Suspension: springs

Different vehicles have different types of springs.  This is because different vehicles of different weights and purpose.

It is important to remember that springs are not to 'absorb' the shocks, neither are the 'shock absorbers'.  They are made to push the vehicle's wheels down to the road surface.  This means that when a car hits a drop like a pot hole, the springs and the weight of the car will push the wheels down instead of flying over.  The 'shock absorbers' or dampeners, are not to absorb any shock at all.  Their purpose is to prevent the vehicle from bouncing.  Without dampeners, the vehicle will bounce up and down when leaving an uneven surface for example, a speed bump.  In technical terms, the dampener 'dampens' the oscillation of the spring.  In other words, they will allow the spring to move up and down quickly, but will slow down the bouncing dramatically by dampening.

The three most common types of springs are:

1. Coil Springs
2. leaf springs
3. torsion bars

1. Coil springs are the most common type of spring.  They are used on almost all road use vehicles.  They will usually coil around the dampener, on the strut.
 This set up is found on almost all front suspension set ups of vehicles.  Reason being it can still turn as the wheels turn. 

2.  Leaf springs are commonly found in heavy duty vehicles, including utility vehicles and vans.   These are usually paired up with a solid beam axle suspension set up.  They will still use dampeners as they will bounce without them.  This is not an ideal set up on most vehicles, as it needs a lot of components to prevent it from twisting and moving side to side.

3. The torsion bar uses the twisting force of the bar.  When the hub unsprung components move up, (while the vehicle is sitting) the torsion bar has stored energy (or 'potential' energy) which forces the wheels down. this is the same principle in all springs.  the bar runs down along the length way of the vehicle, the front is mounted to the chassis, and an arm at the rear is mounted to the hub assembly.  This can be adjusted by the nut  being tightened on the front end.