Controling the bounce....

[Seattle G60]

I do a fair amount of camping during the summer months in eastern Washington and travel to Portland for the racing circut.
It it is about a 300 mile trip where ever I go so the suspension will need to handle the roads around here.

My issues coming home with the Kit was that it was bouncing to the point that I was uncomfortable in traffic with it.

I soaked the end of the axles with penitrating oil yesterday and am going to let that sit for a few days. Then give it a good wack with a dead blow hammer to see if I can knock the torsion axles loose. My feeling is they have seazed up because the trailer had sat for at least a year.

Worst case scenario I'll install leaf springs and that should resolve the ride issues.

[Arne]

From the pic you put up, it looks a lot more like a broken spring. I'm not sure if the older torsion axles used rubber, as they do today. I think it more likely has a torsion bar insider which has broken.

If it were just frozen, the arm would not be as high as it is, it would be more parallel to the ground and just not swing....

Good luck with it...

[Seattle G60]

So, is there any way I can tell if it is broken or frozen?

[Arne]

If it is broken and you can free it up, it will stay pretty much where ever you put it.... If not broken it will want to work like a spring and return to it's natural postion.

Keep in mind when going down the road the arm is more or less parallel to the ground.. when you hit a bump, it pivots up..... yours looks to be already up with no where to go when you hit a bump. Which is why the trailer bounces....

Its called trailing arm suspension..... are both arms in similar positions?

Someone mentioned it being frozen... if that were true it would be frozen/rusted/corroded in it's normat position....

Here is a pic of 'normal' position.

http://www.mobilexhibit.com/suspen.html

[dguff]

The axle ends look "normal" to me, just like on my Kit. There are two torsion bars running parallel to each other. They are steel, welded at one end insdie the tube and attached to that rectangular plate at the other end. The plate has the spindle and hub at one end and the bar at the other.

Since the bar is steel it tends to rust in place and can be freed up. I have never heard of one that actually broke. There is a grease fitting near the wheel end of each bar. If you can get some new greases in there and and some penetrating oil into the end of the axle it might come loose with a little persuasion. I was able to free mine with that process but I had my body off and the frame was upside down on jackstands.

If you can get it loose the suspension works great!

Jerome

[Nitetimes]

'Torque flex' axles can be had in 45* - 22.5* & 10* down, horizontal, and 22.5* - 10* up and I am sure it is the same way with 'tortion' axles, so not being level isn't really an indication that it is broke. If it is a 'tortion' axle and it were broke it should be in a 90* verticle position because there would be nothing to hold it any other way. A tortion axle has a spring steel rod inside that should be shaped something like a q-tip, another words it is it's full thickness for a few inches on either end and narrower thru the rest of its length, so that only the ends are against the inside of the tube. It's very unlikely that it could be froze in any position, especially after pulling it down the road. Your best be to see if it is working at all would probably be to sit the hub on a block and have someone fairly heavy stand in the door and bounce up and down and see if you get any movement. If not it is most likely shot which would mean that the sproing has gone out of the spring steel and it is in it's final resting position.

[Seattle G60]

Update:

Well, I soaked the heck out of the axles and took a smal sledge hammer to them to no avail.They are still stuck solid as a rock.

Anyhow, I was thinking I might replace them with one of the KIT axles listed here http://teardropparts.com/frames_axles.htm
Has any one seen these in person? Are they solid all the way across, because the picture looks like it is just the end?
Also, how can I tell what size spindle I have currently to avoid having to replace the wheels and hubs?

thanks

[Gage]

Are they solid all the way across, because the picture looks like it is just the end?
Also, how can I tell what size spindle I have currently to avoid having to replace the wheels and hubs?thanks

That's what you get. Two, one for each side. Why don't you call or email George, he's friendly and he can let you know up front what they will do and what else if anything you would need.

Have a good day,
Gage