Trailer shocks

[tweake]

a little project at the mo.

having a specialised dual axle trailer built at the moment and i've been trying to find anyone in NZ that has shocks suitable for light trailers. they seam to be available in AU, UK and USA but not here.

anyone fitted shocks to a light trailer before ??

[skid]

a little project at the mo.

having a specialised dual axle trailer built at the moment and i've been trying to find anyone in NZ that has shocks suitable for light trailers. they seam to be available in AU, UK and USA but not here.

anyone fitted shocks to a light trailer before ??

most trailers I've seen don't have shocks at all

[tweake]

most trailers I've seen don't have shocks at all

most don't bother with the extra cost but from what i read there does seem to be a few advantages. i'm mainly after reducing the amount of vibration on rough roads. most of the ones i've stood on the back of while driven down the road are actually quite bad. a little suprised the draw bars don't fatquie and break off.......opps......they do !
just trying to make it very smooth for rather delicate cargo.

so far its suprising that no companiy i've talked to brings them in. even the few companies like monroe who do make them, importers here have never heard of them

[Cloggy_NZ]

If it is going to be a dual axle set-up it won't be a light trailer in which case you could use normal car type shocks. Failing that or if it is a light trailer, have you thought about some motorcycle coil over shocks?
I had a set of Vauxhall Viva shocks in my garage for ages which I was going to use to put shocks on my little 6x4 garden trailer. However when I built it I just cut the rear spring hangers of the (Falcon) leaf springs, bent the spring ends down a little and made them slide in a saddle welded to the trailer chassis. This sliding action, because of the friction it creates, eliminates the need for shocks. Most trailers I have seen use a similar set-up and thus don't have shocks.
If your trailer has leaf springs which rub in a saddle at one end, I wouldn't worry about shocks.
But start looking at something which has to handle a little better than a 6x4 garden trailer, my caravan for example, and we have a nice independent swingarm suspension system with fancy coil over shocks. If that set-up because it operates so freely, didn't have shocks, the caravan would be untowable and wallow all over the road.

[tweake]

dual axle still classed as light trailer (upto 3500kg fully laden i think).

it has slipper springs, not because it is any better ride wise, but for the load capacity. they handle the big loads better.
non-slipper springs are meant to be better ride wise which is why there often used on horse floats and caravans.
its a bit of a compromise with the springs, its not something i have much choice with.
independent suspension would be nice. toyed with the idea to get a bit more ground clearance in the middle of the trailer.
gave a driveway a grading job when a tire went flat once, so may resort to gull wing axles if need be.

looking at car shocks at the moment, tho they tend to be quite light duty. the heavy duty shocks tend be longer which may have problems fitting. i might just fit the cheaper car shocks and see how long they last.

whats a little unknown at the moment is what effect the tires will have. its got a set of low profiles to keep the overall height down. it will probably make vibration worse than the existing trailers that have used before.

[tgaguy1]

looking at car shocks at the moment, tho they tend to be quite light duty. the heavy duty shocks tend be longer which may have problems fitting. i might just fit the cheaper car shocks and see how long they last.

Have you thought about using some small truck shocks? Some thing like a Toyota Dyna or Mitsubishi Canter.

[tweake]

looking at car shocks at the moment, tho they tend to be quite light duty. the heavy duty shocks tend be longer which may have problems fitting. i might just fit the cheaper car shocks and see how long they last.

Have you thought about using some small truck shocks? Some thing like a Toyota Dyna or Mitsubishi Canter.

size tends to be the problem. looked at light commerical (hiace van or hilux) but minimum length gets to be to long. hiace would fit just, but nearly double the price.

[meatc]

My tandem duro torque axled caravan has shocks in it. No idea what they are. (I was going to replace them but could'nt fine any markings on them and have found them to be ok.)

They fit between the axle and the top of the wheel arch so are pretty short. You could try one of the caravan manufactuers around the place. Caravan weighs about 1800kgs all up.

[MikeH]

If the shocks are too long, then mount them on a slight angle. They will still work.

[KiwiBacon]

So what's it for?

I'm thinking of a similar future project (trailer for mountainbikes) and currently the winner is the motorbike coilover rear shocks like Cloggy mentioned above. Duratorq still has a foot in the door but leaf springs are firmly out. Considering a twist-beam type setup too, a low floor rules out wishbones.

Car shocks are still a consideration, the low amount of damping I'll need rules out truck, van and 4wd shocks.

[tweake]

they are meant to be fitted at an angle anyway.

got the car ones on order at the moment, will have to much around with angles before welding the mounts on for them.
only problem may be the springs are to heavy. might have to fit lighter springs. will depend on how much pre load tension the shocks have.

fingers crossed it all works

[tweake]

So what's it for?

I'm thinking of a similar future project (trailer for mountainbikes) and currently the winner is the motorbike coilover rear shocks like Cloggy mentioned above. Duratorq still has a foot in the door but leaf springs are firmly out. Considering a twist-beam type setup too, a low floor rules out wishbones.

Car shocks are still a consideration, the low amount of damping I'll need rules out truck, van and 4wd shocks.

ours is a rather low flat deck. low profile tires etc to get it low enough. i have a ramp built in that slides in underneath it so you can load it by hand. being a flat deck they is a fair amount of room underneath for the springs and shocks. its built for heavy loads, 2500kg gross but knowing most poeple it will proberly get used for more.

for light stuff i see a few neat designs, especailly aussie 4x4 trailers. they seam to have offroad designs well sorted.
duratorq is ok but lacks travel. trailing arm + coilovers would be nice but cost $$$$. what you also have to watch is overall width. shocks and low floor means they have to fit between tire and sides which makes the trailer a bit wider.

http://www.candm.com.au/archive_tom/108.php good rundown of design

http://www.etrailerparts.com.au/index.html?c347.html&1 alko seasm to advailable around the world.

http://www.vehiclecomponents.com.au/con ... etails.asp trailing arm.

[KiwiBacon]

So what's it for?

I'm thinking of a similar future project (trailer for mountainbikes) and currently the winner is the motorbike coilover rear shocks like Cloggy mentioned above. Duratorq still has a foot in the door but leaf springs are firmly out. Considering a twist-beam type setup too, a low floor rules out wishbones.

Car shocks are still a consideration, the low amount of damping I'll need rules out truck, van and 4wd shocks.

ours is a rather low flat deck. low profile tires etc to get it low enough. i have a ramp built in that slides in underneath it so you can load it by hand. being a flat deck they is a fair amount of room underneath for the springs and shocks. its built for heavy loads, 2500kg gross but knowing most poeple it will proberly get used for more.

for light stuff i see a few neat designs, especailly aussie 4x4 trailers. they seam to have offroad designs well sorted.
duratorq is ok but lacks travel. trailing arm + coilovers would be nice but cost $$$$. what you also have to watch is overall width. shocks and low floor means they have to fit between tire and sides which makes the trailer a bit wider.

Soo wide enough for a vehicle?
Mine is intended for primarily onroad use, but will stick skid plates underneath so it can be dragged anywhere offroad.
Just got hit with the thought of adjustable height suspension. I want to keep it low for handling and so it won't catch extra wind when towed behind a station wagon or hatchback. But the option to jack it up another 100mm when needed could work.

[tweake]

depeneds on if its quad bike, muiltiable 2 wheel bike or looking to fit 4x4 ute etc on the back.

for bikes also if you load them from the rear or from the side. if you can its a lot easier to drive a narrow trailer than a max width one.

one advantage with duratorq is you can have the floor at axle level. that can make it deck hieght a lot lower.

[KiwiBacon]

depeneds on if its quad bike, muiltiable 2 wheel bike or looking to fit 4x4 ute etc on the back.

for bikes also if you load them from the rear or from the side. if you can its a lot easier to drive a narrow trailer than a max width one.

one advantage with duratorq is you can have the floor at axle level. that can make it deck hieght a lot lower.

Even with duratorq I'd lose around 100mm of floor height, so thinking of a single swingarm from up front further and coil shocks mounted in plain view above or in front of the wheels.
Here's a mockup shape I did just to suss out the size. Plan is for a fold down tailgate and fold up roof for loading.
Wheels are for show only.

[tweake]

i do not get how you lose 100mm floor height with duratorq.
you have to have suspension travel. duratorq can basicly bolt directly to the floor, you can't get any lower than that. the floor is basicly the axle. swing arm suspesion is going to require the floor to be up higher, you need room for the arm to swing up and down and axle etc inder neath the floor.
with the duratorq on the floor you might even run into problems bottoming out.

at leats with duratorq alco makes shocks and you should be able to get them in from AU.

[KiwiBacon]

i do not get how you lose 100mm floor height with duratorq.
you have to have suspension travel. duratorq can basicly bolt directly to the floor, you can't get any lower than that. the floor is basicly the axle. swing arm suspesion is going to require the floor to be up higher, you need room for the arm to swing up and down and axle etc inder neath the floor.
with the duratorq on the floor you might even run into problems bottoming out.

at leats with duratorq alco makes shocks and you should be able to get them in from AU.

The duratorque body bolts to the bottom of the floor. I'd have to either raise the floor by the thickness of the duratorq body (probably 80mm in the size I would use) or lose the same in ground clearance.
But if I have some side mounted swingarms, the suspension ends up on either side with nothing underneath. So I either gain ground clearance or can lower the floor, I'll be lowering the floor as much as possible.
The pivots for side mount swingarms can be far enough forward to be out of the way even though they'd be above floor level.

[tweake]

afaik the duratorque body bolts to the bottom of the floor, the arm of it sits out side the body and the wheel goes beside the body. its basicly a short swing arm.
most of the long swing arms need a locating arm underneath which means you have to raise the floor to fit that in. also to get any floor really low you would have to fit springs etc along the outside which the trailer wider.

basicly any axle/arm going underneath will require space so the arm/axle don't hit the floor and dosn't hit the ground. duratorq is handy in that theres basicly nothing that goes under neath, the floor is the lowest point. all the wheel travel is done beside the body. shocks bolt to rear of arm and onto the side of the body.

i'll have to find some pics of the setups.



the axle can go higher and be part of the floor. notice the arm is horizontal and deck is basically middle of tire.

[KiwiBacon]

afaik the duratorque body bolts to the bottom of the floor, the arm of it sits out side the body and the wheel goes beside the body. its basicly a short swing arm.
most of the long swing arms need a locating arm underneath which means you have to raise the floor to fit that in. also to get any floor really low you would have to fit springs etc along the outside which the trailer wider.

Yes, but I'm not planning to use any off-the-shelf suspension parts other than a coilover spring/shock which I haven't found yet. The shocks will sit either in front of or above the tyres, nothing underneath the floor and not increasing the overall width either.
Due to the length of the swingarms and rigidity needed, they'll probably have to be tubular. I'll know more as I get further into it.

Remember this is a lightweight trailer for lightweight toys, so I'll be able to get away with ideas that aren't practical for trailers carrying porkier items.

[tweake]

its finally finished !
(sorry about poor pics, only cell phone pics)



Shocks


i haven't used it yet but boss did a quick trip with it and said it seams to bang less than other trailers we have used of similar design and weight.
won't know how well the shocks work until we start shifting some heavy loads.

edit: pics not displaying properly will fix later

[KiwiBacon]

Looks good, what are the shocks from?

[tweake]

there for an older mitsi. simply went by length, type of mount and size of vechile. thanks go to some very helpfull guys at the importers/wholesalers. if i had a bit more room i could have fitted 4x4shocks which would be more heavyduty but also double in price.

actually the shocks are not fitted in the correct postion. but i was off sick when they welded the mounts. with them mounted like that it works on the levelling action of the suspension more than i would have liked. however seeing it towed around it dosn't appear to hurt it. the shocks are fairly soft so they work well in a fairly upright position.

[tweake]

just to add:

we have started doing a bit of heavy shifting and giving the trailer a bit of a workout.
had absolutely no banging when empty even with tires at high pressure (unlike every other trailer we have ever used).
with load on its silky smooth. you don't even know the trailer is there, do not get any shock from hitting big bumps. you feel the bumps when the ute runs over a bump but not when the trailer runs over them.
been good off road (well minor off road, paddocks etc). only downside is a bit of squeaking from the shocks, that may be the rubbers which will wear in a bit.

very pleased

[spanky]

i build quite a few trailers for cockys and shearing /forestry gangs and shocks are good when you are on gravel roads, cant see why you had any trouble getting any, just ring a good suspension out fit and give them your lengths and weight range, last one i built was a mobile cructhing unit 2.2m wide and 5.5m long on tandem leafs and shocks and only carries its own weight and maybe 600kgs of gear.i use P&H suspension city in hamilton and just ring them with what i want and they have most in stock and i get them within a couple of days, for real light trailers i use cab shocks off a 96 mazda titan , they are about 130mm long and work well with loads of a couple of hundred kgs, ideal for a mb trailer, will get some pics today of some.
vaughan

[tweake]

thank you for that. every trailer crowd i got hold of had NEVER heard of trailers with shocks. even monroe importers had never heard of the monroe trailers shocks that monroe make, let alone import them it was only one crowd which found some shocks of the right length etc for me which was fantastic.

if you could find some pics of your shock setups would be great. let people know what they are missing