Patent ID: 7549660

Claim:
A frame for a vehicle, said frame comprising: a) a pair of spaced-apart, parallel, elongated and longitudinally extending main members; b) an air spring/cross member extending between said main members, said air spring/cross member having a pair of ends, each one of said air spring/cross member ends being attached to an air spring/cross member node, said air spring/cross member nodes in turn each being attached to a respective one of said main members; and c) a pair of cross braces extending between said air spring/cross member and said main members, each one of said cross braces having a pair of ends, one of said pair of cross brace ends being attached to a bracing node, and the other one of said pair of cross brace ends being attached to a hanger node, said bracing node in turn being attached to said air spring/cross member, and said hanger nodes in turn each being attached to and depending from a respective one of said main members, to support an axle/suspension system, whereby said frame effectively reacts to loads encountered by said vehicle during operation.