The suspension system is an essential assembly of modern automobiles, which has a significant impact on riding comfort and handling stability of cars. A control arm, as the guide and force element of the suspension system, transfers all kinds of forces acting on the wheel to the vehicle body and ensures the wheel to move along a particular track.
Know about control arms
Control arms control the movement of the wheels so that they go in the same direction as the car’s body.“The shock is used to hold everything up, the control arm, on the opposite, absorbs the road,” one of the automobile experts says, “It moves up and down so that the tires can run. When you hit a mass, the control arm compresses the weight and pushes it down. It makes the bottom of your tire in place.
\Auto experts say the control arm connects the suspension of the car to the actual frame, which are connected to the frame through a component called a bushing and to the suspension through a ball joint. This allows the vehicle to turn the steering wheel and pivot and connect the tires to the suspension of the vehicle. The control arm assembly is triangular, with two bushings at each end and at the ball joint, which allows the car to go up and down.
\Vehicles usually have two or four control arms, depending on whether the suspension system of the vehicle has a support or press. Many cars today have only control arms on front suspensions. Some vehicles own upper and lower control arms. Although it’s revealed by some auto experts that most cars today only have lower control arms because of the way the strut assembly is designed. Cars with upper and lower control arms are called a double-wishbone suspension, in which the arms work parallel to each other.
Classification of control arms
Vehicle control arm (also known as swing arm) is divided into upper control arm and lower control arm. Upper control arm is the guide and support of the suspension system. Its deformation affects wheel positioning and reduces driving stability. The primary function of lower control arm is to support the body, shock absorber, and cushion vibration during driving. The reducer can play an excellent auxiliary role to the lower suspension arm. Only when it cooperates with the shock absorber and spring, can it form an excellent suspension system (assembly).
Upper Cantilever Control Arm (Upper Straight Arm/Upper Bend Arm): Two single controls are used together to transfer lateral/longitudinal loads from the wheels.
Lower Cantilever Control Arm (Lower Straight Arm)
V-arm (Large Bend Arm): V-arm structure mainly transmits transverse loads.
Selection of control arms
The control arm elastically connects the wheels and the body through ball joint or bushings, respectively. The control arm (including the bushing and ball joint connected with it) shall have sufficient stiffness, strength and service lifespan.
Steel and aluminum alloys are commonly used as materials for suspension control arms. Among them, steel is widely used in ordinary household cars, and the cost is low. Aluminum alloy suspension control arm and wheel bearing seat are often used in high-end models. In addition to meeting the strength of suspension, aluminum alloy material can also reduce weight, reduce the mass of suspension spring, to improve the suspension response performance, improve the driving performance.
Control arms from one of the professional suspension part suppliers AA-TOP are said to be reliable. You could find a suitable control arm as a replacement for your car through selecting by brands, car models, engines, or years, no need to worry about not seeking one fit for your automobile. Specialized in auto spare parts with several high-tech production bases in China, AA-TOP could surely provide you with satisfactory control arm products.
Have you got enough knowledge for automobile control arms now? Then you could bring with you all this knowledge and cooperate with AA-TOP, for which you won’t regret to bring new life to those cars.