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Shock absorbers
The four torsion bars for the front and back wheels of the Tiger I were thicker than the rest, and their swing arms were equipped with shock absorbers internal to the hull. These shock absorbers consisted of an arm that pushed a plate through an oil-filled tube. The arm could move a distance of 160mm.
This is a shock absorber. It's called a HT90 and was also used in Panther tanks. The upper view shows the end of the moving arm, which was in fact fixed to the Tiger's hull wall. In the middle is the tube containing the damping oil. The capacity was 1750cc and the whole thing weighed 23.4kg. At the other end is a bronze mounting that attaches to a radius arm, which is itself fixed to a suspension swing-arm.
These are my diagrams of the HT90, based on a German original. Green dimensions are German, blue ones derive from my surveys of vehicles.
Sources
[1] Survey of vehicle 250122, Bovington, by David Byrden
[2] Workshop drawing 700/0434 (HT90 damper for Panther and Tiger)
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Copyright © David Byrden 1998-2007 except where indicated.
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