Ground Clearance

[towekad]

Hi,

I hope I have posted this question in the correct place -- I picked the wrong place last time. Ground clearance -- sometimes we go camping in the middle of nowhere and the road can sometimes be rough. I was wondering if you could tell me the average ground clearance of the teardrop trailers -- I have the Kuffel Creek Plans and a couple other plans. I am not sure if there would be a difference in ground clearance using and axle with leaf springs vs torflex axles.

thanks
kathy

[asianflava]

In a nutshell:

A torsion axle typically works better on road and a leaf sprung axle is better suited to off road conditions.

The torsion axle has limited articulation (up & down movement) but has built in damping.

A leaf sprung axle has very little damping but lots more articulation. You could add shock absorbers to a leaf sprung axle if you wanted some damping.

Damping prevents a trailer from bouncing. My best example of dampening is to take a slinky and hold it on one end. If you pull the other end down it will go: boing boing boing up and down. Now, if you did this underwater, it would still go: boing boing but fewer times and with less speed. That's why they are called shock absorbers, they are to absorb the shock from the spring movements.

[PaulC]

Hi Kathy, check my album for offroad ground clearance. I, and the Handbrake(affectionate term for the wife) do a lot of remote area camping. That should give you an idea of leaf springs with 31" tyres.

Cheers
Paul

[Podunkfla]

Handbrake Now THAT'S funny!

When I was in the photography business a few years ago... I fondly refered to my wife as the "GADGET BAG". We are divorced now.

[PaulC]

Brick, This one's the only one that has been able to pull me up and make me realise what's really happening. Would not swap her for all the tea in China

Cheers
Paul

[JunkMan]

Hi,
I am not sure if there would be a difference in ground clearance using and axle with leaf springs vs torflex axles.

You can change the ground clearance with a spring axel by mounting the axel under (increases clearance) or over the springs (reduces the clearance). Dropped axels are also availible for spring set-ups, if you really want to lower the trailer.

Torsional axels come in adjustable and non-adjustable versions. The ground clearance can be fine tuned on the adjustable models, or you have several choices of clearance availible with the non-adjustable models.

[Toolie]

Rocky & Junkman, your explainations helped me a lot. I'll stow that info in my mental file. I've got a 74 inch boat axle and I really want to use it but lately, Ive been thinking I should just go ahead and spring for a torsion axle. Thanks.

[Gerdo]

I have 16" for clearance at the frame rails, But I also have my spare tire hanging under the frame so I probably have 8" under it. I do some mild off-roading and, to my knowledge, I have not draged it. I have leaf springs and have recently added shocks. http://tnttt.com/viewto ... highlight=[/img]

[Joanne]

Hi Kathy,

You have gotten a lot of good information.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the longer the trailer the more "overhang" (the distance from the axle to the end of the trailer) you have in front and back. Less overhang means less chance of dragging. If two trailers use the exact same axle, an 8' trailer will be less likely to drag than a 10' trailer. I can take my 10' trailer on easy off roading, but nothing serious like some of the folks do here.

Welcome to the list. Be sure to post those build pictures!

Joanne

Hi,

I hope I have posted this question in the correct place -- I picked the wrong place last time. Ground clearance -- sometimes we go camping in the middle of nowhere and the road can sometimes be rough. I was wondering if you could tell me the average ground clearance of the teardrop trailers -- I have the Kuffel Creek Plans and a couple other plans. I am not sure if there would be a difference in ground clearance using and axle with leaf springs vs torflex axles.

thanks
kathy

[towekad]

Thanks for the GOOD information -- this really helps a lot in all my planning and putting the pieces together before we start the building process.

kathy

[BrwBier]

I went with an adjustable torsion axle for two reasons. One is because that way I didn't have to decide at the start how much clearance to have. The other reason is that being a mechanic, I like adjustable suspension, it just seams to be how it should be. (disclaimer, I also don't plan any off road adventures)
Brwbier

[CHUCKLEHEAD69]

yeah might shake up the beer

[madjack]

....just to add a little info here....we used a torsion axle witha 0* start angle and 205/r70/15 tires and have 12" of ground clearance at the axle tube...I prefer a torsion axle for almost every use...however if I was doing truly heavy duty offroading(VERY SERIOUS OFF ROADING), I would consider going to a spring axle for the articulation factor(maybe)........
madjack