DESARROLLO DE LAS SUPENSIONES  TOYOTA HILUX “LA CHATITA”

On this occasion it reached us at CSA a rather special job. It was the car that Paco CallejoThe 4×4 engineer and user, well known in the world of 4×4, has been very enthusiastic about his travels. We were going to developing Toyota Hilux suspensions.

As soon as we arrived at our facilities, we knew that the fine-tuning of the suspensions of "La Chatita"The Hilux, as its owner likes to call it, was going to be a challenge for us. Looking at the car, we already have an idea of how heavy the living module will be. We are struck by the large overhang at the rear. These two features will undoubtedly have a major influence on the vehicle's dynamic behaviour.

We got into the car to test it. The Chatita is quite swaying, feels clumsy and doesn't inspire much confidence when cornering. We go out on a track and the suspensions have a lot of work to do. They are unable to control the weight of the car and we are constantly doing compression and extension stops. We notice how all the weight of the cell compresses the rear axle and drags the front of the car making a "see-saw" effect.

With these impressions, we go to our workbench. After some calculations, we find that the spring elements, in this case the front springs and rear leaf springs, are insufficient for the weight of the car. Also, the working pressures of the shock absorbers are too low and do not manage to brake so many inertias.

Sistema Profender

We started working on the rear axle, as it is the most delicate part, and we decided to mount double shock absorbers per wheel: one PROFENDER DAKAR EXTREME in the main accommodation and a PROFENDER DAKAR WITH SPRING on a custom-made support. In this way, we distribute the working pressures between two elements, which reduces the stress on the shock absorbers. At the same time, we also relieve the supports of work. We increase the hardness of the shock absorbers both in compression and extension. The spring of the secondary shock absorber would relieve the springs of work.

We test again and the car gains a lot. We now have the rear end under control. However, the "seesaw" effect has not yet disappeared. But we still had to work on the front axle.

Barajamos dos opciones: doble amortiguador de 2″ o un sólo amortiguador de 2,5″. Finalmente nos decantamos por un PROFENDER DAKAR EXTREMEof 2.5″. Installation was much simpler and, unlike the rear axle, the mounts were not subjected to such high loads. The spring was calculated to help us avoid compression damping and the dampers were set up with fairly high working pressures to control bounce.

We went out for a test drive and... now we're moving along the tracks with a car that inspires confidence. As the shock absorbers start to warm up, we discover a comfortable feel, but one that holds. Ditches, some small jumps, sudden and intentional changes of trajectory, no problem!

Sólo falta ya que FC Consultores realice el proyecto técnico para homologar las nuevas suspensiones.