Rear Suspension System

The rear suspension design on this vehicle uses leaf springs, and a tube and casting axle. The leaf springs used on the rear suspension of this vehicle are of either a mono-leaf or multi-leaf design.

There are 3 different rear suspension designs available:
- Front-Wheel-Drive
- All-Wheel-Drive
- Front-Wheel-Drive Commercial (fleet use only)

The rear axle used on Front-Wheel-Drive applications of this vehicle is mounted to the rear leaf springs using isolator bushings at the axle mounting brackets.

The rear axle used on All-Wheel-Drive applications of this vehicle is also mounted to the rear leaf springs, but does not use isolator bushings between the rear axle and the leaf springs.

The rear suspension used on the Front-Wheel Drive commercial version of this vehicle is unique. The leaf spring used on the commercial version of this vehicle is a multi-leaf spring. The rear axle is similar to the standard FWD axle, but is heavy duty. It is mounted to the rear leaf springs, but unlike the non-commercial application of this vehicle, does not use any isolators between the spring and the axle.

Each side of the rear suspension consists of these major components:
- Leaf spring
- Jounce bumper
- Shock absorber
- Hub and bearing
- Track bar
- Stabilizer bar

OPERATION
This rear suspension is designed to handle the various load requirements of the vehicle yet allow for a comfortable ride.

The rear leaf spring shackle angle's provide increasing suspension rates as the vehicle is loaded. This provides a comfortable unloaded ride and also ample rear suspension travel when the vehicle is loaded.

The shock absorbers are mounted at an angle, more parallel to the springs. This design provides greater stability in addition to controlling ride motion.

The rear wheel bearings used are similar to the bearings used in the front suspension. A hub and bearing assembly is used.