One of the staff at Timbren Industries found it lying on the side of the road just outside our manufacturing facility in Whitby, Ontario, Canada.
As you can see, the truck frame is completely rusted and flattened. But the rubber spring is still good!
If you have ever wondered how Aeon® rubber springs work, perhaps you need a crash course in rubber spring technology.
Why don’t we take a look at the unique characteristics and qualities of Aeon® spring helpers?
Built into every Aeon® rubber spring are some unique characteristics:
1. Progressive Spring Rate
Aeon® rubber springs automatically adjust to the load. When the load increases, the rubber spring dramatically increases in spring rate.
That’s because as the Aeon® spring begins to deflect, the rubber gets progressively denser. Instead of deflecting in a linear fashion (like a metal spring), an Aeon® spring holds the weight with very little deflection.
The result is extra stability, no sagging and a vehicle that remains level under load.
2. Self-Damping Properties
Aeon® rubber springs are able to reduce shock and vibration. That’s because of a little thing called “hysteresis.”
In other words, Aeon® rubber springs have the ability to absorb the energy that extra weight produces. The absorption effect is the same as that of a shock absorber. The result is a smooth ride.
3. Vibration Isolation
Due to their ability to reduce the transfer of energy, Aeon® rubber springs dampen shock and vibration. The result for a truck suspension is a quiet ride and greater control.
4. Single Convoluted
Aeon® hollow rubber springs come in many shapes and sizes. Some are round, some are rectangular and some are wedge-shaped.
Round Aeon® springs come single convoluted, double convoluted and triple convoluted.
As the image above suggests, we’re going to talk about round, single-convoluted, hollow rubber springs.
Single Convoluted: Just because they’re smaller and shorter, doesn’t mean they’re weaker. Nor are they inferior to any of the other Aeon® springs.
In fact, the single convoluted spring has many advantages over the double and triple kind. They’re amazingly stable
Single convoluted springs are much shorter than their double and triple counterparts. Furthermore, most of them are wider than their height. For example, the ever-popular A170 is 3 3/8 inches wide, but only 2 3/4 inches tall.
In other words, the taller a spring gets, the less stable it becomes.
They’re incredibly strong.
Below is a deflection curve for a single convoluted Aeon® part # A0103B-75. Even though it's only 3 1/2" in height, it maxes out at 6,500 lb!
As you can see, single convoluted springs have a much shorter deflection curve compared to double or triple convoluted springs. Which is why they handle the load more aggressively. For this reason, they’re used on severe service vehicles – snow plows, tow trucks, slide-in campers, etc. They’re extremely adaptable
Single convoluted springs such as the A180-75 fit into tight spots where there isn’t much room for a helper spring.
Furthermore, they work well in tandem with other springs, especially on some of our trailer suspensions.
Doesn’t this give you some idea why an Aeon® rubber spring would outlast and outperform a rusty, old frame?
We’ve been saying it for over 40 years, and we still think it’s true: Aeon® springs are “stronger than steel, more reliable than air.”
