ContiTech has developed an air spring for trucks, which features a lightweight plastic piston to help reduces vehicle weight, and an integrated buffer support. By fully utilizing the inner volume, according to ContiTech ride quality is improved, meaning that the air springs can replace elastic axle stops.
This design forms part of ContiTech’e efforts to reduce the weight of air springs by replacing steel or aluminum components with plastic components. “Standards in the quality, payload, and efficiency of vehicles are constantly rising. To meet these standards, lightweight, weight-reducing components are now more important than ever,” stated Diethelm Bauch, head of the ContiTech air spring systems segment.
The plastic pistons are made using injection molding and allow the entire inner volume of the piston to be utilized. ContiTech says that the design ensures good ride quality and simplifies installation in the vehicle, and that compared with air springs that use steel components, the weight of the vehicle can be reduced by 12kg per drive axle.
