Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Driving along the other day, I was behind a trailer (cargo trailer) , and noticed it was Bouncing a Lot on our notoriously Bumpy roads ... bouncing waay more than I thought it should , and much more than the tow vehicle ...
We’ve seen shocks on other trailers , but am now wondering if they would help on our Light Foamies ... unless they’re pretty loose.... Having played around with all manner of shocks on RC racing cars/trucks.... even a little shock action helps ... And it would be nice to have something adjustable for dialing in just the right amount of dampening for a Foamie’ ...
Anybody have any experiences with shocks on the trailer ??? Anybody make mini-air shocks ??? It was pretty “shocking" to see how that trailer was bouncing around so much ... Don’t want mine to do that ...

ballast!
most likely the suspenson was made for much more weight.
off roaders like long leaf sprngs from cars to help trailers rde better, the short stiff ones on trailers are cheaper, but choppier riding

Row , I guess the trailer was empty or practically so .... There’s just a whole bunch of cargo trailers around here left over from the post Katrina construction boom ... All the tradesmen seem to have one , or more .... Now they’re loaded up as portable shops (heavy) , or just carrying a few lawnmowers... So I guess the ballast makes a serious ... difference ... Your statement about car springs makes me think about an independent suspension , but I guess that’s done with those torsion axles , of which we have No experience at all ... Guess that would help out smoothing all the bumps ...

This is interesting ... http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/mon_retrokit.cfm

GPW wrote:This is interesting ... http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/mon_retrokit.cfm

If the prices are correct $9,999.99 then no wonder they call themselves the shockwarehouse.

cpinetree wrote:

GPW wrote:This is interesting ... http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/mon_retrokit.cfm

If the prices are correct $9,999.99 then no wonder they call themselves the shockwarehouse.

That's fer sure!!!

My trailer frame came with torsion axles and as far as I can tell they do a great job. Nothing gets jostled too much during the long drives and I'm not feeling and bouncing through the truck and I'm not seeing any excessive bounding when I look in the mirrors so I suppose they are doing the job. If I were to design and build another (probably, if you ask me, definitely not, if you ask the wife), I would make sure there were torsion axles on it.

Mel, that sure is an interesting idea ... Do you have to support the trailer when in storage , or idle ?

I think those “shocking” prices are a mis print ... must be , otherwise that would be ridiculous eh ?

I just park it in the garage. I don't do anything special with it. I've read somewhere that torsion axles were only good for a certain number of years (I don't remember the number, I think it was 10) but my frame is a from a mid 80's tent trailer and obviously much older than that. I don't see any problems with it, as I said I still seem to get a good ride out of it. Maybe it's because of the light weight? I doubt that you could chalk it up to being well taken care of. Take a look at the first pages of my build and you'll know what I mean. At any rate, the frame is pushing 30 years old and the suspension seems good to me. From what I can figure out the axle is a 2000# Dexter. Like I said, in another build, I'm going the same way.

Mel , that does seem a nice way to go for axles and getting a good ride ... 10 years eh ? That’s not that long in “Foamie’ years “ ( foamies' are supposed to last forever... )
Like you say , maybe the Light weight helps ... or maybe your trailer was built in the previous era when they were actually trying to manufacture a good product .... all before “planned obsolescence “ ...

my ugly wood hauling trailer has a torsion axle, it doesn't jump around much at all.
I has never been supported for storage for it's whole life (80's) with no failure yet.
my tear has cheap trailer leaf springs, once the ez-up two bikes, kitchen gear and luggage are all loaded into it, the ride is fine

I've been thinking of adding shocks to my utility trailer, I often haul it empty to go pick things up, and it does bounce all over the place when empty.

I think any typical gas shock would be fine. I think an air shock would not be good, you would have to adjust the amount of air ever time you change the weight of the trailer or load, otherwise every time you have more air then needed it would act just like added spring and cause more bouncing. At least from my understanding of an air shock.

Yeah , an air shock would be an over complication of something simply done ... ... gotta’ keep it simple ...

GP,

Have you weighed the trailer?
What weight are your springs rated for?
What weight are your tires rated at, and what is the maximum pressure?
How much does your trailer weigh?
What tire pressure are you running?
How close to the spring rating is your actual trailer weight?

If the springs are rated at 2-3 times the actual weight, it will bounce.
If the tires are aired up to support 2-3 times the trailer weight, it will bounce.

Fine tuning the suspension to the actual weight, not shocks is the answer...

Shocks do help with suspensions that are "soft" that is, the springs, tires, suspension in general is designed to be super cushy, and when a bump is encountered, the suspension "floats" up and down and sometimes sideways, like 1970's Chrysler products.
They rode like a dream, but put two people in the back seat and the rear end drooped.

Yor trailers suspension is opposite, it is too stiff.
With trailers, unlike cars, once you know the final weight, it isn't going to change much, like a car that can add pasengers and luggage.
You can fine tune the suspension to give a good smooth ride all the time.

Rob

Rob , because we used an old homemade trailer , we have no idea what the spring weight is ... And haven’t had a chance to weigh the trailer yet ... so all is still unknown ... I really have to get it out on the highway to check the ride ...

GP,

Is this your trailer?



It looks more like a higway department trailer stripped of its sign, or? than a home made trailer.
The weight rating of the tires will give you a reasonable guess at what the trailer rating is.
Tire rating # x 2.

Rob