Are TTT's Tiggers too? Help Please

[Phil & Ningning]

The front looks okay. I think if you move the rear mount aft it should take care of your problem.

Tire pressures are important, and you may want to consider shocks at some point, but as Madjack said, don't tow it again until the shackle mount is repaired.

[Lynn Coleman]

The front looks okay. I think if you move the rear mount aft it should take care of your problem.

Tire pressures are important, and you may want to consider shocks at some point, but as Madjack said, don't tow it again until the shackle mount is repaired.

MadJack, Gage, Kevin A, Rich and Phil, Thanks so much for your input.

Okay, if I understand this correctly. We simply jack up the trailer, unbolt the bracket (or whatever it is called) that mounts the shackle, slide it backwards until the shackle is verticle. Then drill a new hole for the bolt and rebolt it. Is that correct?

Oh and do I need bushings? And if so, where do I put them. Correction, where does hubby or the original maker of the trailer put them. I'm definitely considering having him fix it at no charge to me.

Lynn

[Phil & Ningning]

That's about it, Lynn.

Rich noticed that the spring mounting plates appear to be secured by just a single bolt. I thought they looked welded. Welding is okay, multiple bolts are okay, but certainly one at each location is insufficient. The bushings should already be in there.

Might I suggest that if your builder does the repairs for you, that you get a professional to check the work.

Cheers
Phil

[asianflava]

Oh and do I need bushings? And if so, where do I put them. Correction, where does hubby or the original maker of the trailer put them. I'm definitely considering having him fix it at no charge to me.

If he said that it has a GVWR of 2500lbs, and the springs are bottomed out at 1300lbs, then I think he should fix it since it was a miscalculation on his part.

[madjack]

The front looks okay. I think if you move the rear mount aft it should take care of your problem.

Tire pressures are important, and you may want to consider shocks at some point, but as Madjack said, don't tow it again until the shackle mount is repaired.

MadJack, Gage, Kevin A, Rich and Phil, Thanks so much for your input.

Okay, if I understand this correctly. We simply jack up the trailer, unbolt the bracket (or whatever it is called) that mounts the shackle, slide it backwards until the shackle is verticle. Then drill a new hole for the bolt and rebolt it. Is that correct?

Oh and do I need bushings? And if so, where do I put them. Correction, where does hubby or the original maker of the trailer put them. I'm definitely considering having him fix it at no charge to me.

Lynn

..that'll work...bushings would be on the bolt as it goes thru the spring eye....if the mounts are only on with one bolt I would definitely add another...either a #5 or #8 bolt...I would definitely say something to the guy who built the trailer but I would be leery of letting touch anything.....
madjack

[Lynn Coleman]

That's about it, Lynn.

Rich noticed that the spring mounting plates appear to be secured by just a single bolt. I thought they looked welded. Welding is okay, multiple bolts are okay, but certainly one at each location is insufficient. The bushings should already be in there.

Might I suggest that if your builder does the repairs for you, that you get a professional to check the work.

Cheers
Phil

Thanks, Phil.

Yeah, I'm concerned about him fixing the problem. But if I know what needs to be done, I can watch him do it. And he will do it asap because this is just wrong. On the other hand, if I can get some of the guys from church who know how to do this stuff, to fix it tomorrow evening I might skip dealing with the builder.

Lynn

[Lynn Coleman]

..that'll work...bushings would be on the bolt as it goes thru the spring eye....if the mounts are only on with one bolt I would definitely add another...either a #5 or #8 bolt...I would definitely say something to the guy who built the trailer but I would be leery of letting touch anything.....
madjack

Thanks, MadJack. Yeah he concerns me. I hope some of the men in our church can help us with this problem tomorrow. We were hoping to take it on the road Thursday. If they can't it won't be going anywhere.

Lynn

[madjack]

Lynn...one last thing...the last thing you need to do is add a leaf to the spring pack...you have plenty of spring already...it is the geometry that is wrong...after you move the shackle to the proper position...if needed...you can try lowering air pressure or adding shocks...adding shocks is always a good thing, which is why I like the torsion axles so much...spring/shock all in one unit.....
madjack

[Lynn Coleman]

Lynn...one last thing...the last thing you need to do is add a leaf to the spring pack...you have plenty of spring already...it is the geometry that is wrong...after you move the shackle to the proper position, you can try lowering air pressure or adding shocks...adding shocks is always a good thing, which is why I like the torsion axles so much...spring/shock all in one unit.....
madjack

Thanks, MadJack. We'll be looking into the shocks, I'm certain of it. Unlike Tigger, I'm not fond of bouncing.

Lynn

[Gage]

Lynn...one last thing...the last thing you need to do is add a leaf to the spring pack...you have plenty of spring already...it is the geometry that is wrong...after you move the shackle to the proper position...if needed...you can try lowering air pressure or adding shocks...adding shocks is always a good thing, which is why I like the torsion axles so much...spring/shock all in one unit.....
madjack

Lynn, here's about what the rear shackle should look like with no load. With a load, it (mine) points to the rear about 5 deg's. The shackle works with the spring. If the shackle can't move then the spring can't move, and in turn acts like a solid suspension with no spring.

[angib]

Oh, and fyi we have 15" tires, leaf springs and the trailer weights 1300lbs.

You can look up the appropriate tyre pressure for trailer tyres from this Goodyear load-inflation table:
http://www.goodyear.com/rv/pdf/rv_inflation.pdf

So if you have 205/75R15 trailer tyres (of any load range), just 15psi will give you 1810lbs (2 tyres @ 905lbs) capacity, so that's plenty more than you need. Elsewhere I've seen a recommendation for 10% higher pressures at higher speeds, so you might want to make that 17 psi for 75mph!

Andrew

Oops, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt the bad spring hanger discussion, which needs to get fixed before anything else.

[critter]

Hey All,
Here is my 2 cents worth.If i paid this guy good money to build the trl he would fix it or id get my money back.If he dont known how to fix it what is he doing building trls.Ray Charles can see that aint right.TAKE IT BACK!Its just an oversite on his part most likely but he has been paid to do a job!

[Lynn Coleman]

Oh, and fyi we have 15" tires, leaf springs and the trailer weights 1300lbs.

You can look up the appropriate tyre pressure for trailer tyres from this Goodyear load-inflation table:
http://www.goodyear.com/rv/pdf/rv_inflation.pdf

So if you have 205/75R15 trailer tyres (of any load range), just 15psi will give you 1810lbs (2 tyres @ 905lbs) capacity, so that's plenty more than you need. Elsewhere I've seen a recommendation for 10% higher pressures at higher speeds, so you might want to make that 17 psi for 75mph!

Andrew

Oops, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt the bad spring hanger discussion, which needs to get fixed before anything else.

Hey Andrew,

Thanks for the link and the information on the tire pressure. I'll have hubby adust the tires later today.

Lynn

[Lynn Coleman]

Hey All,
Here is my 2 cents worth.If i paid this guy good money to build the trl he would fix it or id get my money back.If he dont known how to fix it what is he doing building trls.Ray Charles can see that aint right.TAKE IT BACK!Its just an oversite on his part most likely but he has been paid to do a job!

Hey Critter,

We did take the trailer back to the company that made it, and they immediately saw the problem. They fixed it right away at no charge. It made me feel better to hear that the boss saw the problem before my husband even got a chance to speak with him.

We now have great clearance between the fender and tire. Paul got up to 60 mph on the way home and said it rode extremely well and no bounce.

I want to thank everyone for their input. You guys are amazing.

Lynn

[caseydog]

..that'll work...bushings would be on the bolt as it goes thru the spring eye....if the mounts are only on with one bolt I would definitely add another...either a #5 or #8 bolt...I would definitely say something to the guy who built the trailer but I would be leery of letting touch anything.....
madjack

Yikes! Looking at those photos made me very anxious. The way those springs attach to the frame of the trailer is scary. I really would look at having a REAL expert rebuild that suspension, and remount it to your frame.

Even if you "fix" the shacle, the mount on the front of the spring will be too high, making the spring higher on one end than the other -- meaning your geometry is still off. I see too much that needs fixing -- just redo it, IMO.

Here is my own thought on how it might be built. First, I would have one piece of angle long enough to go from the front leaf-spring bracket to the rear shackle bracket - notched to clear frame members. Then, mount the shackle properly, and remove a leaf for some softer springing. A shock would help reduce the "bounce" inherent with springs, but would not be absolutely necessary, with the springs mounted correctly.

The reason I'd go with one piece of angle, is so your suspension system is one unit that the trailer frame sits on top of. Right now, the aluminum trailer frame is PART of the suspension system. Those two bolts through that aluminum are a weak point I would be concerned with, and even with more bolts, theire will be constantly changing stress on each bolt hole with each bump and dip.



Once the suspension is built properly off the trailer, then I would mount it to the frame with about four evenly spaced bolts on each side.

Honestly, I would not try to "fix" this set-up, but rather, remove it and have it built right. Your suspension is too important to cut any corners on.

Just my $.02[/img]