Hi there I'd like to know if someone here could explain me,showing some web pages with drawing about the various types of tank suspension and their functioning I don't know exactly their name, I just know there were torsion bar susp. vertical volute spring suspension, HVSS suspension, leaf springs, Christie's, etc.. I know it's an hard work and it's not so easy, but please can someone explain me how all these and others suspensions worked? then another question I've read somewhere that the Tiger I type of wheel could hamper it with mud or snow when it got freezed! but why they still built the tiger II and Panther with the same types of interleaved wheels if they had this nasty drawback? and why they didn't choose a more easy design of the wheels like the one of the T-34? and again why Christie's which's an american project wasn't used for Sherman? Thanks to anyone willing to help me!!
Hi cardincris, and welcome to the forum. That´s a huge question you´ve got there, and you´ll have to forgive me for not answering all of it right away ( which I probably couldn´t do anyway ). First of all, I´m not aware of any webpages with drawings etc., but I´ll have a look through some of my books and see if can find something. But you´ll have to wait until tomorrow for any results ( it´s midnight now where I am ). - Christie type suspension : Every road wheel was independently suspended, attached to a pivoted bell crank with a heavy coil spring anchored to the hull interiour. This allowed for very fast running, but a major drawback was that it took up a lot of space inside the hull. The latter is why the U.S. Army abandoned it. I have also heard that it was not suitable for the heavier types of tanks. * - Torsion Bar type suspension : Similar to the Christie type, but the spring, in the form of a torsion bar, was carried across the hull and anchored on the far side. The main advantage over the Christie type was that it took up less space. * I´ve found a few pics and diagrams now btw. I´ll post more tomorrow. Thanks for starting such an interesting topic. * based on information from "British and American Tanks of World War Two" by Chamberlain/Ellis
Hi! On the subject of the German use of interleaved road wheels - I have heard a number of reasons why they adopted & kept them... 1) It spread the weight of the tank out evenly onto the tracks, unlike the large, individual (and often irregularly placed) wheels in the Christie-type suspension. 2) It acted as a form of spaced armour protecting the lower hull from infantry AT weaponry. I think that 2 is simply a 'realised later' reason, or maybe even a 'totally made up' reason
I think you're right on all counts but would add that it gave weighty tanks a smooth ride cross country so the crew weren't thrown all over place. One of the movie clips on the Achtung Panzer site show a panther racing across country and you can see how the deflection of the running gear kept the tank steady and stable.
cardincris, and everybody else interested in the topic; I have given the Christie suspension its own thread. Please look here : http://www.fun-online.sk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1857
HI guys you're really great! THANKS!! you've helped me a lot! the drawing is great! sometimes just a drawing explain thousands of words Skua,Ricky,Shearwater,Markus thanks again I still hope to get other info about other types of tank suspension,for the moment with with what you explained me,I'll try to figure out their functioning I wish I could pay you a round of beers
Still more to come. VVS : Vertical Volute Suspension - This was the standard system used on the US M3 and M5 series light tanks and the M3 and M4 medium tanks, as well as all the AFVs based on their chassis. The image below shows an exploded view of a unit ( bogie ) from an M3 Stuart light tank, but they were all very similar. The wheels were pivoted on arms against vertical springs ( the two "spirals" near the top ). The VVS was simple and easy to produce and maintain, and any damage could easily be dealt with by simply replacing the whole unit.
Great pic again Skua!! where did you find them? then I suppose the HVVS type is almost the same but with the two "spirals" put in horizontal,to understand, is it the sherman's,isn't it? We can say it's the typical amecan tank feature,can't we? Did the germans ever used this type in their panzers? leaf type,is it the kind of suspension some 4x4 used years ago? or even on caterpillar tractor?
The VVS-suspension came from "Tanks in Detail 2, M3-M3A1-M3A3/Stuart I to V". Those are great books if you´re more interested in the technical aspects of tanks rather than operational history, development etc. The HVSS was not quite the same. Each pair of wheels were sprung against eachother instead. Not unlike for example the British Slow Motion system. The HVSS also incorporated a shock absorber to give a smoother ride. It was only used on later series of M4 tanks to my knowledge. I couldn´t find any good illustrations of the HVSS suspension I´m afraid.
Thanks again then which were the most common suspensions on german,american,english and russian tank? did the russians always followed the Christie's sistem? did the panzer V and VI had tosions bars or Christie's? and why TigerI and Panther had interleaved wheel with 3 wheel in each axis while the Tiger II which was heavier had in each axis just 2 wheels? or am I wrong?
Germany : torsion bars ( PzKpfw III, Tiger I & II, Panther ), leaf springs ( PzKpfw II, PzKpfw IV ). USA : VVS ( M3/5 Stuart, M3 Lee/Grant, M4 Sherman ), HVSS ( M4 Sherman ), torsion bar ( M24 Chaffee, T26 Pershing ). UK : Christie ( cruiser tanks Mk.III, Mk.IV, Mk.VI Crusader, Mk.VII Cavalier, Mk.VIII Centaur/Cromwell and the Comet ), bell crank ( Matilda ), "Slow Motion" ( Valentine ) and sprung bogies ( Churchill ). USSR : Christie ( all BT-series fast tanks, T-34 ) and torsion bars ( KV-series and IS-series heavy tanks ) No ( see above ), the T-44, which was a redesign of the T-34 had the Christie suspension replaced by torsion bars.
