page_title: Watt's linkage
section_title: Vehicle suspension
hierarchical_section_title: Watt's linkage / Applications / Vehicle suspension
caption_attribution_description: English: Alstom link of Bogie truck FS075 by Odakyu Electric Railway Company, EMU Type 5000. 日本語: 小田急5000形の台車（付随台車FS075）の軸周り。
context_page_description: Watt's linkage is a type of mechanical linkage invented by James Watt in which the central moving point of the linkage is constrained to travel on a nearly straight line. It was described in Watt's patent specification of 1784 for the Watt steam engine.
  Today it is used in automobile suspensions, allowing the axle of a vehicle to travel vertically while preventing sideways motion.
context_section_description: Watt's linkage is used in the rear axle of some car suspensions as an improvement over the Panhard rod, which was designed in the early twentieth century. Both methods are intended to prevent relative sideways motion between the axle and body of the car. Watt’s linkage approximates a vertical straight-line motion much more closely, and it does so while consistently locating the centre of the axle at the vehicle's longitudinal centreline, rather than toward one side of the vehicle as would be the case if a simple Panhard rod were used.
  It consists of two horizontal rods of equal length mounted at each side of the chassis. In between these two rods, a short vertical bar is connected. The center of this short vertical rod – the point which is constrained in a straight line motion - is mounted to the center of the axle. All pivoting points are free to rotate in a vertical plane.
  In a way, Watt’s linkage can be seen as two Panhard rods mounted opposite each other. In Watt’s arrangement, however, the opposing curved movements introduced by the pivoting Panhard rods largely balance each other in the short vertical rotating bar.
  The linkage can be inverted, in which case the centre P is attached to the body, and L1 and L3 mount to the axle. This reduces the unsprung mass and changes the kinematics slightly. This arrangement was used on Australian V8 Supercars until the end of the 2012 season.
  Watt's linkage can also be used to prevent axle movement in the longitudinal direction of the car. This application involves two Watt's linkages on each side of the axle, mounted parallel to the driving direction, but just a single 4-bar linkage is more common in racing suspension systems
caption: Watt's linkage train suspension
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