Spring Conversion Question...

[doug hodder]

Dean...I can run in and pick them up locally...want me to buy a couple of rear hanger brackets and send them off? Doug

[Nitetimes]

Thought about lobbing the ends of the slipper springs off and using those, but don't know if spring steel takes a weld OK...

No problem, that's all the ones you buy are anyway.

As for the tow in/out, if it's just from the axle bow and the axle being tilted a little bit, don't worry about it. If it's really bothering you mount the springs, sit the axle on them, find a couple of thin of pieces of steel about 1x2 and maybe an 1/8 thick, slide it under the back/front of the axle to get it level and tighten the u-bolts. That will make it as close as it needs to be and you'll be set to go.

[brian_bp]

Yes, cars of the 1960's often had extended shackles. They also handled terribly. Hmmm...

The shackle eye of the spring should be above the fixed eye. Look at any pickup truck for an example. This is done so that when the vehicle leans (let's say leans to the right in a left turn), the wheel on the outside of the turn (right wheel in this case) moves forward, while the one on the inside moves rearward, steering the axle into the turn for stability. Front mounts can be quite tall and shackles are often inverted (the frame mount hangs below the rear spring end) to ensure the correct geometry; it must be important, because it would be cheaper and easier to just mount the front eyes closer to the frame.

Trailers have such short wheel travel that no one seems to worry about this - they just slap them on and assume that all trailers handle like crap. Not that this annoys me... and don't get me started on why trailers are almost all missing their shock absorbers...

In the end, if the shorty shackles don't have to swing to a radical angle to accommodate spring movement, then I suppose they'll work. A shorter shackle also might means less lateral movement, for better control.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Well Rich...
Decided I was just gettin' too Norwegianish and said (Bleep) it!!!

Put on what I had... Run what I brung.

About those steel smoothie wheels... I think you may be right.
Looking at them from the backside, it sure looks like the raised dish area is where the wheel is supposed to make contact.
The diameter of the flat surface, where the lug holes are is about 5 1/4".
I can see marks from the 5 1/2" plates that are on the Flexi-Ride axle and those marks are only about 1/4 of the way up that 'hill"... almost at the bottom of it.
Looks to me like the wheels are seating properly on the 6 1/2" diameter jet ski trailer axle plates, but were wrong from the word go on the Flexi-Ride axle...
Now that I got 'em appart, I'm gonna intercept my tire and wheel expert neighbor when he gets home from work and ask him again... He was the one that originally sold me the wheels and tires, based on info I gave him from the Flexi-Ride setup. He also told me yesterday that the wheels weren't setting right on the jet ski trailer axle plate...
I'll let you know when he eats crow...

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Well he didn't eat crow... Said he thought I told him the plates were hitting out near the rim area.
His verdic... Both applications are fine.
Even though the Flexi-Ride plate is smaller and doesn't set all the way on top of the "dish", he says there is still ample clamping pressure.

Regarding spacers... He said 1/2" was too much, wouldn't advise going over 1/4" on each wheel... Guess I'll just nix the spacer idea and live with it.

[doug hodder]

Brian is right...those cars handled like crap...I guess my point is that if you don't get carried away, as many of us stupid 16 year olds did, you can stick a taller shackle under a trailer...I increased mine by 1.5" on some tired springs and there was no noticeable difference in how the trailer towed. But with a powered axle on a vehicle 3 times the weight of a trailer, the difference would be noticeable. Doug

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Doug,
Oh... So those springs you gave me were tired, eh???

[Nitetimes]

Well Rich...
Decided I was just gettin' too Norwegianish and said (Bleep) it!!!

Put on what I had... Run what I brung.

I knew given time you'd figure it out on your own!

[bledsoe3]

Well Rich...
Decided I was just gettin' too Norwegianish and said (Bleep) it!!!

Dean, Does Bleep = Love?

[brian_bp]

There was a comment about rotating a round axle tube versus the leaf springs (presumably loosen the U-bolts and turn). I suppose this works if the axle tube doesn't have welded-on spring perches... but it should have them welded on if it is anything but dead straight.

I lay in the snow beside my Boler and measured spring eye heights. The front (fixed) eyes are centred 3" below the frame rail, and the rear (shackle) eyes are 3-1/2" below the frame rail. Not nearly as bad as 2", but still the wrong way. Argggh... another thing to fix on the trailer which the manufacturer could have got right for about $2 more (for a longer front mount). Again, not that I am annoyed by trailer chassis faults...