A question about the science of shock absorbers

[Ron Dickey]

I have a harbor freight it has no shocks

Should I add shocks and if so where.

How have others done it? is it attached to the springs or separate?

my old trailer has a small set put on in 2007 but they do not seem to help much.

I there a science to this?

[Shadow Catcher]

"In a vehicle, shock absorbers reduce the effect of traveling over rough ground, leading to improved ride quality and increase in comfort. While shock absorbers serve the purpose of limiting excessive suspension movement, their intended sole purpose is to dampen spring oscillations."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_absorber
Unless you have a bouncing problem it is probably not necessary. I am working on a airshock to help in gaining more ground clearance with our Dexter torsion axle.

[48Rob]

Unless you have a bouncing problem it is probably not necessary.

I'll agree with that.
And add that it may be some have a bounce problem because the weight of the trailer on the springs is too light, or too heavy.

On an old trailer we built, we used very long, and soft leaf springs.
Shocks were needed to keep the trailer from bouncing.

On all our other trailers, we matched/balanced the tires and leaf springs to the trailers weight.
No shocks were needed.
It should be noted that the latter trailers are all capable of, and have been tested at high speeds on bumpy roads, no bounce.

Rob