Wishbone Suspension Guide

Wishbone Suspension Guide (1.0 Drilling Thunder)

Suspension is what separates a smooth-riding vehicle from a bone-jarring mess. The double wishbone (A-arm) suspension is one of the most capable designs in Scrap Mechanic — offering excellent wheel travel, consistent camber, and superior handling. This guide is verified for version 1.0 Drilling Thunder and covers suspension types, wishbone construction, bearing flex builds, tuning, and the critical differences between Creative and Survival physics.

Single vs Double Wishbone Comparison

Before you build, decide whether a single or double wishbone fits your vehicle. A single arm works fine on a small scout; the second arm is what stops your wheel from leaning under load.

Suspension Type Overview

Double Wishbone Build Steps (1.0 Verified)

The whole thing is two arms stacked on top of each other, both hinged to your chassis, both meeting an upright that carries the wheel. Get that right, and the rest is detail.

Components Needed (per wheel)

• 2x A-arm (wishbone) structures — upper and lower (build from blocks or pipes, same length)
• 4x Bearings — one at each chassis end of each A-arm (both must face the same direction)
• 2x Bearings — connect arm outer ends to the wheel upright
• 1x Wheel hub / upright — the vertical piece the wheel bolts to
• 1x Suspension part (or controlled bearing torque) — provides restoring force
• 1x Wheel + tire
• Steering hinge (for front wheels only)
• 1x Bump stop block — prevents over-droop

Construction Steps

1. Pick chassis mounting points — Place the upper arm directly above the lower one, with a decent gap between them. A cramped space will ruin your wheel's geometry.
2. Build both arms — Use blocks or pipes, same length top and bottom. Longer arms give more travel and a softer ride. Short arms are stiff and twitchy.
3. Attach arms to chassis with bearings — Both bearings need to face the same way so the arms swing on the same axis. A reversed bearing is the classic reason a wheel tucks itself under the car.
4. Build the upright — The vertical piece the wheel bolts to. Connect both arm ends to it with bearings. This is the part people half-ass — make it solid.
5. Weld every single joint — Missed welds are the number one cause of the folding and twisting mess you see in every Steam thread.
6. Add a bump stop — Place a block under the lower arm so it cannot droop past its limit.
7. Add restoring force — Mount a suspension part between the lower arm and chassis, or use controlled bearing torque for adjustable stiffness. Do not leave the suspension stretched at rest — that is asking for shake.
8. Attach wheel and add steering (front wheels only) — then test.

Bearing Flex Suspension (No Suspension Part At All!)

A player-built wishbone design that uses zero suspension parts, zero controllers, and zero springs — just bearings. And it still easily goes over bumps.

How It Works

Bearings in this game are not rigid joints. They behave more like very strong magnets that pull harder the further apart you drag them. Your lower arm sits on the shortest link, so moving the wheel up and down forces those bearings apart — and they snap back. That is your spring.

Advantages

• Costs almost nothing — no suspension parts needed
• Fits in spaces where a real suspension part will not
• Sidesteps the stabilisation glitch entirely
• In Survival, stack two bearings on top of each other for the same effect

Survival Warning

Survival bearings are much weaker than Creative ones. This design may need reworking or may not hold at all under heavy loads. Test it before you trust it with a mining rig.

Four Checks Before You Call a Build Finished

You will know something is wrong the moment you pull the lift away. The car hangs in the air, or the wheels tuck themselves under the chassis like the whole thing gave up. Some builds just vibrate until the frame shakes apart.

Four things cause it, in order of how often they are the culprit:

1. A missed weld somewhere in the arm assembly
2. A bearing facing the wrong direction
3. A suspension part left stretched at rest
4. Too many moving parts for the game to keep track of

Run these four checks before you call a build finished:

1. Drop it off the lift and watch the wheels.
2. Lift one end, remove the lift, see if it falls naturally or hovers.
3. Drive over repeated bumps.
4. Turn hard under acceleration and watch for wheel fold.

Then repeat the whole thing on the other physics setting. New 1.0 worlds run Smart physics by default; older worlds keep whatever they had until you change it under Options > Gameplay > Physics quality. In multiplayer, only the host can switch it.

Does Wishbone Suspension Work in Survival?

Short answer: sometimes, and not the way it did in Creative. This trips up more people than any other part of the build. A design that runs perfectly in Creative can go unstable in Survival. Players have been reporting that exact contrast since 2021.

Why Survival Is Different

• Weaker bearings — Survival bearings have less holding force than Creative
• Weight you did not account for — A light scout car is not the same test as a truck hauling a drill, a saw, and four crates of loot. Those tools swing around and shake the frame while you drive.

Recommendation

Keep work vehicles mechanically simple. Save the fancy wishbone geometry for something you are actually going to race. For mining rigs and haulers, a solid axle or simple bearing flex design is more reliable.

Parameter Tuning

Arm Length

• Longer arms — More vertical travel, more leverage, softer ride. Better for off-road.
• Shorter arms — Stiff, responsive, less travel. Better for racing and tight builds.

Spring Rate / Restoring Force

• Soft — More comfort, more body roll, more travel. Good for off-road.
• Stiff — Better handling, less body roll, harsher ride. Good for racing.
• Weight matching — Heavier vehicles need stiffer springs to support the weight
• Front vs rear — Front often stiffer (engine weight); rear softer for traction

Ride Height

• Low — Better aerodynamics, lower center of gravity, less roll. Risk of bottoming out.
• High — More ground clearance, better off-road. Higher center of gravity, more roll.

Different Terrain Settings

Common Problems

Frequently Asked Questions

Are old 2020–2021 wishbone tutorials still worth following?

For the geometry, yes. For the exact settings, no. Anything made before December 2024 predates the physics overhaul, so the arms and bearing layout still make sense, but the behaviour will not match.

Do longer arms make the suspension softer?

Yes. Longer arms give the wheel more vertical travel and more leverage, which softens the ride. Short arms feel stiff and react harder to every bump.

Can I use bearing flex suspension in Survival?

Sometimes. Stack two bearings for more holding force, but test before trusting it with heavy loads. For mining rigs, a traditional suspension part is more reliable.

Suspension Building Tips

1. Test in Creative first — Experiment with geometry in Creative before committing resources in Survival
2. Build one corner first — Perfect one wheel's suspension, then replicate it for the other three
3. Use rigid mounting points — Flexible chassis mounts ruin suspension performance; reinforce the frame
4. Ensure free movement — No blocks should interfere with suspension travel throughout the full range
5. Match left and right — Identical settings on both sides for balanced handling
6. Weld everything — Missed welds are the #1 cause of suspension failure
7. Check bearing orientation — Both chassis bearings must face the same direction
8. Test on both physics settings — Smart vs Classic physics can behave differently

Related Guides

• Vehicle & Truck Building — Integrate suspension into your vehicle design
• Controller & Logic Circuits — Active suspension and electronic damping control
• Piston Mechanics Guide — Use pistons for adjustable suspension and ride height
• Drill & Mining Guide — Build mining vehicles that need robust suspension