Patent ID: 7490836

Claim:
A control for a suspended front axle of a vehicle, comprising: a fluid system including a fluid passage in connection with a rod end chamber and a piston end chamber of a fluid cylinder connected between the front axle and a front end of the vehicle and extendible in length for increasing a distance between the front axle and the front end, and a progressive control valve disposed in the passage and controllably movable through a range of progressively more restrictive partially open positions; a controller in operative control of the progressive control valve and automatically operable for causing the valve to move through the range of progressively more restrictive partially open positions as the fluid cylinder is increasingly extended; and wherein the progressive control valve is controllably movable to a one-way flow position wherein fluid flow is allowed therethrough only from the piston end chamber to the rod end chamber so as to allow the cylinder to retract, and the controller is automatically operable for causing the valve to move to the one-way flow position responsive to the fluid cylinder reaching a predetermined length.