Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have a new 5x8 ct that I've just finished up to be a support vehicle for tent camping. (it's complicated) Empty wt. says 970 lbs. GVW is 3500 lbs. I doubt that I will ever load beyond the 2000 mark. I've been thinking about removing the bottom leaf from both springs to reduce the max load to approx 2500. Each bottom leaf = 500 x 2 = 1000 - 3500 = new gvw of 2500 for a smoother ride. I was wondering if anyone had done this or similar to their CT and what their experience was. Pic's of my project are in the album. I look forward to your comments.

Jeff

Yes, 48Rob did just that. I can't find his particular post on the forum but here's a link to his website:

http://48rob.yuku.com/topic/21

Makes sense to me. I followed his plan and eliminated the bottom leaf from my springs of my cargo trailer for the same reason. Shooting for a 2500# spring...but the true rating is a guesstimate. Haven't put much mileage on the trailer as it's been a slow going project, but the suspension is definitely more supple. I used a little grease on the contact areas at the ends of the shorter leaves, but not in the center where the leaves clamp together.

I also installed the "wet bolts" as Rob indicated. The shackles are much heavier duty (thicker) and do eliminate a lot of side-to-side monkey motion.

sjordanjeff wrote:I have a new 5x8 ct that I've just finished up to be a support vehicle for tent camping. (it's complicated) Empty wt. says 970 lbs. GVW is 3500 lbs. I doubt that I will ever load beyond the 2000 mark. I've been thinking about removing the bottom leaf from both springs to reduce the max load to approx 2500. Each bottom leaf = 500 x 2 = 1000 - 3500 = new gvw of 2500 for a smoother ride. I was wondering if anyone had done this or similar to their CT and what their experience was. Pic's of my project are in the album. I look forward to your comments.

Jeff

Jeff,

People do that all the time. Give it a try and see how much difference it makes. Springs, as far as that goes are pretty cheap, you could even buy new ones to match the load if it still rides too rough. Your numbers are pretty good though 2500# springs for 2000# load.

Just a heads up: "wet" spring pins need to be kept... well, wet.

You should be pushing grease through these several times a year. Without doing that the grease will harden up and plug the passageways not letting your next blast of grease get where it needs to go. And without proper grease the pin will wear prematurely. Also note that by its very nature a cross drilled spring pin is weaker than a solid pin. The grease passageways consist of a hole drilled down the pin lengthwise and another drilled crosswise in the middle plus the pin is ground flat for part of its length out from the center on 2 sides... all to allow the grease to flow where it needs to.

So... without grease these pins can wear out and break sooner than solid pins... I know, it happened to me.

Keep em wet!

Thanks for the reply's fellas,

And the link to Rob's awesome article/rebuild instructions is most appreciated. I'm going to chase the parts and get my springs, shackles and bolts updated, even though they are new with few miles. This mod looks like a inexpensive investment in smooth riding trouble free miles. I'm In!

Jeff

woytovich wrote:Just a heads up: "wet" spring pins need to be kept... well, wet.

You should be pushing grease through these several times a year. Without doing that the grease will harden up and plug the passageways not letting your next blast of grease get where it needs to go. And without proper grease the pin will wear prematurely. Also note that by its very nature a cross drilled spring pin is weaker than a solid pin. The grease passageways consist of a hole drilled down the pin lengthwise and another drilled crosswise in the middle plus the pin is ground flat for part of its length out from the center on 2 sides... all to allow the grease to flow where it needs to.

So... without grease these pins can wear out and break sooner than solid pins... I know, it happened to me.

Keep em wet!

Thanks for the tip about keeping them lubed. I'll make a point of keeping up with that when doing the bearings.

The bolts supplied by Dexter weren't as high tech as what you have. They were drilled lengthwise to be sure, which won't affect the strength, and then they had a small cross-drilled hole at mid-length, one side only. The instructions were clear as to this hole's alignment. Going from memory only, don't quote me, the hole was to be in the horizontal position....at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock....and this would minimize any weakness from the single hole's location. The Dexter bolts did not have the flats that your bolts do for grease distribution, maybe a little more basic.......

The standard dry bolts, plastic spring bushings and stock shackle plates will work fine for most trailers, I just wanted to upgrade while I had things apart.....maybe overkill.

Hi Mark,

Hey, if you don't mind, where did you get the nice wet bolts?
Great picture....

Jeff

Those are bolts for a Toyota Land Cruiser from CCOT:

http://coolfj40.stores.yahoo.net/shacklesaussie.html

I just grabbed that for a picture example... these are way to big for a small trailer.