The HutchRide 2000 Ride Study
To evaluate and compare "ride", Hutchens has developed an over-the-road ride analysis program. For our ride evaluation, several accelerometers are placed at different locations on the trailer. An accelerometer that is located at the center of the trailer tandem shows the most relevance to the ride characteristics of the trailer suspension. All future references to trailer ride will relate to this accelerometer position, since it most accurately represents what the cargo experiences directly above the trailer wheels.
To keep test parameters consistent and to minimize experimental errors, the same tractor and trailer is utilized for each test. For this comparison, a common 3-leaf 355-00 spring is utilized for both the 4-spring suspension and the HutchRide 2000. Three load configurations - empty, partially-loaded, and fully-loaded trailers with gross vehicle weights of 33,000 lbs., 57,000 lbs., and 77,000 lbs. respectively - are evaluated during separate ride tests for each of the suspension systems. Once the 53-ft. van trailer is ready for testing, data is collected at several marked locations with a high-speed digital data recorder and then imported into data reduction software where standard random vibration analysis techniques are used to produce Power Spectral Density (PSD) plots. The PSD curve describes the positive intensity and frequency at which forces were measured at the trailer floor.
 This graph is produced by calculating the area under the PSD curves. A Hutchens 9700 4-spring suspension under empty trailer conditions is our "ride" baseline. All other configurations are shown as a percentage of the baseline. As shown here, the HutchRide 2000 provides an improvement in ride quality for each load configuration. The ride intensity number is a quick way to compare "ride" over a 0-50 Hz frequency range. A drawback to this evaluation approach is that different suspension and trailer designs have distinct frequencies at which they may produce the harshest ride. One suspension/vehicle combination may affect cargo in a different manner from another - if the cargo is sensitive to vibration at a natural frequency of that particular system. By using the PSD graphs, the vehicle ride at a specific frequency can be evaluated and then used to anticipate the response of the cargo if its characteristics are also known.
 From this ride study, we have verified through our over-the-road analysis program that the HutchRide 2000 Enhanced Spring Suspension produces a 22-41% improvement in vehicle ride when compared to a standard 4-spring suspension.
TO VIEW THE HUTCHRIDE 2000 COMPLETION KIT PARTS AND INSTALLATION CATALOG, GO TO THE
"RESOURCE CENTER."
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