Testing 9 Types of Suspensions for Lego Technic

I decided to build and test various types of suspension for Lego cars.
Nine car models with nine different types of suspensions are tested for efficiency and durability. I hope you will like it!
Impressed by the @in1
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00:00 Speed, Bump and Drop
00:16 Shock Strider
01:16 Crawl Voyager
02:23 Polarity Pathfinder
03:32 Chain Shaker
04:12 Rubber Cruiser
05:21 Elastic Explorer
06:30 Spring Rover
07:41 Bounce Nomad
08:51 Summit Seeker
10:12 Big Bump Test
12:03 Drop Test

[@rohanatorgaming0903]

0:35 swing axle suspension 1:31 swing axle suspension 4:31 solid axle suspension 6:43 trailing arm suspension 9:16 double wishbone suspension or pushrod suspension

[@nathanielscholtens2812]

last one is double wishbone sprung with pullrods

[@qazwsxedcjimmy1]

the last one is cantilever suspension i think

[@keqrou]

​@@nathanielscholtens2812not wishbone, that's correct but that refers to the arms not the suspension. In this case it's double wishbone CANTILIVER suspension

[@kewang7962]

@@nathanielscholtens2812 rohan was correct, it is a pushrod suspension.

[@rohanatorgaming0903]

Thanks for the pin @DrEngine

[@rendaddy_]

I don't know for how much realism you want to go, but it would be more accurate and scientific if all the wheelbases would be the same.

[@EugeneMcLaren]

Yea I felt the summit seeker had a bit of an advantage as a result if a larger wheelbase

[@HOLYCRAP70]

+ center of gravity! Some were really tall

[@spacedbro]

The loads also need to have the same moment arm from the wheels! ... not that I'm here for realism ofc 😂

[@grantts7]

Same amount of wheels as well.

[@cmdrredhawk]

Also ground clearance on some gave advantage on some tests.

[@kdt85]

I like how the chain shaker performed better after it destroyed itself

[@jankuryo6252]

Yeaa

[@TheWeen344]

it was so funny

[@Brightshadow686]

but also bcs he build it with the center point to high up

[@user-qr4jf4tv2x]

basic idea behind sports cars

[@danielszanto2955]

It has just proven how faulty (or even nonexisting) the test methodology was.

[@MegaPusheen23]

That rubber cruiser is like a leaf spring setup, that’s cool.

[@HannyDart]

and it also has some degree of damping, just like a leaf spring! :D

[@yackson4804]

Definitely my favorite one

[@jamestreydte9934]

mine too!@@yackson4804

[@kasperwinterhag]

My favorite one aswell!

[@deffington6627]

​ @DrEngine And it makes me wonder if it would perform worse or better if the wheels were not connected with axle

[@SWellWellWell]

My mind is blown. My Lego cars are forever changed. I need to rebuild all of them with these amazing suspensions.

[@-RaIsei-]

just don't use the chains

[@racing_mntage1584]

​@@-RaIsei-😭

[@Zane12ai]

And deffinely use te wheels

[@blaine4754]

I was really impressed by the summit seeker. It took a vertical vector and absorbed the energy by converting it horizontally

[@mattdecker4695]

Same way a lot of modern race car suspension is designed.

[@user-bl8xv3br9i]

+

[@blaine4754]

@@mattdecker4695 very cool

[@jvogler_art4708]

Very similar to a dunebuggy/race car. This is a winning design for a reason. He even has similar components. You can see upper and lower control arms and a spindle attaching them. The rod going horizontal to the frame is similar but not quite the same as a torsion beam which was popular on old trucks and old vw beetles. Basically as the control arms articulate the torsion beam, which is spring steel twists and returns to its original position. Torsion beams were phased out and replaced by vertical mounted coil springs or coilovers. But this design works the best because of its double wishbone design (independent front and rear suspension) I would say the sliding shock is actually like a cantilever suspension as well. They do have horizontally mounted shocks on trophy trucks but it’s kind of overly complex design, and dune buggies, trucks, and race cars all have diagonally mounted coilovers on the a arms now.

[@x-raygamma]

In a lego recreation of the rb16 Red Bull car I made that form of suspension! The shocks run parallel to the chassis of the car.

[@CosmicAggressor]

I feel like you would get better results if you used a larger tredmil for more varied terrain. Also trying to combine suspension methods. The idea being that you impact a soft suspension and then a hard suspension so the whole ride is smoother than with just a soft suspension or a hard suspension.

[@DrEngine]

Nice suggestions! Thank you for watching 😊

[@ziguen465]

If I were to get a solution to delivering more, I would just load the stuff and cover it with something so there's no way for them to fall in the first place, but then it wouldn't be a suspension solution testing isn't it hahahahah

[@Codemeister1998]

Someone’s ripping off your vids on tik tok btw

[@OllieTastersall]

The crawl voyager fared well in all tests. Looks compliant and steady .

[@iftekimas9260]

The only one that did a little bit bad was the drop test, the rest was really steady

[@jeremiahpoole4743]

It was the number of wheels, more stability with a lot of give per wheel.

[@RCmies]

I feel like it depended a lot on the stiffness on the suspension. I wish you somehow compensated it so the stiffness would be equal. I think the dampening effect of the rubber tires for example would become more beneficial if you put more weight so they could compress more

[@Batryoperatedbob]

Came to say this. The more compliant suspension out performed the super stiff over-sprung suspension. I'd have loved to see the magnets in an independent setup. Also the coilovers should have been brought further inboard on the arms to increase progression.

[@coreyduma325]

Without trying to match the stiffness to the travel and vehicle weight, these tests provide no useful data😢

[@LutraLovegood]

@@coreyduma325 It's useful data if you look at the entire vehicle and not just the suspension.

[@andreyemelyan5267]

There is problems with your tests, for example: you're using different length and width wheel-bases for same tredmil, also wheel count. This is causing unfair scores, so efficiency and durability tests are for satisfaction. There are different variables such as: length, width of wheel-base, wheel count, wheel weight, weight of unsuspended part, range of suspension, stiffness of suspension, height of center of mass. Very small amount of those is taken to account. Like, models with long wheelbases is OP for a jump cause they rotate less while riding off a ramp. Also you're tugging from the front instead of from the axis, that is going through center of mass, that causes bounce nomad to flip over! There is so much room for -improvement- part 2!

[@paulbowie6583]

also looks like the pulling arm doesnt allow for swaying

[@funkdefied1]

The Big Bump test was certainly more of a test of wheelbase length than suspension

[@DrEngine]

Feel free to make any suggestions for Lego car suspension

[@egoruderico3038]

I have seen many of your videos, but have you done already torsion bar? there were different types done over history specially on military vehicles, but I have not seen them done at a "lego scale". What about a version of the summit seeker ones but with magnets instead of springs. Almost any version that uses springs could be replaced by magnets, or double magnet suspension to make it smoother. Anyway, great job as usual.

[@SimplyMyBuilds]

You should try Pan Hard Rod suspension

[@thegakatac]

The magnet one might need a magnet at the top of the strut for rebound i think. Could be worth a try? Im no expert tho

[@steinestapler726]

Try Air Suspension. Or combine it with springs for dampening

[@fuckoff9137]

A classic double wishbone suspension

[@ShamelessDuck]

If you're using spring suspension you always need a dampener because spring will oscillate which causes the additional shake in small bumps test, which in turn makes the carrier less stable. With sort of free floating rubber tires you needed a guide rod in big bump test so that it wouldn't fall over due to tires being carried by inertia tip over the whole cart. And also it doesn't help that the suspension isn't connected to wheels directly. Magnet suspension would work much better if it was stiffer, because it really was too soft. More magnets or stronger ones would make it much more reliable, and also just like in spring suspension it should've had a dampener, which would be easy to make just by surrounding the magnets with aluminium or copper so that they would cancel the oscillations quite quickly. I think the "summit seeker" type worked the best because it was stiff with two rubber rings and it didn't need dampeners because rubber didn't oscillate that much as in "crawl voyager" (which needed a dampener). and as for chain one, well... It's a funnier character than we ever had.

[@DrEngine]

Thank you for the suggestions!

[@LutraLovegood]

A suspended cart design can be great to keep a load level, but not like this. A big advantage of magnets though in this case is they're really small so can be used in combination with other methods. For example using soft shock absorbers, and adding magnets to make the suspension progressively stiffer.

[@UnreasonablyIrrelevant-gv8xx]

This was pretty cool. The rubber cruiser was almost like solid axle leaf springs, but with rubber rather than spring steel. The summit seeker was kind of a mix between double wishbone and pushrod. And the spring rover was almost like semi trailing arm.

[@needs_more_dakka5774]

Good lord. That chain sheker thing just straight up exacerbated the problem

[@jc87930]

Super fun! These were variations on suspension geometry as noted earlier but none had dampers. They all had springs. A real damper must allow the spring to compress near its normal rate but then rebound at a much slower rate. This is usually done with one way valves of different sizes in gas or hydraulic shock absorbers. Challenge: Make a Lego shock! I have no idea how!

[@andrewkarsten5268]

Dampers don’t change the rate, they reduce the amplitude of the rebound, but yeah.

[@jc87930]

@@andrewkarsten5268 Sorry I was talking rate of return not spring rate. But the amplitude does not change just the frequency. If it reduced the amplitude the wheel would not return to its original position. Every time a bump was hit the car would get lower and lower...

[@beansi.p3952]

i think the summit seeker won the competition

[@dominicrichardson5546]

It would be interesting to see a test of different suspension geometries, like swing axle, double wishbone, mcpherson strut, swing arm etc. And see if you could make anti roll bars and test the difference that makes as well

[@DrEngine]

Nice ideas 💡

[@tlfields7854]

Pneumatic suspension?

[@user-no3vf9ry8u]

I'm not sure what's more impressive, the suspension or the fact that the car didn't fall apart.

[@oopsie671]

The Summit Seeker really has a very creative suspension system that works really well, I could definitely see this being used in cars. P.S. You do a great job with your vids, keep up the good work!

[@DrEngine]

Thank you for watching ☺️

[@jaredourada]

It's actually a very similar setup to what Formula 1 cars use.

[@arnaudFbr]

it's similar to some mountain bike suspension designs

[@wuyterio]

I have an RC car that uses it, works amazingly in any conditions

[@Kypsie]

I think it's based off of a real thing, look up "double wishbone suspension"

[@Schattiz]

Not sure if its real or animated. 😂

[@aridneva]

Can't wait to see these cars hit the market. I'm calling it now: Lego Grand Prix is about to get lit!

[@kevtheoggamer6672]

The rubber cruiser dances like a hiphop car 😂

[@mthwOF]

4:40 FINALLY LEAF SPRING SOLID AXLE SUSPENSION! Wanted to have one for sooo long… Edit: i remade the rubber cruiser’s axles, made steering, but I’m missing 30 rubber connectors…

[@IkeaFoodCounter]

I’ve always loved the aesthetics of these videos, the choice of background, lighting, even the part colors, you obviously put a lot of effort and attention to all these. Lovely blend of pleasant footage, informative builds and a perfect amount of humor, all very lovely. Keep it up!

[@DrEngine]

Thank you. It really takes a lot of effort to create, but it's also a lot of fun to read comments like yours 😊

[@zekeslavens]

Your videos are getting posted all over TikTok. Consider channel branding on the Lego itself.

[@in1]

Thanks for the credit! Cool testing setup, I would have expected my suspensions to do worse :)

[@DrEngine]

Thanks for the ideas!

[@4rootof2isirrational]

I like the summit seeker! That design is unique it seems because of the combination of vertical and horizontal which minimizes the vertical bounce. Wow- mind blown

[@SenkoSan-kl3xo]

Summit Seeker easily won, no doubt about it. Give it a LEGO trophy made of suspension pieces! Also a video idea is Lego cars vs slope with oil.

[@-JehovahsChild21-91]

Dr. Engine, I found great pleasure in this video. Thank you for maintaining a consistent posting schedule. As a result, I have become a new subscriber. Does anyone else share my sentiment?

[@Po_goes_brrr]

Rubber will typically results in a better ride due to its natural dampening effect, spring based cruisers had too much rebound wity no dampening.

[@martingarrish4082]

Polarity Pathfinder was innovative, but Rubber Cruiser the simplest solution. Try front-rear interconnected (like Citroen 2CV or Rover Metro) to make pitch frequency much lower. Then try some of the interconnected methods used on NASA Pathfinder and Spirit/Opportunity rovers.

[@DonkenAndToivolaRR]

I thought the summit seeker might be converted to something like the 2CV suspension. Would love to see that in action.

[@samuraiMOURS]

Enthusiastically, I really like the Crawl Voyager, Rubber Cruiser and Bounce Nomad because they carry heavy things. They’re also good at carrying more passengers than the others.

[@EstrogenBlast]

crawl voyager is obviously the winner here but I was really rooting for the rubber cruiser

[@BTK_R3SPIRATION]

The magnetic one is cool because it has a built in progressive spring rate

[@VTGSVG]

I'm not sure Lego is ready for this level of engineering.

[@JackCreator73]

Can we please get a behind-the-scenes look at the Lego suspension testing facility? I need to see this magic in action.

[@user-ru2xz8ek7w]

Who needs shock absorbers when you have pure, unadulterated rubber band power?

[@swampwyag676]

There's so much to love about this. The cartoonish contraptions, the genuine ingenuity of the designs. Not to mention the fun camera angles

[@priscilap-hl7yd]

kkk

[@Quackkr]

I have never thought of magnets as suspension

[@Blitz_4K]

I love that rubber cruiser , since most Indian trucks have leaf springs this is very realistic

[@SirFlextington]

I'm suprised the solid axle and leaf spring suspension did so well! I think the rubber connectors worked like shock absorbers and provided dampening to stabilize the load and unsprung weight.

[@mrcarrot5008]

I'd love to see a video in which you try and optimize the perfect suspension in an evolution style progression. Great video ❤️

[@DrEngine]

Great suggestion! Thank you for watching!

[@doirlyneedauser150]

suggestion: put all of the suspensions ontop of eachother and see if it really is the smoothest

[@DrEngine]

Nice idea💡

[@derandiheissst]

Everything is very interesting - in real life I would definitely consider building a closed container, then the losses would be significantly lower 😉

[@mccubemaster1]

The crispiness of that Microphone is unbelievable

[@juanpablo7947]

Voyager and summit seeker was insane🔥

[@tswan62]

What a fun video! Great work. Would be cool to see a version where wheelbase, wheel type, and the location of the center of gravity of the load are the same across models.

[@DrEngine]

Cool idea!

[@Tideroo]

Yea, that drastically changes the result even if the same suspensions are used. Great video but IMO he should have tried to keep it similar.

[@Kids_Scissors]

3:39 this one's got Fedex taking notes

[@david929190]

You really demonstrated the importance of securing your cargo.

[@jmizeratw]

Double-whishbone push-rod nails it. Would be also interesting to include same geometry but a pull-rod setup. Cool thing about this kind of suspension is that you can easily controll the stiffness with pre-loading springs/rubbers

[@juliapopova2612]

Thank you for this masterpiece of Lego engineering and entertainment. You have made the internet a better place today

[@user-hh1hd4dl2f]

brilliant super

[@BillyBlazeIRL]

I think it was a clever way to control for variance by using different wheels and tires for every test

[@zeten___9908]

The summit seaker has by far the best results, but after some use, the rubber bands might have an easy time snapping. For reliability and maximum preformance i would go with the rubber cruiser. Further testing and reliability enhancements to the seaker might make it the obvious choice.

[@lucatis]

You could try to create just one car with the diferent suspensions combined

[@kasperwinterhag]

Really enjoyed! i do think through that the stiffness of the chassis, number of wheels, wheelbase and the hight of the load bed, had a large role in some of the models loosing its peaces. Would also bee cool to see an air suspention version!

[@Softroader]

I love all his Lego videos using real techniques. However, there's a limit in the field of suspension. You can have all the suspension diagrams you want, but there are never any real shock absorbers. All the variations of springs are interesting, but in this kind of test, the role of the shock absorber is essential. It's the damper that controls the movement of the spring, deals with the energy it will release and therefore dampens the movement. This is one of the limitations. That doesn't change the fact that it's super interesting, it's just the way it is.

[@Neon_DJ.]

that intro was unironically better asmr than most youtubers

[@jabcmw1]

In almost all of these challenges, a much softer spring rate would have provided a better result. Perhaps a test combining several suspension types together? I also feel that a similar wheel base would lead to better results

[@user-fk2oi2yn2f]

This is very impressive!

[@IAmNumber4000]

When I saw you building the Summit Seeker I knew, this one’s gonna be the best

[@RyanWithAviators]

I liked the performance of the Crawl Voyager the most. It seemed the smoothest in most tests. A good all-rounder. It was also kind of mesmerizing to watch.

[@makerj514]

This is just amazing. great video

[@zl14l41]

There's a lot going on here! I noticed the...cab mounted suspensions, Where the wheels themselves were on a separate platform behaved worse than a solid axle. I think if you combined independent 6 or 8 wheel suspension with a dampened version of the bounce rover you wouldn't lose much at all. On the chain suspension If the chains were light duty elastic and secured from the top and bottom of the mounting posts to the corners of the cab like an x split in two it might retain more, could try on the sides too instead of just the front. No matter which design retains more product it will either be the most complicated to assemble and work on or expensive to build and maintain which is why your Amazon boxes show up dented and you can hear the delivery truck hit bumps from 8 blocks away.

[@roundpan9255]

the rubber cruiser has won my brain, but the chain shaker has won my heart.

[@Highstranger951]

If the summit seeker had a better supported cargo box it would have dominated

[@repapeti98]

I really like the leaf spring design with the rubber technic bushings, but my favourite is definitely the pushrod setup at the end. I haven't really seen that type made from Technic.

[@sergeypopov8976]

Great video! Looking forward to the next ones!

[@Andrecio64]

this madlad has quality content as good as Brick Experiment Channel's videos

[@user-ie4kz9je7n]

Nice video

[@Hidesinbackground]

i think the tests were kind of unfair considering that the rubber band one had multiple wheels. plus, the rubber cruiser and the bounce nomad had a higher capacity than most of the cars. (not to mention that a lot of the wheels came in different shapes and sizes).

[@sandrinedefaux3290]

Amazing, it would make children want to become engineers when they grow up! Too bad Legos are way too expensive...

[@DrEngine]

Thank you, that's why I make my videos - we need more engineers than beauty bloggers 😉

[@bradyk8454]

Great video! This really highlights the importance of pretty obscure concepts, ESPECIALLY unsprung weight. Wheel configuration (base, size and #), CoG, moment arms, and the interplay between weight distribution and resistance of the dampening mechanism are also super clearly illustrated here. I dont think the goal was to be 100% scientific, rather to show off of the capabilities of different formats in their respective context.

[@DrEngine]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@doirlyneedauser150]

the difference between shock absorbers and general suspension is that shock absorbers run on "compressed gas" that most of the time is in a piston chamber, general suspensions just have a sort of soft spring so on rough terrain it will be decently smooth

[@inkt_]

shock absorbers aren't springs and don't have "stiffness" in the same regard as suspension springs (spring frequency). shock absorbers absorb energy via oil and/or gas inside of a piston. I suggest taking the time to research things that you are interested in.

[@DrEngine]

When I ran the tests, I recorded all the settings and results for you. Enjoy! doctorengine.info/post/lego-custom-suspensions-tests/

[@steinestapler726]

How did you get over 100% efficiency

[@SWellWellWell]

@steinestapler726 ​ Perhaps the weight of the car and the weight of the delivered cargo are compared here

[@JackCreator73]

@@steinestapler726 It seems that he considered efficiency as the ratio of the delivered cargo to the weight of the model

[@steinestapler726]

@@JackCreator73 but it doesn't Work Like that

[@user-of9ui7hn3j]

Question: what is this and where did you buy it?

[@ziguen465]

The selection will depend if you want to keep the vehicle less damaged, and if you want it to deliver the most, the balance between a shockless motion, and a safe fall is the way to go, something that wont be crushed on a fall, and wont let its load fall all the way out.

[@MotoGreciaMarios]

I would so love to see the magnetic suspension work but I knew from the beginning that the non-linearity of the magnet-induced force would provide with a... harsh ride.

[@stuchly1]

I absolutely love watching these videos! This one was super fun especially! Really interesting to see how each of these builds manages the challenge at hands.

[@DrEngine]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@Mr._Bellic]

You should make a tank with the Crawl Voyager suspension system!

[@RCnerd74]

Playing LEGO... still one of the best ways to spend your time🤩

[@jayaneyon9316]

The summit one was definitely inspired by the rc car. It even is intentionally a bit squatted in the back. it was also the best

[@user-gf6ct1dl2t]

I think crawl voyager is the best

[@SimplyMyBuilds]

The spring rover’s suspension is similar to that of a Station Wagon. Awesome video! 🎉

[@DrEngine]

Cool, thanks for watching!

[@LUNKTonsing]

My first time seeing so many different types of suspensions

[@cocolasticot9027]

The Chain Shaker works like a charm if you first perform a sacrifice to the chaos gods.

[@Abrikosmanden]

What an amazing piece of work you've done here! Very inventive and well thought out!

[@BroMake]

WHAT OH you're a genius

[@colesheive7649]

As a sucker for multi-plane linkages, the summit seeker is definitely my favorite

[@pushkarkundu4503]

The chain shaker looks so comfortable 🔥

[@verh1014]

SUMMIT SEEKER SWEEP!!!

[@Gearz-365]

Amazing to see what different suspension setups can do. Awesome work yet again Dr. Engine! Edit: Summit Seeker and Rubber Cruiser are the best!

[@DrEngine]

Glad you like them!

[@Gearz-365]

​@@DrEngineYour work is always awesome!

[@kj64gaming19]

Its no surprise to me that the leaf spring and double wishbone/pushrod systems did the best, thats why similar systems have been used for more than a century!

[@natef15]

The Shock Strider was my favorite, so satisfying to watch. Excellent, entertaining video!

[@backupcreator73]

This is like watching a real-life Hot Wheels crash test...but with more bricks

[@user-op1zb3zh9e]

Wow

[@chucklefuck]

Chain Shaker should've had the chains attached to the top of the cargo bay instead of the bottom

[@mr.kritlet7338]

not gonna lie these designs are pretty inovative

[@tau-5794]

Crawl Voyager for the bump tests, Summit Seeker for the drop test.