Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi All,

New guy here needs opions of others for my build on axel options

My build will consist of a 5 ft X 10 ft TD and I'm leaning towards a modified Benroy design with offroad capibilites, much like the Outback Teardrop design.
I'll be using rims to match my 4Runner which are 265/70/17 with a 6-5.5 bolt pattern and hub to hub distance of 74 in on a 2x2 in. steel frame. I was convinced on using a 3500 lbs straight axel with leafs and electric brakes from Dexter but I'm second guessing myself if I should opt for the Torflex, I know they offer a smoother ride but don't know if they are good for off road use or have the height I'm looking for. any opions pro or against either is greatly appeciated.

I went with a traditional axle reading about one of the torsion axles failing:
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... highlight=

Your millage may vary, but I have never heard of this happening to a solid axle...

If you read the post about the PT Snuiser accident Gaston clearly talks about the spindle being drilled for grease to flow to the back bearing, and blames this for the failure. The VW spindles drilled for the speedo cable fail as well. Read the thread untill it snounds like a funeral, not much good info after that. A drop axle has the spindles attached verry simmilarly.

Almost forgot, IMO torsion axles react (or recover) to slowly for off road use. When you hit bump 2 they may only be half way back 'home' from deflecting on bump 1. I would personally go with springs and shocks, and look around the forum. I've seen some crazy off road suspensions on here including a torsion set up modified with an air suspension set up.

3500lb springs? Almost like welding the axle to the frame. Unless you build a 3500lb td. In an offroad rig you want those springs to move.

The failed axle was a Quality Trailer Products www.qtrailer.com and it did fail at the drilled grease holes. If you look at the design the the zerk fitting is on the side of the axle spindle not on the centreline, this is asking for failure and I hope Gaston sought legal redress and reported them to NTSB.
Dexter and Torflex use a centerline fitting and I for one went with out that feature and will periodically pull and repack bearings.
I am working on an air shock add on to the Dexter axle on our trailer for added height and off road rebound, and I am supposed to pick up the trailer next week.

...while I am a major fan of torsion axles and view Gaston's problem an aberration caused by a design flaw(maybe), for off-road usage, I would recommend a 3500# straight axle with 1500# springs...the 3500# axle is beefier, has a larger axle tube/hubs/bearings...has the ability to accept 10" brake drums and stand upto much more abuse than a 2000# axle...the use of 1500# springs will allow plenty of suspension for all but the heaviest of designs and not beat your "stuff" to death like 3500# springs would do...
madjack

I'm with MadJack.

I used Flexiride, as they are adjustable for height. I have seen one side or the other of the trailer go airborne due to "surprises". But I have had no problem. I don't do off road other than gravel, though.

For true off road use, a straight axle's simpler design makes "patching" a repair easier to accomplish while in the sticks.

One more thought, I don't know about your wheels, but make sure the center hols is big enough to accomodate a trailer hub. If it is too small a machine shop could cut it larger for you, but you may end up paying more for that than you did the wheels, and it would rule out using the TV spare on the TD.

Thanks everyone for the input and I really appreciate eveyone taking the time to answer my questions.
It seems the consensus it to go with the straight axel with leaf springs and I'm leaning that way as well.
I did contact Dexter and after telling him that I wanted it for off road use, he spec a Torflex axel 9 with a 1800 lbs capacity with a start angle of 22.5 degrees down.
Now I'm not sure really which way go. Follow the advice a a engineer with a computer generated program or from the real world with with people that have built and have the experience.
Any off road TD's out there that want to chime in on what type of axel they have?

Again, Thanks to everyone that has provided input it will help me make a more informed decision.

Best Regards,

Ken

If you're looking for a lower cost but rock-solid reliability, then, I echo Jack's post. Use a beefy straight (or slightly dropped-spindle version) axle, but choose leaf springs [Edit: so that the pair of springs would total a) spring rate of 125% - 130% of the trailer's loaded static weight.

As someone else has just pointed out, the trailer suspension should allow compliance, or, articulation of the suspension in order to absorb offroad surface irregularities. A 3500 in/lb spring rate underneath a 1200 lb teardrop will destroy said teardrop with 25 miles of bad road.

Were I designing a true off road tear I would be working on an airbag independent suspension like the www.kimberleykaravans.com All of the off road vehicles I have owned Baja Bug and 13 Subaru's have independent suspension. But then I am biased!

Shadow Catcher wrote:Were I designing a true off road tear I would be working on an airbag independent suspension like the www.kimberleykaravans.com All of the off road vehicles I have owned Baja Bug and 13 Subaru's have independent suspension. But then I am biased!

Shadow Catcher,

Thanks for the Kimberly link, they are some great camping rigs, out of my price range though.

I'm going to take the advice of what I've gotten here and go with the straight axel and leaf springs and add some shocks if needed. I want to keep my design as simple and basic as possible.

I'm thinking along the same design concept as the Outback Teardrop Trailer. It looks like the perfect setup for what I'm going for.

Regards,

Ken

Here's a link to a summary of different axle types from an offroad perspective.

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/suspension.html

Bruce

bdosborn wrote:Here's a link to a summary of different axle types from an offroad perspective.

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/suspension.html

Bruce

Good reading!

Cheers,

Gus