working on it wrote:Rob- that's exactly what I'm doing- experimenting. At first look at the bumpstop, un-cut, it has the potential of creating a very hard secondary impact on the axle tube (I'm not worried about frame impact, thru the two pieces of angle stock- that load will be spread out over a large area). But the poly, after modification, is really quite pliable (now), and will only stiffen up progressively, after the springs flex upward a lot. What is most important to me is to limit the extreme push/pull on the rear hangers...
I just returned from a short trip to Cleburne State Park, where I experimented with various sidetents, sidetables, food storage and usage, water consumption, trailer loading, truck-bed loading, bathroom use!, ice requirements...everything I could think of, for deciding what I need and what I do not need. I also used the occasion to test my trailer hitch phobia (I actually towed home
without using my Weight Distributing spring-bar attached!- first time in years) And I intentionally ran my trailer wheels over (minor) potholes and whoop-de-doos (as I neared home), as the penultimate test of the active bumpstop concept.
Perhaps a better name for the piece would be "a progressive, multi-stage, shock dissipator". I set some items in strategic locations inside the trailer, to measure how much displacement occurred going over bumps. And I watched the effect on the trailer for each bump as it occurred, in my mirrors. Not scientific, but it gave me an idea of how my design was faring. I normally tow with the WD hooked up; it limits the movement of the trailer, since the much heavier tow vehicle exerts a stabilizing influence on the trailer over rough roads. When I removed the WD hitch, I could see more reaction from the trailer, but the difference was not as much as I had expected. The test objects inside the trailer were all moved, but not far; since I left the
ligament between bumpstop sides attached, I see now that if I sever it (#3 in the photo), the remaining harshness in compression will be reduced to a negligible amount.
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As I intend to eventually convert to an off-road multi-axis coupler (kudos to
Woodyperk6), I'll need the added "give" in the suspension. Testing will continue, as I am an inveterate, unabashed, incessant tinkerer.
