1990 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE suspension

2-8FRONT SUSPENSION - Front Axle
FRONT AXLEROPKAAAThe drive shaft is of the Bit-field joint
(B.J.)-tripodjoint
(T.J.) type. This type features high power
transmission efficiency and low vibration and noise.The knuckle has the wheel bearing assembled
a@the hub press-fitted. The drive shaft and hub are
spline-coupled.
T.J.: Tripod Joint
B.J.: Birfield Joint
Hub
DRIVE SHAFT
B.J.-T.J. constant velocity joint combination main-
tains speed completely even when flexed, can
withstand heavy loads and shock and offer high
power transmission efficiency. Their special fea-
tures are outlined below.
B.J.T.J.l Axially
slidablel Smaller sliding resistance
0 Large operating angle
l Compact size and decreased space
require-
me&Taking these characteristics into account, B.J. is
adopted on the wheel side of the shaft, as it can
make large deflections when the tire is steered and
T.J. is adopted on the transmission side, as it can
slide
axiallv to absorb the chanae in the distance
between joints caused by
motionWof the suspension.
B.J.T.J.
llA0123

FRONT SUSPENSION - Front Axle2-9
HUB AND KNUCKLEThe construction of the hub and knuckle consists of
The wheel bearing is the double-row,
angular-the wheel bearing assembled to the knuckle and the
contact ball bearing type to withstand the lateral
hub pressed in; the drive shaft and hub are coupled
(thrust) load. The installation of the brake disc and
by
&rations.hub are the outer disc configuration, thus improving
serviceability and also reducing rotation unbalance.
Wheel bearing
Oil seal
HubDust shi&d
II I
IllA0053
Oil seal/HubBraie
disc
11 A0295
..~ -- . ..- - . .._ ~._ __.- ----_ .__

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3-2REAR AXLE- General Information
GENERAL INFORMATION
RO3BAAAThe differential carrier and axle housing have been
separated from each other, and D.O.J. and B.J.
drive shafts arranged in between, They are driven by
the axle shaft.
The axle shaft is supported by ball bearings (innerand outer) in the axle housing and are coupled with
the drive shaft with the companion flange in*
between.
The front of the rear suspension, and the rear
side of
the differential carrier is mounted via the differential
support member to the body.CONSTRUCTION DIAGRAM
Differential carrier
A Crossmember
Differential support member
12AO616
llA0339

3-4REAR AXLE - Axle Shaft / Drive Shaft
AXLE SHAFT
R03cAAAThe axle shaft is a semi-floating type supported by
ball bearings (outer and inner) in the housing.To prevent mud that may be deposited around the
bearing (outer), a dust cover has been provided.
D.O.J.
Companion flangeIG ?ust cover
Trailing arm
IllA0013
DRIVE SHAFTBirfield type constant velocity ball joints have been
provided for the drive shaft.
On the axle shaft side, the D.O.J. type has been
adopted to absorb the change in distance between
the joints that may be caused by the movement of
the suspension.
On the differential carrier side, the B.J. type has
been adopted which allows considerable flection in
keeping with the movement of the suspension.
Drive shaft and B.J.RO3OAAAOn the axle shaft side, they are coupled with the
axle shaft with the companion flange in between.
On the differential side, they are spline coupled with
the side gears.
On vehicles with a viscous coupling type limited slip
differential, the right and left drive shafts are
different in length. In addition, the B.J. side of the
drive shaft (R.H.) is two-stage serration coupled.
D.O.J. Boot
_vehicles)
D.O.J. Outer race
D&e shaft (R.H.)two-sta e serration(ECLIPS!: Viscous coupling type
limited slip differential equipped
D.O.J. Inner I
llA0338

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17-4 REAR SUSPENSION tZWD>- Wheel Alignment / Anti-lift Geometry
-Wheel center lineWHEEL ALIGNMENTRl
The camber and toe-in have been set to the optimum value, in
the same way as for front-wheel alignment. in particular, the
camber is negative camber, thus improving straight-ahead
driving at high speed.
ANTI-LIFT GEOMETRY
Rl7DAAAOrdinarily, when the brakes are applied, the load is
mc1toward the front of the vehicle as the result of inertial force,
c .Jthis causes the rear end of the vehicle to try to rise upward, but
this is counteracted by the use ‘of the trailing-arm type of
suspension which forms a suspension link design with a high
“anti-lift” effect.
In other words, braking force
F is divided into force compo-
nents
F, and F,; F, acts in the direction that contracts the rear
spring, so that the“lift” can be suppressed.

---_REAR SUSPENSION
<2WD> - Three-link Suspension17-5
THREE-LINK SUSPENSIONFor this suspension, an U-form axle beam with
built-in torsional bar that combines the features of
the independent suspension and the features of a
rigid axle with no camber change is employed.
Because there is no change of the camber when the
body tilts to one side during turns, there is little
change of the tires-to-road surface contact area,
R1naAAthus preventing side-slip and maintaining excellent
handling stability. Moreover, the trailing arm func-
tions to counteract twisting Of the axle beam and
torsional bar during separate
UP and down move-
ments of the two wheels, thereby suppressing body
tilting to the side and maintaining excellent driving
stability and comfort.
Torsional motion during left cornering
Ordinary suspension
Direction ofvehicle travel
& Torsional force applicationC Torsion counteractive force
Three-link suspension

17-6REAR SUSPENSION <2WD> - Three-link Suspension
SUSPENSION BUSHINGS
In order to improve both the driving stability and
riding comfort even further, and to reduce vibration
and noise, the optimum spring characteristic has
been employed for each suspension bushing.
The front end of the trailing arm is elastically
coupled to the body via a rubber bushing of high
spring capacity. This rubber bushing has an asym-
metrical non-linear characteristic in the front-rear
direction. and therefore functions to reduce thetransmission of tire vibration input to the body itself.
Individual independent bushings (with non-linear
characteristics) are also employed at the couplings
to the body of the shock absorbers and the coil
springs; these, together with the use of spring pads
with large channels, serve to reduce the transmis-
sion of vibrations to the body, thereby improving
even further the driving stability and riding comfort.
Lateral rod bushingBushina A
hannel
f3ub
Torsional
barArm
bushmg\/HollowHoilow
Section A-A

/cY
REAR HUBREAR SUSPENSION
<2WD> - Rear Hub
Rl7FMA
17-7The rear hub has built-in unit ball bearing to secure
high bearing and hub accuracy. By simply tightening
the nut to specified torque, optimum preloading is
achieved for easier servicing.
Unit ball
a -\ Rear hub
/‘YLLY -Nut
12A0550