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Bouncy Trailer
Hello all, I've got a question for anyone who has dealt with a bouncy trailer. I recently purchased an 18 ft trailer with 5k axles. The thing works great when I have a little load on it, but when I pull it around empty, it jars my truck quite a bit. So I was thinking about having the tires balanced, or is this problem caused by stiff suspencion? If you have dealt with this, please let me know what you did? Thanks.
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Bouncy Trailer
Are you using a 1/2 ton to pull it? If yes, what you are likely feeling is a. the truck frame flexing or b. the frame and cab mounting bushings are too soft (for this application) and the cab is moving up and down--not much you should/could do about this.
Jarring won't be cured by balancing the tires, though that should be done anyway to reduce vibration and improve tire wear. The jarring may be reduced by the type of tire you are using. High-pressure tires can be very rough riding (mine are 16" light truck tires rated at 90 PSI); taller tires will offer a better ride too. Type of tire also---bias versus radial. I wouldn't consider using passenger car tire which when loaded are more apt to allow fishtailing since the sidewalls allow more side-to-side squirm.
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Bouncy Trailer
Most of the pounding problem is from the lack of shocks. There is really nothings to control the pounding of the suspension except for a load.
About the only way around it is to slow down to minimize the pounding.
All my trailers act like that also, tandem and single, I've seen my single bounce 2' in the air from an unseen pothole.
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Bouncy Trailer
Another thought: use a weight distributing hitch. Back in the days when I had smaller trucks and trailers it was a perfect solution to not buying bigger and better. These will only work on bumper-tow units.
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Bouncy Trailer
What ply tires are you running? example-- some 10ply tires use 100psi. When running car tires with a full load I pump the tires up to 40 or 45 psi. If I dont return them to 30psi the trailor will bounce empty.
Just my Idea Good luck
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Bouncy Trailer
I agree.... put some flab in the tires when running empty and that should keep things on the ground.
But then you have to have a way to pump them back up when you have a load. Gas stations don't always have compressed air available these days and when they do they charge you for the service. A 12 volt compressor will make the required pressure but they are very slow.
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Bouncy Trailer
I checked the tires and it looks that they are 6 ply tread, 4 ply wall. Max range is at 65lbs, so I will try the suggestion of running them lower when empty. I do have an air compressor, so I could take care of the needed air when I'm ready to tow. Yes, one of the compressors is the portable type and it does take a while.
I have also tried the weight distribution hitch. Use it every time I am in tow, but I have learned to take the spring arms off when trailer is empty. They just make the problem worse.
The truck is an F150. I know it weighs in at around 5K. Not that matters much, a smaller 13 foot single axle sport trailer I have can be felt behind it at times, so maybe it is just suspension. I might waste the money on having the tires balanced anyway. I'd like to see if it makes any difference at all. That with lowering the pressure might.??
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Bouncy Trailer
Cornrow
I think the idea about deflating the tires a tad is the best.
I will add that you want a straight and level line from the back of the hitch thru te trailer. You do NOt want the trailer tilting upwards or downwards. I am taking it as a Class 4 and not a 5th wheel or Goose neck. If it is a Class IV then you can obtain a hitch that comes out and drops etc to help enable the straight line.
GoodLuck
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Bouncy Trailer
If you have an adjustable ball mount or coupler on the trailer crank it up.
Raising the height of the tongue will go al long way to smoothing out those bumps also. If the trailer is flat and level, the springs force the tire to go straight up to absorb a bump, but if you raise the tongue, the wheel can move up and back (because the angle of attack changed) to absorb the impact. This is often all that is needed.
Best of luck.
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Bouncy Trailer
I didn't see anything mentioned about what type of axles spring set up you have. You might have one of four types that I know of and have used. The roughest riding set up is two separate axles each hung from the frame with no mechanical connection to each other to offer oscillation as one wheel at a time raise and lowers. The next one is (I prefer) "tandem equalizers" which effectively joins the rear of the front spring and front of the rear spring to a pivot (which looks like an inverted "t" that will allow the trailer axles to go up and down together simultaneously thus the equalization with a minimal amount of bounce trailer jouncing. The other type is a "slipper spring" which tends to be stronger than the "t" equalizers, rides rougher when unloaded but works great when loaded. It also noisey as the spring is allowed to jump around in the slipper as the spring can slip in and out of the equalizer. The last type is rubber torsion which has no spring per se but has rubber rods encased in an axle tube in which the axle tries to rotate or totorque against but can't. They are marketed as riding better than a spring axles but I have them on my 24' enclosed car hauler and don't like them at all.
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