Project Case Study
Author: Johnny Liu, CEO at Dowway Vehicle
Project Year: 2023
Last Updated: August 27, 2026
Table of Contents
In 2023, Dowway worked with Sinotruk on the core chassis platform for the Sinotruk Bolden pickup truck. Dowway handled chassis architecture, suspension tuning, powertrain matching, braking, intelligent chassis integration, simulation, road testing, reliability work, and global-market adaptation. The platform had to support commercial loads, family driving, and off-road use on both 4×2 and 4×4 models.
The hard part was not building a strong pickup chassis. It was getting load capacity, comfort, off-road control, fuel use, safety systems, and global road needs to work together on one platform.
What Was the Sinotruk Bolden Chassis Development Project?
The Bolden was designed as a high-end pickup for both China and overseas markets.
Sinotruk planned the vehicle for three main uses:
- commercial heavy-load work;
- passenger and family driving;
- all-terrain and off-road driving.
The vehicle included 4×2 and 4×4 versions and used a Weichai 2.0T diesel engine. Sinotruk also planned Bolden as a key pickup product for overseas markets such as Latin America and the Middle East.
Dowway was responsible for the main chassis engineering work. This included platform architecture, suspension tuning, powertrain and transmission matching, braking system work, reliability testing, intelligent chassis integration, and local and overseas adaptation.
The target was a modular platform that could offer load capacity, ride comfort, off-road ability, stable handling, and support for intelligent driving systems.
What Problems Did the Chassis Team Need to Solve?
The biggest problem was balancing three very different vehicle needs.
The commercial version needed to carry a rated payload of 1,050 kg. The passenger version needed a smoother ride. The off-road version needed enough suspension travel and wheel control for rough ground.
Traditional pickup chassis often make a clear trade-off. A setup built for heavy loads can feel harsh when empty. A softer setup may feel better on paved roads but lose control when loaded or driven off-road.
The Bolden project also had three other technical tasks.
The chassis had to work with a Weichai 2.0T diesel engine rated at 140 kW and 420 N·m, together with both a 6MT manual transmission and ZF 8AT automatic transmission.
It also needed to work with L2.5+ driver-assistance functions.
And the same platform had to support roads and climates ranging from Chinese paved roads to desert, mountain, gravel, and other rough conditions overseas.
How Did Dowway Design the Modular Chassis Platform?
Dowway created a new modular layout around a front double-wishbone independent suspension and rear multi-link solid axle.
This layout differed from the traditional leaf-spring setup often used on pickups. The aim was to keep enough rear load capacity while giving the vehicle better ride quality and body control.
The team also planned the positions of the powertrain, braking parts, and four-wheel-drive hardware as one system.
That work improved chassis packaging and helped lower the vehicle’s center of gravity. A lower and better-balanced layout also helped reduce body roll and improve high-speed stability.
The same architecture could support:
- 4×2 models;
- 4×4 models;
- commercial heavy-load versions;
- passenger comfort versions;
- off-road versions.
This modular design also reduced the amount of engineering work needed for later model updates and new vehicle versions.
How Was the Suspension Tuned for Load, Comfort, and Off-Road Use?
Suspension tuning was one of the main parts of the project.
For heavy-load use, Dowway increased rear suspension structural stiffness and changed damper settings so the vehicle could maintain better posture with a 1,050 kg rated load.
The team worked to reduce rear-end drop, poor body control, and harsh movement when the truck was fully loaded.
For passenger use, the team changed the front double-wishbone suspension setup. Work included bushing stiffness, control-arm angles, and the way the suspension handled small road bumps.
The goal was a smoother ride on paved roads and a more passenger-car-like feel.
For off-road use, Dowway matched longer and more suitable suspension travel with the vehicle’s electronic front and rear differential locking systems.
The setup was tested for potholes, desert terrain, mountain roads, and other rough surfaces.
Across the project, the team completed more than 1,000 suspension parameter changes and tuning cycles.
The aim was to solve three common pickup problems at once: harsh empty driving, poor heavy-load behavior, and too much body roll at higher speed.
How Were the Engine, Transmissions, and 4WD System Matched?
The Bolden used a Weichai 2.0T diesel engine with 140 kW maximum power and 420 N·m peak torque.
Dowway worked on the full drivetrain path so the engine’s output could reach the wheels with less loss and better response.
For the 6MT and ZF 8AT systems, engineers adjusted:
- driveshaft angles;
- driveline clearances;
- power delivery logic;
- shift behavior;
- drivetrain response.
The four-wheel-drive system also needed its own chassis settings.
Dowway tuned the change between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive so the switch could happen with less shock and better power control on difficult roads.
After several rounds of real-vehicle calibration, the project recorded better power-transfer performance.
The team also adjusted weight distribution and running resistance to improve fuel use while keeping the required power and towing-style response of a diesel pickup.
How Were Braking and Intelligent Driving Systems Integrated?
Dowway built the braking setup around the Bosch ESP 9.3 PLUS system.
The project included changes to brake caliper settings, brake disc parameters, brake-line layout, braking response, and vehicle stability.
The brake system had to work under heavy load, at higher road speeds, and on rough ground.
Dowway also connected chassis response with the vehicle’s L2.5+ intelligent driver-assistance system.
The work covered 14 driver-assistance functions, including adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, and active braking.
The key task was making sure the powertrain, braking, and chassis response matched the commands coming from the driver-assistance system.
The Bolden also had seven terrain driving modes.
These included settings for sand, mud, gravel, paved roads, and other terrain types.
Depending on the selected mode, the vehicle could change suspension-related behavior, power delivery, and braking sensitivity.
This moved the Bolden away from a chassis with one fixed setup and toward a chassis that could change its response for different surfaces.
How Did Dowway Test Chassis Reliability?
Dowway used both computer simulation and real-vehicle testing.
Before road testing, the team ran dozens of virtual tests covering:
- chassis structural strength;
- bump durability;
- braking performance;
- high-temperature conditions;
- low-temperature conditions;
- vehicle NVH;
- stress concentration;
- resonance;
- fatigue damage.
The purpose was to find weak points before they became real-world failures.
After simulation, Dowway carried out several rounds of road testing.
Test routes included:
- city paved roads in China;
- mountain unpaved roads;
- Gobi off-road roads;
- other rough-road conditions.
The team also copied conditions similar to Middle Eastern desert roads and Latin American mountain roads.
Total durability testing passed 100,000 km.
During the test program, engineers tracked and corrected issues such as chassis noise, fatigue deformation, and performance loss under hard use.
Global-market work also included anti-corrosion upgrades, durability changes, regional parameter settings, climate needs, road conditions, and different regulatory requirements.
What Results Did the Bolden Chassis Project Produce?
According to Dowway’s project records, the chassis platform passed Sinotruk’s full project acceptance process and moved into mass-production use.
The reported project results included:
- 1,050 kg rated payload;
- 35% improvement in loaded vehicle posture stability;
- 40% improvement in road-bump filtering;
- 30% improvement in difficult-road capability;
- 8% improvement in combined fuel use;
- more than 100,000 km of road durability testing;
- more than 1,000 suspension tuning changes;
- L2.5+ intelligent driving support;
- 14 driver-assistance functions;
- 7 terrain modes.
These numbers are Dowway’s project-reported development results rather than independent third-party test claims.
The platform supported commercial, passenger, and off-road versions as well as 4×2 and 4×4 models.
It also supported Bolden’s entry into domestic and overseas markets, including Chile and Middle Eastern markets.
What Were the Main Technical Strengths of the Project?
The first strength was multi-use chassis tuning.
Dowway worked on suspension structure, damper settings, vehicle balance, and center-of-gravity control to combine load capacity, passenger comfort, and off-road movement on one platform.
The second was the modular chassis architecture.
One platform could support different drive layouts and vehicle versions, reducing the work and cost needed for later models.
The third was intelligent chassis calibration.
The project connected mechanical chassis behavior with ADAS, braking, powertrain control, and terrain modes.
The fourth was global road adaptation.
Dowway adjusted the chassis for different road surfaces, climates, corrosion risks, durability needs, and regional vehicle rules.
How Was the Project Managed?
Dowway created a 32-person project team covering seven areas:
chassis architecture, suspension tuning, powertrain matching, electronic calibration, simulation, road testing, and quality control.
Core team members had more than 10 years of experience in commercial vehicle and pickup chassis development.
They also had experience with global mass-production vehicle projects and understood domestic and overseas pickup rules, road conditions, and intelligent vehicle systems.
The project used the APQP — Advanced Product Quality Planning — process.
Its seven main stages were:
requirements → technical review → design → simulation → prototype testing → problem correction → production delivery
Management also included weekly progress reports, monthly technical reviews, and two-way checks at key project points.
For difficult issues, teams often tested vehicles during the day and reviewed data at night before comparing new settings the next day.
According to the project report, the program finished with:
- zero major design changes;
- zero quality incidents;
- zero schedule delays.
What Value Did the Project Create?
For Sinotruk, the chassis helped give the Bolden a clearer product position across commercial, passenger, and off-road markets.
The project report states that the vehicle later entered China’s mid-to-high-end pickup market and overseas markets in Latin America and the Middle East, with positive market feedback and sales results.
The project also strengthened the working relationship between Sinotruk and Dowway.
For Dowway, the program tested and expanded its skills in forward chassis design, suspension tuning, vehicle dynamics, intelligent chassis work, global road adaptation, and reliability development.
The project also created what the report describes as million-level chassis tuning data, plus terrain parameters and intelligent chassis calibration algorithms.
This data can support later chassis platforms, faster vehicle updates, and custom engineering programs.
From an industry view, the project showed a way to move away from low-cost, single-use, copy-based pickup chassis development.
It offered a reference for higher-end, intelligent, multi-use, and global pickup chassis engineering.
What Comes Next for the Bolden Platform?
Dowway plans to keep developing the modular chassis platform.
Future work includes chassis layouts for hybrid and battery-electric pickups, so the platform can support more powertrain types.
Dowway also plans further work on intelligent chassis software, all-terrain adaptive control, higher-level driver-assistance coordination, and active safety.
These are future development plans, not completed features from the original 2023 project.
Dowway also plans to continue working with Sinotruk on pickup and light commercial vehicle chassis updates, overseas custom development, and new-energy chassis programs.
The longer-term plan is to support more global commercial vehicle products and expand both companies’ technical work in international vehicle development.
What Does the Bolden Project Show About Dowway?
The Bolden project shows Dowway’s ability to manage a chassis program from first layout to production delivery.
The work covered forward chassis design, detailed suspension tuning, powertrain matching, braking, intelligent systems, simulation, road testing, global adaptation, project control, and production support.
The project also brought together a 32-person team, more than 1,000 tuning cycles, more than 100,000 km of road testing, APQP control, global-market work, and a large engineering data set.
For Dowway, the project became a base for future pickup, commercial vehicle, intelligent chassis, and new-energy vehicle development.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is pickup truck chassis development?
Short answer: It is the process of designing and tuning all major chassis systems as one vehicle platform.
It normally covers chassis layout, suspension, steering-related dynamics, powertrain integration, braking, electronic control, simulation, testing, and durability work. For a pickup, engineers must also balance payload, comfort, off-road use, safety, and different road conditions.
How do engineers balance pickup payload and ride comfort?
Short answer: They tune suspension structure, stiffness, damping, geometry, bushings, and vehicle balance together.
In the Bolden project, Dowway used more than 1,000 tuning changes to improve empty-vehicle comfort while keeping stability under a 1,050 kg rated load and maintaining off-road wheel control.
What suspension did the Sinotruk Bolden use?
Short answer: The project used front double-wishbone independent suspension and a rear multi-link solid axle.
Dowway tuned this layout for commercial loads, passenger comfort, and off-road driving. The same modular chassis also supported both 4×2 and 4×4 vehicle versions.
How was the Bolden chassis tested?
Short answer: Dowway combined simulation with more than 100,000 km of real-road durability testing.
Tests covered structural strength, braking, temperature, NVH, resonance, fatigue, paved roads, mountains, unpaved roads, Gobi conditions, and road environments similar to Middle Eastern deserts and Latin American mountain areas.
Can one pickup chassis support commercial, passenger, and off-road models?
Short answer: Yes, if the platform is modular and the suspension and vehicle systems are tuned for each use.
The Bolden chassis supported heavy-load commercial versions, passenger-oriented models, off-road versions, and both 4×2 and 4×4 layouts from one base architecture.
How does Dowway adapt a chassis for global markets?
Short answer: Dowway changes and tests the chassis around real road, climate, durability, corrosion, and local market needs.
The Bolden program included mountain, desert, gravel, paved, and unpaved-road work, plus anti-corrosion changes, regional chassis settings, durability work, and adaptation for overseas regulations.
What did Dowway handle in the Sinotruk Bolden project?
Short answer: Dowway handled the main chassis platform development work described in the project.
This included chassis architecture, suspension tuning, powertrain and transmission matching, braking, ADAS and intelligent chassis calibration, simulation, durability testing, global adaptation, APQP project control, and production-oriented delivery.
About the Author
Johnny Liu
CEO, Dowway Vehicle
Johnny Liu is CEO of Dowway Vehicle. This case study is based on Dowway’s documented 2023 Sinotruk Bolden pickup truck chassis development project, including its engineering work, project processes, validation program, technical data, and reported results.
Author role: CEO and company project authority
Company: Dowway Vehicle
Content type: First-party engineering project case study
Editorial and Project Data Note
This article uses data supplied in Dowway’s 2023 Sinotruk Bolden chassis development report.
Figures such as the reported 35% improvement in loaded stability, 40% improvement in road-bump filtering, 30% improvement in difficult-road capability, and 8% fuel-use improvement are presented as Dowway project results.
Future hybrid, electric, intelligent chassis, and expanded Sinotruk cooperation plans are clearly separated from work completed during the 2023 project.
Project completed: 2023
Last updated: August 27, 2026
Author: Johnny Liu, CEO at Dowway Vehicle