Adaptive Shock Absorbers
| ITEM | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| A | Front adaptive shock absorber assembly |
| B | Rear adaptive shock absorber assembly |
The adaptive shock absorbers are nitrogen gas and oil filled triple tube units. The shock absorbers are continuously variable, which allows the damping force to be electrically adjusted when the vehicle is being driven to provide the optimum compromise between vehicle control and ride comfort.
The shock absorbers are a triple tube damper design which has 1 externally mounted active hydraulic valve to control the damping.
Each shock absorber has a solenoid valve on its lower section. The valve is connected to the vehicle wiring via an electrical link lead. The link lead is available as a serviceable item.
Under compression or rebound the fluid inside the shock absorber is forced through the orifices at the top of the internal damper rod. This fluid is then forced through the second internal tube and into the control valve. The control valve varies the flow of fluid to control the compression and rebound characteristics. The solenoid valve in each shock absorber is operated by a 2kHz Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal from the Chassis Control Module (CHCM). The CHCM controls the PWM duty ratio to provide 0.38A to operate the shock absorber in the soft setting. When de-energized (0.0A) the shock absorber is in the failsafe setting. The current varies continuously as required to increase and decrease the damping individually in each of the shock absorbers.
Firm damping is achieved at 1.6A, when the system is active it is in the working range 0.38-1.6A. 0A will only be seen stationary or under fault conditions.