Describe what makes a off road trailer

[elcoyote]

Yeah, the rubber torsion axle thing... Adventure Trailers is dead set against them. But many "off-road" trailer manufacturers in Africa and Australia use them. <shrug>

We are dead set against them because we have proven first hand that torsion axles fail in washboard environments. In our research we find that most SA mfgs use leaf springs and OZ mfgs favor trailing arms with coils or leaf springs. I would be curious to know which mfgs you have found from SA & OZ are favoring torsion axles and what their expected duty claims are.

 

[d0ubledown]

I have been reading quite a lot on here and elsewhere about off road trailers.

However, I have yet to find a basic description of what makes a trailer a off road trailer.

Now, there is a lot of answers to this based on what the trailer will be ultimately used for, but when you talk about the basics, like wheel size, axle type and height, bolt patterns, road clearance, frame type and how much stronger than a road trailer, overall width, etc.

There are so many possibilities for what goes on the frame, like a box, camper, utility, cargo, etc., that I'll ask that question in another thread.


So, the question is:

What are the basic attributes of a off road trailer. (Or: definition of a off road trailer.)

Thank you

Bion Rogers

an off road trailer imo is a trailer thats purpose built, just as an off road vehicle is. same attributes that go into an off road vehicle should apply to an off road trailer.

• axle, frame & body strength
• ground clearance - not just axle & frame, but coupling point as well. axle clearace usually comes in the form of a spring over axle and:
• oversized tires to crawl over obstacles. ideally would be the same size as tow rig, so spares can be shared
• ariculation- either in the suspension, or the coupling point
• maneouverability- can it follow the tow rig, get dented, scraped up and still keep going?

safe to say your run of the mill home depot landscape trailers are not off road. sure you can take them on dirt, but they'll never survive the rigors of off highway abuse, without significant beefing up.

and yes, an off road trailer has to be just as good on road, and track straight at hwy speeds. theres no trailering trailers, as you would with a non streetable off road vehicle.

ive got leaf spring suspension, spring over axle in my cdn m101 trailer. it weighs just under 1000lbs. empty. the strength and offroadability matches the tow rig..my 97 land cruiser. it uses a pintle hook setup. the rear crossmember on the cruiser has the 4 bolts, so i was able to remove the receiver hitch which is a rock anchor, and use the plate pintle hook, and not hitch mounted pintle hook.

my trailer it can withstand a roll over and not destroy its contents. well...when bikes are on the lid thats a different story :bike_rider:

 

[R_Lefebvre]

We are dead set against them because we have proven first hand that torsion axles fail in washboard environments. In our research we find that most SA mfgs use leaf springs and OZ mfgs favor trailing arms with coils or leaf springs. I would be curious to know which mfgs you have found from SA & OZ are favoring torsion axles and what their expected duty claims are.

I just saw some again recently, I'll post them up next time I find them.

 

[Air Sierra]

I like the standard leaf spring.

If you do ever break a suspension part you can pick up a new part in any town, this is why I run springs on my trailers, I have found that simplicity is a good thing.

 

[indiedog]

i would be curious to know which mfgs you have found from sa & oz are favoring torsion axles and what their expected duty claims are.

x2

 

[tdesanto]

I just saw some again recently, I'll post them up next time I find them.

Rob, have you ever towed a trailer with a torsion axle suspension?

I couldn't wait to upgrade my suspension from the torsion axle to the AT TAAS 2 suspension. Night and day difference in its ability to handle rough terrain.

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: Heh Heh, I have, for almost 4 years, and very happy with the DEXTER axle

:costumed-smiley-007:costumed-smiley-007 JIMBO

 

[R_Lefebvre]

We are dead set against them because we have proven first hand that torsion axles fail in washboard environments. In our research we find that most SA mfgs use leaf springs and OZ mfgs favor trailing arms with coils or leaf springs. I would be curious to know which mfgs you have found from SA & OZ are favoring torsion axles and what their expected duty claims are.

Ok, so I promised to post up when I ran across them again, and here is one. Jurgens, I believe, is one of the larger trailer manufacturers in SA.

http://www.jurgens.co.za/12.steel.htm

Rob, have you ever towed a trailer with a torsion axle suspension?

Yes, I have. I have a rubber axle on my Seadoo trailer, which I *love*. I also put them on my camping trailer, which, I'm not sold on them yet.

 

[SSRx7]

Had them on my old travel trailer. When going down the road, washboards, divits (some states have recessed divits in the pavement for the reflectors) etc, the trailer would rock back and forth like crazy. Other than that they worked fine. But that is a travel trailer and not an expo trailer. I was just surprised at how much it rocked on the rough road, as compared to my other leaf sprung trailers. I have a box utility trailer that has a drop axle supported by both leafs and coils. It is one of the smoothest riding trailers I have had, especially on wash board dirt roads (lots of those here in Az), with a load or without. The drawback on using that as a basis for an expo trailer is the ground clearance - or lack there of.

On my jeep trailer I plan on just using a stock jeep open(not limited slip or locked) rear axle with some lift leaf springs. Several reasons for this. One, if I ever brake a rear axle shaft on the jeep, I'll have spares (or the whole rear end for that matter). I can leave the trailer in the bush and still drive out in emergency situations. Two, the added extra weight of the live axle assembly will help lower the cog of my trailer, as there will not be a drivetrain there to keep it lowered. The stock fuel tank to carry extra fuel will also aid in this.
Three, if my jeep will get through an area, then the trailer will be able to get through the same area, because....well it's a jeep folllowing a jeep.

I know that Martin and Mario have done alot of research into suspensions. I'm assuming that the call for independent suspension is for higher speed washboard type roads to keep the trailer from rocking, better than the leaf spring or solid axle designs which transmit the "bump" to both sides of the trailer, which would increase the rocking. Other than that, what are the benefits? I know that with the air bags, you can adjust one side vs the other for leveling, etc. A set of airshocks on a leaf spring setup would do the same thing (Not talking about maxing them out, but adjusting pressures as needed.) In really rough stuff where you are going slow (ie rocks, shelves, ruts, etc) the trailer is just gonna follow the axle because there is no other two point contact to the ground (if you understand what I mean.) A trailer is a 3 point contact- the hitch and two tires. The hitch is a multi swivel point. So the rest of the trailer is just following where the tires go. In that case it wouldn't matter if the axles were solid mounted to the traile, am I correct? Or is there more articulation of the suspension than I'm seeing? Because if you think about it, the more weight there is to one side, like when one tire is up on a rock or one tire is down in a rut, the more that the suspension will compress on that side, allowing even more weight to move the cog to the side, which would compress the suspension even more - until such time as the springs/airbags/bumpstops stop the compression of the suspension. (Hope you see what I am trying to say). I understand that it does this to a point, but I don't see independent suspension better than solid axle in this type of situation.

Your thoughts??