Who's got the best suspension ??

[ekap1200]

Hi everyone, I hear all great news of everyone's trailer rides and pics of really nice looking trailers. But no pics of great suspensions. Even on the trailer dealer sites , no one really boasts off the best suspension. I have links to some great sites for trailers and parts, and yet the jury seems to still be out on who's got the best. Am I the only one looking for a suspension with shocks to smooth out the bounce? I have sent emails out to suppliers of half axle torsion replacements and have been told their product may not be any better than what I have on my trailer now. Some very honest answers from them, but not much help. I know I am going to hear numerous tips on tongue weight and tire pressure, but we've been there done that approach. I'm getting down to the wire on time before I go on vacation and am considering not using the trailer because of the way it bounces and moves the load all around. I have several ideas of fabing a different style retrofit but have not had any response's too if a set of mc shocks can be mounted horizontally. I would just like to purchase a retrofit and install it . The trailer handles great and I can really put the hammer down on nice roads, and have boasted about how nice it pulls behind me without bouncing on earlier posts, but that was on some really nice roads. But one can't count on good roads everywhere, and after pulling it now for a few months on various road surface's its not as great as I previously mentioned. It is a very light weight trailer and we don't carry much but the odd shape items like folding chairs, cots, the tent and maybe 50 lbs. of gear. So how about it, who's got the best, why and where you got it answers to this one. Gene from pot hole capital of the northeast, NJ

[canaman]

Gene, I have a Fibro Concept cargo trailer. It comes with the torsion bar style suspension. Trailer weighs about 150 lbs empty and can carry about 150-200 lbs of cargo. Has 12" tires on it. I think that torsion bar type of suspensions are the best. They allow each wheel to ride independently of each other which will make a smoother ride therefore pull easier. They cost a bit more than the spring and shackle style but well worth it. I had 2 indentical snowmobile trailers with the exception of the suspension. One with torsion bar and the other with springs and shackle. The torsion bar trailer always pulled smoother and easier with a LOT less bounce empty or loaded especially when empty. I also built a 18' trailer which I mounted a hot tub in it with the torsion bar system. Trailer pulled so smooth and easy. You can buy various styles of the torsion bars for the height that you want the frame mounted to so you can have a really low profile trailer to keep the center of gravity down low. My opinion is torsion bar style are the best.

[TheAudiDoc]

I believe bushtec trailers have air ride suspension which can be set to match your load....my little trailer has individual torsion axles 300 lb ea and it doesn't give much unless i really load it down with weight . usually that is not the case. but it pulls nice just keep the tire psi on the lower side to smooth out the ride some http://www.bushtec.com/Articles.asp?ID=151

[Davew]

Bushtec demos theirs by picking up the back of the trailer and dropping it with no bounce back, they run air shocks with indendpent suspenion.. I pull an older model bushtec with 16" wheels, I've pulled over a number of different road surfaces with no problem with pot holes or uneven surfaces. I've done a fair amount of riding in western North Carolina including pulling mine across the Dragon. If I was to replace mine it would be with another Bushtec, they have one of the best pulling trailers out there, but pricey.

[doug of so fla]

Gene some of the above posts mention, I think, the most practical way (if possible) to solve part of your problem. but I do not know if you can do it with your trailer. !2" + wheels would be the best way to start, if you can put them on your trailer? The torsion bars for the small trailers Imho do not have enough give in them for what we are doing with the trailer. The bigger tires eliminate a lot of the sharp & small hits. Bushtec engineering is the absolute best out there because it is designed not just to pull the trailer behind a MC but to pull it in any condition, smoothly. Maybe you could borrow some of their engineering but the cost & size goes way up .

[ekap1200]

Hi Doug, Most of the trailer deales and suspension manufacure's of the half axles, have not even gotten back to me on requests for info and quotes, Only one has been honest enough to say that what he has to offer may not help. My hitch design and fab job went so well that I have begun to design a sys but It won't help us on our upcomming trip, just not enough time. I just started on my pre trip work of tires, brakes, and general service. Was talking to a harley guy that said HD shocks will work horizontally which would help with a nice design I have been doing. But there are quite a few parts to fab and we would like to have a few hundred miles on the new design before heading off on a road trip. Looks like I have to be at the mercey of motels and hotels this year and skip the camping out. Gene Kap

[Me Again]

Looks like I have to be at the mercey of motels and hotels this year and skip the camping out. Gene Kap
You've got a nice trailer,throw your tent in and go
99% of the trailers out there are going to to exactly what you ask them to with out modifying them.
Let me know when you figure out how to put a 30 foot Airstream on the back of your bike.

[ekap1200]

Now there is a good idea. Id be quite happy with a 20 footer airstream I guess you guys a right, or ya'll been talking to my wife. She shutters when my credit card bills start to come in when I get back from my road trips.

Looks like I have to be at the mercey of motels and hotels this year and skip the camping out. Gene Kap
You've got a nice trailer,throw your tent in and go
99% of the trailers out there are going to to exactly what you ask them to with out modifying them.
Let me know when you figure out how to put a 30 foot Airstream on the back of your bike.

[David (N. Alabama)]

Hey Gene. I had Marv install a hitch on my 1700 the first day of the rally. So now I am seriously reading all the trailering information I can find.

I'm not sure where you are planning on going for your trip, but I will tell you that most of the southern roads are a lot smoother than most of the northern roads since we don't get the frost heave.

I know some of the travel trailer manufacturers use shocks, and I do know that there are many motocycle shock makers that custom make the shocks based on length, load, etc. You might even find some shocks off small cc wrecked bikes that would work.

I am looking over all the different trailers at the rally. There sure are some nice ones.

[ekap1200]

Hey Dave, I'll be heading back down to the Dragon. Got to get away from the northeast, back to friendly people and no racetrack driving people. Then off thru the roads of Tenn. And yes, there a surely a lot of nice trailers out there for bikes, and they are pricey for sure also. Im going to a harley scrap yard this weekend to look for some used shocks. Going to take this trailer as far as KSL and park it there, taking day trips or two day trips from there. thanks for the input. Gene

[ekap1200]

Well, its been a few thousand miles with the trailer , with the oem suspension, and my view is , it sucks.
plain and simple I have had it with the system that's on it. I give it my best and used everyone's opinion about load, weight, tire pressure and whatever else. But now that winters here I pulled the torsion arms off and put them in the band saw. I am using the main axle/arm and fabricating a new system using a set of shocks sold to me based on the weight of the trailer and load I spec,ed out. Pics and dwg. to follow tomorrow. This new design had better work for me, since I am now at the point of no return. Gene Kap.

[lilabner]

Just a word, if you got a lite trlr and leaf springs, remove all but main eyelet
leaf spring, softens-er up. beyond that...the right size torsion axle for the trlr
is best for $. also after some hefty loads and pouncing and age torsion suspensions get really sweat. other than my personal experience, it`s $ versus inginuity game. Good luck.... Lilabner.

[ekap1200]

Well Guys, Not your everyday DIY project, Got the water jet parts done out of scrap 3/16 drops from a previous job. Dug in the scrap alum barrel's for the bearing block material, and the boss gave me 24" of 2" round stock for the thru shafts, Had the bearings laying around from a job that we bought extra for, but had to order 4 seals from McMaster Carr and bought the fastener hardware from Tractor Supply. The rainy weekend gave me some shop time at home and I have all the mill work done, bent the plates up on the brake at work, and all that's left is the lathe work and the welding. I'll have some pictures to view as soon as I get all the parts manufactured and will post a link to tinypic.com
So here is the .dwg of the system I have come up with. Gene Kap.

[debron]

Wow, Gene, you're right! Not your everyday DIY project, but I'm impressed! Are you going to make these commercially available when you're done? Do you think this system would work on a home-built single-wheel trailer?

[ekap1200]

Hey Ron, Doubt if I would sell these as a living, unless I was to start manufacturing the entire trailer. Don't have a real time on the entire job yet. Took a weekend to get the lid off and flip the trailer upside-down, remove the existing system and cut the axles/arms off the original mounting block, manufacture the bearing blocks, install the bearing cups, and turn down one new shaft to fit the bearing cone's and seal land. About 3 hrs tonight working on the new shafts square ends and checking the fit in the oem arms that were poorly plasma cut from 3/4 stock. And tomorrow I will wrap that up and put the flats on for the shock levers and turn some threads. then I still need to turn a set of spacers for the inside seals and a spacer between each shock arm. Then it's time for a welding fixture to keep the 2 shafts parallel to each other. All said and done it would be about an 800 to one thousand dollar job if I were to do it for someone. It would have cost me about 135 for metals, and the shocks would have cost me 165, seals alone were 8.76 each +shipping. the fastener hardware cost 30 dollars. Fortunately I have been scrounging items needed like the shocks and the bearing sets, and some scrap 3/16 plate. When you start doing jobs like this you realize why the nice trailers cost so much. But when its done I should have a very well riding trailer, with running the proper tire pressure. And that's what I am shooting for. I'll post pics this weekend. Gene Kap.

[ekap1200]

pictures,pictures, and more pictures, I know everyone loves to see pic,s
Not much done on Saturday , had a crew of tree cutters here all day.

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[debron]

Gene,

Impressive shop you've got there! Working with all that metal is certainly messy. How do you get it all cleaned up without slicing yourself to pieces?

[ekap1200]

Thanks Ron, I only wish it was allot bigger, something around 40 x 40 would be a nice shop. But I would outgrow it in time. As for cleaning up the metal, well the shop vac does a keen job of it when I get time to clean up..... Anyway got a little more time in this afternoon to tinker a bit more. Should be on its wheels for a road test next weekend. A few more spacers to turn, some threads to machine, welding, grease seal bore's to machine,grease fitting bores to drill and tap, and then align it up and find some bad bumpy roads, ' Oh wait' I live in New Jersey , all the roads are bad bumpy roads. Gene. Kap.

[ekap1200]

HI ALL.. A bit behind schedule, but made some progress this weekend in spite of the honey do list. Decided to turn the 3/4-16 threads on the old lathe, it's been a while! ever since work purchased two cnc lathes I let the computer handle it. But it was fun to turn threads here at my home shop on a manual lathe. And a few of the parts are finished. the main bearing caps are counter bored to accept the seals, the grease fittings in and there is some paint on a few items. So looks good wrapping this up this week. I need to make, Two, counter bored nut backers, and finish the weld fixture, weld up the shock arm units and paint the shock arm assemblys , chamfer the square end 1/8 for welding,,,,, then weld her up, install and align it up... So here are some more pics Gene Kap.

[David (N. Alabama)]

Following this thread with much interest. I sure hope it rides like you want it to when you are done. If I ever go with a trailer it will probably be a "unigo" or something similar because I like to ride where I want and don't want to have to think about getting too close to the edge of the lane.