Transverse leaf spring front suspension

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Transverse leaf spring front suspension is a type of automotive front suspension, whose usage is most well known in Ford Motor Company products from 1908 to 1948 (1959 for the inexpensive Ford Popular in the UK). "Suicide front axle" is a term that has been used for it.^[1]

The configuration consists of a one-piece axle (solid front axle), to the ends of which the steerable front wheels are mounted. The axle receives its vertical and transverse support from a transverse leaf spring (leaf springs were often used for support in more than one direction), and its longitudinal support from fore-aft links sometimes called "radius rods" which are attached (via pivots) to the ends of the axle at their forward end and to the sides of the chassis (again via pivots) at their aft end. The ends of the transverse leaf spring can either tie to the top of the rods, or to the top of the solid axle. The transverse leaf spring is attached at its center to the center of the chassis's front cross member.