Meritor India Introduces Slipper Suspension

Meritor CVS India Private Ltd, the manufacturer of axles and brakes, is now entering the suspension market with its new Slipper type system.

- Bhargav TS

It is a well-known fact that the excessive vibrations in heavy vehicles affect driver comfort, cargo safety and increase tyre wear. The current challenge in the field of suspension design for heavy vehicles is to optimise the suspension dynamic parameters to meet such requirements. In India trucks are fitted with Bellcrank suspension in spite of its disadvantages. Now an alternative system has come in the form of Slipper type suspension, which offers advantages like light weight design and lower cost of ownership.

After doing a market study on Slipper type suspension for the Indian market, Meritor CVS India Private Ltd, the manufacturer of axles and brakes, is now entering the suspension market with its new Slipper type system. According to Meritor, the product is currently prevalent in Brazil, a market similar to India in terms of loading and the road infrastructure. The company had a joint venture with Suspensys in Brazil but it was dissolved in late 2013.

Now the company is ready with the Slipper suspension and the commercial launch in India is likely to happen in the next 3-4 months. Manufacturing the suspension in India is not a problem as the manufacturer is equipped with all the capabilities. The new suspension is meant for trucks, to be precise medium duty trucks of 36-tonne capacity. Slipper type comes in the category of leaf spring suspension with its own unique characteristics.