I Really Appreciate Um All That You Guys Have Provided for Me and So I Am Now a Partner and So You Can Expect Videos Um to Come for Quite a While Now So That's That's the Good News

As I begin this new segment of my suspension series, I want to express my gratitude to all the individuals who have supported me thus far. Being a partner in this endeavor means that you can expect a steady stream of videos, and I'm excited to share my knowledge with you. The next video will be on Merson Strut Suspension, which marks an important milestone in our suspension series.

Merson Strut Suspension: A Basic Overview

The Merson strut suspension is a single-control-arm setup that connects the bottom of the wheel hub to the top of the shock spring combination. This design provides a unique benefit, as it creates an open space between the control arm and the tire. This space is beneficial for front-wheel drive vehicles, as it allows for easy installation of a driveshaft and CV joint. In contrast, a double-control-arm setup would require additional components, such as a spring or shock absorber in between the two arms, which would eliminate this space.

The Merson strut suspension is also characterized by its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. It's a lighter alternative to double Wishbone suspensions, making it an attractive option for manufacturers looking to reduce weight and costs. The design also features a narrower profile, allowing for tighter clearance between the tire and the car's bodywork. This makes it ideal for smaller vehicles or those with limited space constraints.

The Good of Merson Strut Suspension

So, what are some of the benefits of using a Merson strut suspension? For one, it's cheap and simple, making it an attractive option for manufacturers on a budget. The weight savings from using this design can also be significant, which is beneficial for fuel efficiency and overall vehicle performance. Additionally, the Merson strut suspension provides excellent space efficiency, allowing for easy installation of components such as driveshafts and CV joints.

However, there are some drawbacks to consider. One major concern is that it's taller than a double Wishbone suspension, which can make it less suitable for vehicles with limited ground clearance or those that require precise camber control during cornering. The Merson strut also doesn't maintain camber gain as well as double Wishbone suspensions, which means that excessive body roll can cause the tire to lose contact with the road surface.

The Negative Side of Merson Strut Suspension

Another significant drawback of the Merson strut suspension is its requirement for a unibody design. The suspension must be mounted directly to the body of the vehicle, which can make it less suitable for frame-based designs or those that require more flexibility in terms of mounting points. This limitation may not be an issue for most modern vehicles, as nearly all production cars are built on unibody platforms.

However, this design also means that Merson strut suspensions can't accommodate the same level of precision and control as double Wishbone setups. The lack of a separate upper control arm and spring or shock combination in the center of the suspension can make it more difficult to maintain precise camber control during cornering.

In conclusion, the Merson strut suspension is a unique and effective design that offers several benefits for front-wheel drive vehicles. Its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and space efficiency make it an attractive option for manufacturers looking to reduce weight and costs. However, its limitations in terms of height, camber gain, and mounting requirements mean that it may not be the best choice for all applications.

My Next Video: Solid Rear Axle Suspension

In my next video, which will be released in about a week's time, I'll be exploring the world of solid rear axle suspensions. This type of suspension design is commonly used in rear-wheel drive vehicles and offers several benefits over traditional coil spring setups. From its simplicity to its cost-effectiveness, I'll delve into the details of this suspension system and examine its strengths and weaknesses.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everyone hope you're all doing well you've may have noticed that it's been quite a while since I've made a video about a month or so um and so I do apologize for that but I have been very busy with trying to find a job and Senior design but I do have good news and that is that I have officially been accepted into the YouTube partnership program so thank you all of my viewers and subscribers I really appreciate um all that you guys have provided for me and so I am now a partner and so you can expect videos um to come for quite a while now so that's that's the good news so anyways let's go ahead and get started the next video I'll be doing here is mcferson strut which is the next segment in this um sort of suspension Series so mcferson strut uh basic idea is you've got a single control arm which is going to connect to the bottom of the wheel hub and then you're going to have a shock spring combination which connects to the top of the wheel hub and so this shock spring or a strut is connected directly to the body at the top so that's what what kind of separates mcferson strut apart from other suspension setups is that it's directly connected here at the top um with this shock spring combo and then you're going to have a steering link come in that connects also to this Hub and it can connect right where the uh shock and spring combo is coming in so in in an Essence then you can think of the uh the strut here as the also the steering axis for this tire so that's the basic setup you've got this bottom um control arm which is connected to the car body or frame uh and that's just one once again then you've got this open space in the center which is beneficial as I will point out so the good of a mcferson strut what's so great about this design um well it's cheap it's it's fairly simple and it's lighter than a double arm so there's benefits there with weight savings and cost savings as well many uh companies will go to the mcferson strut simply because it can get the job done for a cheaper price and the consumer won't notice the difference um it's great for front-wheel drive because of the space it allows so as you can see here there's nothing in this Center area so you can easily put in a drive uh drive shaft here and have a CV joint that goes right to this tire and rotates this wheel so it's great for front-wheel drive and that sense because it accommodates the space if you had a double control arm then you'd have two here two control arms here and then you might have a spring or a shock in between these two and that would eliminate that space for putting in a drive shaft which you can change but it's a little more complicated so the mcferson struts an easy way of doing it um another uh benefit of a mcferson strut is it's narrower than double ar ar or double control arm or double Wishbone whatever you'd like to call it so the space uh from the tire to the car itself is is minimized so you can really you can really locate this in in smaller areas and you can with these two control arms you've got one long one at the bottom and a shorter one at the top and then you have this large space that you need um in your vehicle for to to be able to do this so that's one uh negative side of the uh double Wishbone suspension so what's the bad part of a mcferson strut well it's taller than a double double Wishbone suspension what I mean there is it takes up a lot of vertical space so with two control arms you don't have to have that vertical space requirement so in some ways it can fit better and in some ways it won't fit as well so there's pros and cons to that side of it um small camber changes with body roll and unlike a double control arm you don't have camber gain so in cornering when you have a lot of body roll this is a downside of the mcferson strut whereas the uh double Wishbone suspension will maintain contact with the road better with heavy body roll uh and this is because of the strut being mounted directly to the body so you don't have that control arm where you can move the tire up and down as much you only have the compression of the shock and so one final thing is that this must Mount to a body so a unibody is basically necessary you can't just have a frame a body because the body won't be rigid enough to mount to but most of the time this isn't a problem especially since nowadays almost all vehicles are unibody design so that's a basic overview of the mcferson strut and my next video which will be coming up in about a week should be on uh solid rear axle solid axle type suspensions so here we have the basic mcferson strut suspension setup you can see the springshot combination which which is mounted to the body of the car and heed at the Top of the Hub there is a steering uh line that comes in here and here's the lower control arm down at the bottom and that's your basic mcferson stretch setuphey everyone hope you're all doing well you've may have noticed that it's been quite a while since I've made a video about a month or so um and so I do apologize for that but I have been very busy with trying to find a job and Senior design but I do have good news and that is that I have officially been accepted into the YouTube partnership program so thank you all of my viewers and subscribers I really appreciate um all that you guys have provided for me and so I am now a partner and so you can expect videos um to come for quite a while now so that's that's the good news so anyways let's go ahead and get started the next video I'll be doing here is mcferson strut which is the next segment in this um sort of suspension Series so mcferson strut uh basic idea is you've got a single control arm which is going to connect to the bottom of the wheel hub and then you're going to have a shock spring combination which connects to the top of the wheel hub and so this shock spring or a strut is connected directly to the body at the top so that's what what kind of separates mcferson strut apart from other suspension setups is that it's directly connected here at the top um with this shock spring combo and then you're going to have a steering link come in that connects also to this Hub and it can connect right where the uh shock and spring combo is coming in so in in an Essence then you can think of the uh the strut here as the also the steering axis for this tire so that's the basic setup you've got this bottom um control arm which is connected to the car body or frame uh and that's just one once again then you've got this open space in the center which is beneficial as I will point out so the good of a mcferson strut what's so great about this design um well it's cheap it's it's fairly simple and it's lighter than a double arm so there's benefits there with weight savings and cost savings as well many uh companies will go to the mcferson strut simply because it can get the job done for a cheaper price and the consumer won't notice the difference um it's great for front-wheel drive because of the space it allows so as you can see here there's nothing in this Center area so you can easily put in a drive uh drive shaft here and have a CV joint that goes right to this tire and rotates this wheel so it's great for front-wheel drive and that sense because it accommodates the space if you had a double control arm then you'd have two here two control arms here and then you might have a spring or a shock in between these two and that would eliminate that space for putting in a drive shaft which you can change but it's a little more complicated so the mcferson struts an easy way of doing it um another uh benefit of a mcferson strut is it's narrower than double ar ar or double control arm or double Wishbone whatever you'd like to call it so the space uh from the tire to the car itself is is minimized so you can really you can really locate this in in smaller areas and you can with these two control arms you've got one long one at the bottom and a shorter one at the top and then you have this large space that you need um in your vehicle for to to be able to do this so that's one uh negative side of the uh double Wishbone suspension so what's the bad part of a mcferson strut well it's taller than a double double Wishbone suspension what I mean there is it takes up a lot of vertical space so with two control arms you don't have to have that vertical space requirement so in some ways it can fit better and in some ways it won't fit as well so there's pros and cons to that side of it um small camber changes with body roll and unlike a double control arm you don't have camber gain so in cornering when you have a lot of body roll this is a downside of the mcferson strut whereas the uh double Wishbone suspension will maintain contact with the road better with heavy body roll uh and this is because of the strut being mounted directly to the body so you don't have that control arm where you can move the tire up and down as much you only have the compression of the shock and so one final thing is that this must Mount to a body so a unibody is basically necessary you can't just have a frame a body because the body won't be rigid enough to mount to but most of the time this isn't a problem especially since nowadays almost all vehicles are unibody design so that's a basic overview of the mcferson strut and my next video which will be coming up in about a week should be on uh solid rear axle solid axle type suspensions so here we have the basic mcferson strut suspension setup you can see the springshot combination which which is mounted to the body of the car and heed at the Top of the Hub there is a steering uh line that comes in here and here's the lower control arm down at the bottom and that's your basic mcferson stretch setup\n"