically replaced the cumbersome and inert scheme with the trapeze. In this way, the popularity of the front independent Macpherson, with which it is much easier to dock the steering of the gear-gear type, is very much easier. The classic design has only one advantage-the reliability of its primary node, that is, the gearbox. Unfortunately, that's not what the pendulum lever is.
What is a pendulum lever?
A pendulum shall be used for the transmission of energy to be transmitted to the driver by the steering wheel. The steering wheel shaft turns the axis of the gear reducer, which transmits the force to the steering shaft output shaft. To understand why a pendulum tool is needed, it is necessary to recall that the car is simultaneously turning two wheels of the front axle, and not one steering wheel shaft is transmitted to one side of the steering gear on one side.
In fact, the design of this node is similar to that of the gearbox, except that it is not directly applicable to the driver. Like the reductor, the pendulum has a vertical axis and a lever directly (this part is called a co-wheel), to which the second steering drive from the passenger side is attached. The pendulum and steering force shall be transmitted by the central thrust connecting the gear reducer and the pendulum. It turns out that the pendulum is the second, additional point of support for the trapeze. On the other, the driver's side, the anchor for it is the gear reducer.
pendulum history
The pendulum and all the construction of the helmsman is much older than the steering gear. Similar mechanisms were used in the era of car delivery. In our time, the helmsman is actively used by truck manufacturers who generally have a rear axle and a front suspension on the springs. The use of the springs in an independent suspension is rare, and trucks have been built on the most reliable classic pattern.
Pendulum device
The pendulum shall consist of a cast cylindrical shell with the tides in which the attachment holes shall be made to the body of the motor vehicle, or rather to the longitudinal of the body. Sometimes, if the car is smart, the shell is attached to the frame as the strongest element.
In the centre of the cylinder there is a longitudinal hole under the axis. At the bottom of the axle, through the shell, through an angle of 90 degrees, a curved lever (or a stick) is attached, which serves as the anchor point for the rod thrust of the trapeze. Axis provides leverage. One end of the tower is attached to it, the other has the possibility to move in a limited way in one or the other direction. Because of this limited movement, he was called pendulum.
The arm of the lever is most often made out of pig iron because this material is not readily abrasion. If weight reduction is a matter of weight, iron is replaced by a solid aluminum alloy. There is a wide knowledge of the pendulum with aluminium hulls, which are used in the structure of the classic family of VAZ and the four-wheel drive Lada 4x4, better known as "Niwa".
Pendulum operation considerations
The function of the pendulum is for vulnerable nodes. The point is that he is passing through the helmsman a blow that takes a wheel into the pits. The load may be so short that the lever's axis can bend and the shell is destroyed.
Another peculiarity of the pendulum, which affects the life of his service, is the presence of mobile, trusher of each other. To reduce friction, either the rolling bearings or the tulls may be used in the design. It is generally accepted that pendulum arms are more reliable on the tulls, as the tulk is a very simple piece, and besides abrasion, it does not "take" it. The bearings are also destroyed under short-term shock loads, which contribute to the distortion of the axis and further deterioration of the hull. If this happened in the car, it is possible to learn about this by a sharp increase in the effort that has to be attached to the steering wheel and its eating. Even if bearings or tunneling goals, gradually accumulating wear it leads to an increase in the movement of the axis and the deterioration of the driveability of the car. If the car was bad to hold the road, the condition of the pendulum should be studied first.
The deformation of the axis of the node is recogniable by the uneven wear of the tire on the driver's side, as in some positions of the wheel, the wheel angle of the wheels is heavily violated.
Manufacs of foreign production vehicles in which pendulum controls are used
Typically, a pendulum can be found in the construction of 4x4 production vehicles in the 1970s and 1990s. A good example is, for example, Toyota HILLUX, Pontiac Trans Am, or Jeep Wrangler. More modern models-BMW E39 5 series.
