Axle suspension?

[Andrew Leigh]

Hi

anyone use rubber suspension axles in favour of standard axles with leaf springs? The rubber suspension is in the cross member of the axle.

Although they are more expensive than the standard axle I can get one from a friend who had one on his caravan. He bent the one swingarm and insurance replaced the entire axle. The axle has only 1600 miles on it and the manufacturer will replace the swingarm for me and reset the tow and the camber. In real terms this will mean a brand new axle for 25% less than buying just the normal axle (without springs). I am unsure if there are any advantages / disadvantages having an axle like this in and out of freshwater.

It is braked and rated for 3300lbs which is 7.5% over what I need. Plus it allows me to fit bigger tyres (14" rather than 13") as the load rating of the current tyres is not sufficient.

Any thoughts?

Cheers
Andrew

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Axle suspension?

torsion suspension is used on a lot of larger trailers all the time. i have a dual axle torsion supension, under may Chris Craft.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Axle suspension?

Ayuh,........Go for It,......

I build trailers often enough,..... I'll never build another 1 with Springs....

Torsion Axles are the Way to Go.......

 

[Andrew Leigh]

Re: Axle suspension?

Thanks guys,

Will take it in tomorrow for repair.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Axle suspension?

The reason the swing arm was bent is one of the minor issues with a torsion axle. Kiss a curb and they are not very forgiving. Torsion axles have only one major disadvantage but it applies only to tandem or tri-axle configurations. Since each axle in that configuration is not tied to the other with the traditional walking beam like a springer setup, torsion suspended trailers MUST be towed perfectly level. When loaded near their maximum in that configuration, movement over a sharply irregular surface, like a driveway, puts tremendous stress on the leading or trailing axle and in severe cases can cause axle damage or blown tires as they are temporarily overloaded by the weight transfer. In our neck of the woods we use a lot of tandem snowmobile trailers with torsion axles and even slight inclines or depressions can cause one set of wheels or the other to come off the ground or be severely compressed in those circumstances.

 

[TowingSource]

Re: Axle suspension?

Torsions create a stiffer frame and produce a softer/higher quality ride, but what they are saying about weight distribution is correct.

Torsion axles to not distribute loads because it is a fully independent suspension. You need to be very careful about where you set the axle on the trailer to make sure your weight distribution and tongue load is correct. In most cases it does not sit exactly where your spring axles did because of the trailing arm.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Axle suspension?

Silver and Towing, you should see the triple axle torsion axle trailer under my dad's Chaparral Signature 300 cruiser at the ramp. Pretty scary when all 13k pounds is on the forward axle at the top of the ramp, because the other two are OFF the ground! For that reason, and their expense, I don't think I would ever purposely get a torsion axle trailer (sorry Bond-o I am exactly the opposite of you on this). Springs will equalize and are less expensive to repair/replace. That's my $.02.