Light Vehicle Products | Air Springs

Air Springs with Axial Sleeves

Air springs with axial sleeve technology provide optimal comfort and are mainly used at the front axle. The extremely thin air spring sleeves, combined with axially extending fiber reinforcement, result in very low friction levels.

The axial sleeves can be used flexibly and combined with various air spring technologies. Non-pressurized top mounts can provide optimal harshness performance, whereas one-piece contoured aluminum pistons provide maximum air volume and comfort. Lightweight hybrid air pots, made of die-cast aluminum and polyamide using innovative hot gas welding technology, guarantee excellent performance.

Vibracoustic was the first supplier of this special axial sleeve technology, since when axial sleeves from Vibracoustic can be found in almost all front axle air springs for light vehicle applications.

About Air Springs

Air springs keep the vehicle at a constant level, regardless of how heavy its load is. They allow to lower the car at high speeds in order to improve aerodynamics and thus increase range. Air springs can also optimize airflow under the car for passive battery cooling in electric vehicles and they protect the batteries in bad road conditions and secure always a minimum ground clearance. Furthermore, switchable air springs can provide different degrees of stiffness, allowing quick transition between a firm suspension for confident and safe driving behavior, and a more comfortable setup for long road trips.

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Vibracoustic supplies air springs for the majority of all light vehicles based on air suspension systems, making us one of the leading global air spring manufacturers.

Our products and technologies can be delivered separately or as a unit with the damper. The Vibracoustic portfolio ranges from front and rear axle air springs, to switchable multi-chamber air springs Our comprehensive air springs know how makes us a reliable and trusted component and module supplier for air spring applications of all sorts.

The key element in air springs for light vehicles are the rubber bellows. These essentially determine the comfort and service life properties. Vibracoustic offers three different types of bellows – axial, cross-ply and ZAX – which differ in terms of the structure of their embedded reinforcing fibers.

In an axial sleeve, the fibers embedded in the elastomer run axially to the deflection direction. The cross-ply bellows has two layers of reinforcing elements, placed at an angle to each other. Unlike in a fabric, these elements are not connected. The cross-axial bellows, or ZAX bellows, combines the great torsion decoupling capability of an axial sleeve with the dimensional stability of a cross-ply bellows.