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Due to the practice of lifting the rear suspension of heavy trucks, adopted by some end-users in Brazil, and in order to supply theoretical propositions to the manufacturers of suspension components for product improvement, this work describes stability and lateral dynamics tests simulations of a 4×2 rigid truck with 15000 kg of gross vehicle weight (GVW) and with changes in its originals leaf springs, predicting its dynamics responses in cornering and safety against rollover when unloaded and loaded at its GVWR limit.

Brazil presents a very diverse road and traffic conditions and due to several factors the number of truck accidents is very high. Inside truck accidents group, the one that causes the highest number of losses and fatalities is the rollover crash and understanding rollover dynamics is very important to prevent such events. The diversity of cargo vehicles arrangements requires a detailed study regarding the dynamic behavior these vehicle combinations in order to increase operation safety. The same tractor unit can be used with different types and numbers of trailers and/or semi-trailers, each one with different suspension configurations. These truck combinations have distinct dynamic performances that need evaluation. In this sense, this work presents a first phase study on the dynamic behavior of different types of cargo vehicle configuration. A 6×2 tractor is combined with a two distinct grain semi-trailer with different types of suspension: pneumatic and leaf spring.