Vibration energy harvesters can recover the energy in a suspension vibration while simultaneously suppressing the vibration induced by road roughness, thus acting as both a controllable damper and energy generator. In this context, a vibration energy harvester was proposed that was based on the rolling-press principle for self-powered vehicle suspension. The design utilized an array of balls rolling the piezoelectric units, which consisted of a PZT (one type of piezoelectric ceramics) layer that was bonded on both sides to two raised metal layers. The rolling mechanism converted the irregular reciprocating vibration into a regular unidirectional rolling motion, which generated a high and relatively stable rolling force on the piezoelectric units. The balls and piezoelectric units were integrated into the vehicle suspension, making the design of the vehicle suspension simple and compact. The analysis model of the vibration energy harvester was established, and the energy harvesting efficiency was analyzed. Simulation results showed that the rolling-based vibration energy harvester generated DC voltage whenever the suspension stroke was positive or negative, which was more convenient in applications than AC voltage.