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Wheel Suspension 5x5
Icon Block Wheel Suspension 5x5

Category: Maneuvering
Status: Functional

Function:
Allows wheels to be steered from a cockpit.

Fits small ship
Mass: 480.2 kg

Fits large ship and station
Mass: 2,821 kg

Data Controls: [edit] [purge] (?)

The 5x5 wheel suspension is the largest of the suspension types, which is reflected in its mass and material cost. The suspension itself takes up 2x2x3 block space on both large and small ship grids.

The Wheel Suspension 5x5 also exists in an offroad variant that is part of the paid Wasteland DLC, with the same properties.

Recipe[]

Icon Block Wheel Suspension 5x5 Wheel Suspension 5x5
ComponentLarge Ship/Station
Required
Large Ship/Station
Optional
Small Ship
Required
Small Ship
Optional
Icon Item Motor Motor202
Icon Item Small Steel Tube Small Steel Tube304
Icon Item Large Steel Tube Large Steel Tube20
Icon Item Construction Comp. Construction Comp.4012
Icon Item Steel Plate Steel Plate4030106


Usage[]

Add Wheel Suspension blocks to be able to manoeuvre the grid across a planetary surface using the WASD keys. To enable the cockpit to control the wheels, make sure the checkbox saying Control Wheels is ticked in the Cockpit's Control Panel Screen. Wheeled vehicles use less power than thrusters but are hindered by uneven ground.

Tip: Adding one or more Gyroscopes to the vehicle enables turning and levelling (Yaw and Pitch) with the mouse.

The Remote Control's Autopilot cannot control wheels, but you can remote-control a wheeled vehicle manually.

Tip: When you press and hold 'X' in the cockpit of a wheeled vehicle, the suspensions compress, which can be useful to connect to a low connector or to get through a low entrance. When you then release 'X', the suspensions relax, and the vehicle jumps, which can be useful to get a vehicle unstuck from uneven ground.


Building[]

Suspension Small Grid 5x5

Proper orientation of a wheel suspension. Note the tread placement and J-shaped support on the bottom side of the vehicle.

Suspensions only attach to grids on the flat side that's opposite the shoe (the place where the wheel meets the suspension).

The two variants of suspension blocks labeled "right" or "left" only matter for cosmetic purposes. Any wheels will still move in the direction of the Remote Control block / Main Cockpit of a vehicle.

When attaching wheel suspensions, it is important to know which side is up. Choose a well spaced attachment point on the grid, the shoe facing outwards, and determine the proper rotation of the suspension block. The "J" shaped frame is the bottom side. The elbow piston-looking "shock absorber" is the top of the suspension.

After placing a suspension on a grid, the wheel block is automatically added at its end. Both Wheel and Suspension must be welded separately to construct them. If no wheel frame appears, make sure there is enough space for the wheel!

vanilla wheel suspension

A vanilla wheel suspension: Note the "shock absorber" pushing down.

Wasteland DLC Wheel suspension

How to orient the Wasteland DLC offroad Wheel suspension: Note the yellow contraption in the suspension shoe is at the top of the device. Yellow hazard triangles also point toward the top of the suspension.

Wheel Suspension Controls[]

The suspension's vertical orientation matters when altering these values. Only if you've placed all suspensions right-side-up, the following controls work consistently.

Tip: Group your wheels on the Control Panel Screen so you can adjust these settings for some/all of them at once. Some of the following options apply to front or back wheels, or only to right wheels, and some apply to all of them.

  • Add Wheel -- If wheels commonly break en route, click this button (or add this action to your toolbar) to quickly reattach an (unwelded) wheel. Only works if there is enough free space next to the suspension.
  • Steering -- Whether this wheel should turn left and right when the driver presses the A and D keys. Standard is to enable this for front wheels, and to disable it for all other wheels. For long and slow vehicles, you can also enable it on the back wheels. The intensity is controlled by the Steering Angle setting.
  • Propulsion -- Whether this wheel should accelerate and decelerate when the driver presses the W and S keys. The intensity is controlled by the Power setting.
  • Brake -- Whether the brake is on or off.
  • Allow Parking Brake -- Whether this wheel brakes when the driver presses P. See also Cockpit Controls.
  • AirShock -- If this vehicle catches air, whether it should automatically extend and strengthen its suspensions in mid air to better absorb the shock impact upon landing and prevent damage of the chassis.
  • Invert Steering -- Only if you enable Steer Override, you must invert the steering direction of all wheels on the right side. (bug report)
  • Invert Propulsion -- Only if you enable Propulsion Override, you must invert the forward direction of all wheels on the right side.

Most of the following values in the the Control Panel Screen apply to all wheels. The examples decribe two extremes, an ATV versus a race car.

  • Steering Angle in degrees -- When the driver presses the A and D keys, how much the wheels should turn. Depends on Steering setting.
    • Values from 8 to 16 degrees are typical.
    • Higher values turn more sharply but have a high chance of flipping the vehicle.
    • Lower values are safer but result in wider turning circles.
  • Power in percent -- When the driver presses the W or S keys, how much the vehicle should accelerate/decelerate. Depends on Propulsion setting.
    • High values are faster but use up the batteries faster and cause small vehicles to flip.
    • When going uphill, be ready to crank up wheel power temporarily.
  • Strength in percent -- How much the suspension resists compressing vertically.
    • For a race car, use a high value so the suspension remains stiff and prevents the vehicle from bottoming-out.
    • For a cargo vehicle, you will need to adjust this value every time when it's either full or empty.
    • For vehicles with more than four wheels, give the middle suspensions a lower strength so they don't lift the other wheels of the ground.
    • For an all-terrain vehicle, use low values, so that the suspension travels more easily, and adjusts finely and keeps traction in uneven ground, at the risk of bottoming-out the vehicle when landing after catching air.
  • Height offset in centimetres -- The absolute vertical position of the wheel relative to the suspension.
    • For an all-terrain vehicle, you want high clearance, so use a low wheel position such as -32cm.
    • For a race car, you want to be close to ground, so you choose a high wheel position, such as +32cm.
  • Friction in percent -- How much traction (grip) the wheels have on the ground.
    • Increase this value while going uphill or downhill.
    • For "drifting" on flat ground, or when using Overrides, or when you want to use (gyroscopic) mouse steering, lower the friction for the wheels to have less resistance against the ground.
  • Speed Limit in km/h -- Helps you to not accelerate above the given value.
    • For all-terrain and utility vehicles, impose a low speed to prevent them from flipping.
    • For race cars on flat ground, allow higher speeds.
  • Propulsion Override in +/- percent -- Used for Autopiloted vehicles or for cruise control. Use a Timer Block to enable the Autopilot and its Overrides together.
  • Steer Override in +/- percent -- Used for Autopiloted vehicles or for cruise control. Use a Timer Block to enable the Autopilot and its Overrides together.

Toolbar Actions[]

You can add the following options to your toolbar or use them in Sensors and Timer Blocks.

When you set up, for example, an Autopilot sequence, you can enable and disable combinations of the following suspension options using a Timer block:

  • Steering On/Off -- Whether the driver can steer left and right with the A and D keys
  • Propulsion On/Off -- Whether the driver can accelerate and decelerate with the W and S keys
  • Brake On/Off -- Whether the wheels are completely stopped
  • Allow Parking Brake On/Off -- Whether the driver can brake by pressing the P key. For details see Cockpit Controls.
  • AirShock On/Off -- Whether to enable automatic shock absorbers when catching air.
  • Invert Steering on/off -- Swaps left and right when pressing the A and D keys to steer. Currently only used (on the wheels on the right side) when activating Steer Override.
  • Invert Propulsion on/off -- Swaps forward and backward when pressing the W and S keys to accelerate. Currently only used (on the wheels on the right side) when activating Propulsion Override.

When you press (G key) and then select your custom Wheel Suspensions group, you have the option to assign the following helpful actions to your quick toolbar slots. Reset/Increase/Decrease are typically used together to smartly adjust settings on the fly while driving.

  • Increase/Decrease Steering Angle -- Lets you change the absolute steering angle on the fly.
    • Reset Steering Angle -- Lets you reset the absolute steering angle on the fly.
  • Increase/Decrease Power -- Lets you adjust on the fly how fast you'll accelerate, for example, while going uphill.
  • Increase/Decrease Strength -- Lets you adjust on the fly how much the suspension travels, for example, when transitioning from flat to uneven terrain.
  • Increase/Decrease Height Offset -- Lets you adjust on the fly the wheel clearance, for example, to be able to reach a connector, to fit through a low door, or when transitioning from flat to uneven terrain.
    • Reset Height Offset -- Lets you reset wheel clearance on the fly.
  • Increase/Decrease Friction -- Lets you adjust the traction on the fly, for example, while going uphill or while racing.
  • Increase/Decrease Speed Limit -- Lets you adjust the speed limit on the fly, for example, when transitioning from flat to uneven terrain.
  • Increase/Decrease Propulsion Override -- Lets you set up accelerating/decelerating cruise control on the fly.
    • Reset Propulsion Override -- Lets you switch off accelerating/decelerating cruise control on the fly.
  • Increase/Decrease Steer Override -- Lets you set up the turning cruise control on the fly.
    • Reset Steer Override -- Lets you switch off turning cruise control on the fly.

What is a Propulsion Override good for? Wheeled vehicles cannot properly use the Autopilot function as spaceships do because the Autopilot doesn't turn or propel the wheels. As a workaround, you can use Overrides to force the vehicle into a sort of Cruise Control. For details see Autopilot#A_note_on_Autopilot_and_wheeled_vehicles.

Tips[]

Which wheel size to choose? Multiple double-layered small wheels have more gripping strength than one big 5x5 wheel suspension, but smaller wheels are slower and their suspensions bottom out much more easily.

Wheeled constructions that work well in singleplayer need to be tested and tuned again for (laggy) multiplayer.


Blocks

Functional Blocks

Cockpits & Control
Icon Block Cockpit Cockpit, Icon Block Fighter Cockpit Fighter Cockpit, Icon Block Control Station Control Station, Icon Block Flight Seat Flight Seat, Icon Block Helm Helm, Icon Block Saddle Cockpit Saddle Cockpit, Icon Block Saddle Cockpit Compact Saddle Cockpit Compact, Icon Block Cab Cockpit Cab Cockpit, Icon Block Buggy Cockpit Buggy Cockpit, Icon Block Rover Cockpit Rover Cockpit, Icon Block Passenger Seat Passenger Seat, Icon Block Control Panel Control Panel, Icon Block Control Panel Pedestal Control Panel Pedestal, Icon Block Vertical Button Panel Vertical Button Panel, Icon Block Sci-Fi One-Button Terminal Sci-Fi One-Button Terminal, Icon Block Sci-Fi Four-Button Panel Sci-Fi Four-Button Panel, Icon Block Sci-Fi Control Panel Sci-Fi Control Panel, (Icon Block Inset Button Panel Inset) Icon Block Button Panel Button Panel, Icon Block Button Panel Pedestal Button Panel Pedestal, Icon Block Remote Control Remote Control, Icon Block Custom Turret Controller Custom Turret Controller

Automation
Icon Block Sensor Sensor, Icon Block Timer Block Timer Block, Icon Block Programmable Block Programmable Block, Icon Block Event Controller Event Controller, Icon Block Emotion Controller Emotion Controller, Icon Block AI Basic AI Basic, Icon Block AI Flight AI Flight, Icon Block AI Defensive AI Defensive, Icon Block AI Offensive AI Offensive, Icon Block AI Recorder AI Recorder

Communication
Icon Block Antenna Antenna, Icon Block Beacon Beacon, Icon Block Round Beacon Round Beacon, (Icon Block Top Mounted Camera Top Mounted) Icon Block Camera Camera, Icon Block Laser Antenna Laser Antenna, Icon Block LCD Panel LCD Panel, Icon Block Corner LCD Corner LCD, Icon Block Text Panel Text Panel, Icon Block Wide LCD Panel Wide LCD Panel, Icon Block Transparent LCD Transparent LCD, Icon Block Sci-Fi LCD Panel Sci-Fi LCD Panel, Icon Block Holo LCD Holo LCD, Icon Block Inset LCD Panel Inset LCD Panel, Icon Block Sloped LCD Panel Sloped LCD Panel, Icon Block Curved LCD Panel Curved LCD Panel, Icon Block Ore Detector Ore Detector, Icon Block Sound Block Sound Block

Defense & Offense
Icon Block Decoy Decoy, Icon Block Gatling Gun Gatling Gun, Icon Block Gatling Turret Gatling Turret, Icon Block Interior Turret Interior Turret, Icon Block Rocket Turret Rocket Turret, Icon Block Reloadable Rocket Launcher Reloadable Rocket Launcher, Icon Block Rocket Launcher Rocket Launcher, Icon Block Artillery Artillery, Icon Block Autocannon Autocannon, Icon Block Artillery Turret Artillery Turret, Icon Block Autocannon Turret Autocannon Turret, Icon Block Railgun Railgun, Icon Block Assault Cannon Assault Cannon, Icon Block Assault Cannon Turret Assault Cannon Turret, Icon Block Target Dummy Target Dummy, Icon Block Warhead Warhead, Icon Block Explosive Barrel Explosive Barrel

Power
Icon Block Battery Battery, Icon Block Small Battery Small Battery, Icon Block Large Reactor Large Reactor, Icon Block Small Reactor Small Reactor, Icon Block Solar Panel Solar Panel, Icon Block Colorable Solar Panel Colorable Solar Panel, Icon Block Hydrogen Engine Hydrogen Engine, Icon Block Wind Turbine Wind Turbine, Icon Block Twin-Blade Wind Turbine Twin-Blade Wind Turbine

Life Support
Icon Block Medical Room Medical Room, Icon Block Corner Medical Room Corner Medical Room, Icon Block Survival Kit Survival Kit, Icon Block Cryo Chamber Cryo Chamber, Icon Block Inset Cryo Room Inset Cryo Room, Icon Block Oxygen Farm Oxygen Farm, Icon Block Interior Light Interior Light, Icon Block Offset Light Offset Light, Icon Block Spotlight Spotlight, Icon Block Offset Spotlight Offset Spotlight, Icon Block Inset Light Inset Light, Icon Block Air Vent Air Vent (Icon Block Air Vent Full Full), Icon Block Air Vent Fan Air Vent Fan (Icon Block Air Vent Fan Full Full)

Mobility
Icon Block Gyroscope Gyroscope, Icon Block Atmospheric Thruster Atmospheric Thruster, Icon Block Ion Thruster Ion Thruster, Icon Block Hydrogen Thruster Hydrogen Thruster, Icon Block Parachute Hatch Parachute Hatch, Icon Block Short Wheel Suspension 1x1 (Short) Icon Block Wheel Suspension 1x1 Wheel Suspension 1x1, Icon Block Short Wheel Suspension 2x2 (Short) Icon Block Wheel Suspension 2x2 Wheel Suspension 2x2, Icon Block Short Wheel Suspension 3x3 (Short) Icon Block Wheel Suspension 3x3 Wheel Suspension 3x3, Icon Block Short Wheel Suspension 5x5 (Short) Icon Block Wheel Suspension 5x5 Wheel Suspension 5x5, Icon Block Offroad Wheels Offroad Wheels

Mining & Manufacturing
Icon Block Basic Refinery Basic Refinery, Icon Block Refinery Refinery, Icon Block Basic Assembler Basic Assembler, Icon Block Assembler Assembler, Icon Block Drill Drill, Icon Block Grinder Block Grinder Block, Icon Block Welder Block Welder Block, Icon Block Projector Projector, Icon Block O2 H2 Generator O2/H2 Generator, Icon Block Oxygen Farm Oxygen Farm, Icon Block Yield Module Yield Module, Icon Block Power Efficiency Module Power Efficiency Module, Icon Block Speed Module Speed Module

Storage
Icon Block Large Cargo Container Large Cargo Container, Icon Block Medium Cargo Container Medium Cargo Container, Icon Block Small Cargo Container Small Cargo Container, Icon Block Oxygen Tank Oxygen Tank, Icon Block Hydrogen Tank Hydrogen Tank, Icon Block Store Store, Icon Block Contracts Block Contracts Block

Inventory Management
Icon Block Connector Connector, Icon Block Small Connector Small Connector/Ejector, Icon Block Collector Collector, Icon Block Conveyor Junction Conveyor Junction, Icon Block Conveyor Tube Conveyor Tube Icon Block Reinforced Conveyor Tube (Reinforced), Icon Block Curved Conveyor Tube Curved Conveyor Tube Icon Block Reinforced Curved Conveyor Tube (Reinforced), Icon Block Conveyor Tube T Junction Conveyor Tube T Junction Icon Block Reinforced Conveyor Tube T Junction (Reinforced), Icon Block Conveyor Sorter Conveyor Sorter; Icon Block Small Conveyor Small Conveyor, Icon Block Small Conveyor Tube Small Conveyor Tube Icon Block Small Reinforced Conveyor Tube (Reinforced), Icon Block Small Curved Conveyor Tube Small Curved Conveyor Tube Icon Block Small Reinforced Curved Conveyor Tube (Reinforced), Icon Block Small Conveyor Tube T Junction Small Conveyor Tube T Junction Icon Block Small Reinforced Conveyor Tube T Junction (Reinforced), Icon Block Conveyor Sorter Small Conveyor Sorter; Icon Block Conveyor Frame Conveyor Frame, Icon Block Conveyor Converter Conveyor Converter

Mechanical Blocks & Gravity Control
Icon Block Advanced Rotor Advanced Rotor, Icon Block Rotor Rotor, Icon Block Piston Piston, Icon Block Hinge Hinge, Icon Block Landing Gear Landing Gear, Icon Block Magnetic Plate Magnetic Plate, Icon Block Merge Block Merge Block, Icon Block Artificial Mass Artificial Mass, Icon Block Gravity Generator Gravity Generator, Icon Block Spherical Gravity Generator Spherical Gravity Generator, Icon Block Safe Zone Safe Zone


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