Shocks..??

[Token]

Just wondering how many of you folks are running shocks under your trailers.. Last time I had mine out before the end of the year I was having a devil of a time with it going into a "death waggle" when hitting speeds over 70 on the freeway.. It'd be fine until it hit a nice size bump and then all hell would break loose.. Slow down to 65 and it'd stop wagging and track right again..

It may have been loaded a little bit less to the front than I would have liked with a 120 quart chest about half loaded, but at that time there just wasn't another way to load things to better balance.

Was thinking shocks might help slow the wag down in situations like this if not do away with it completely..

Got under and measured the other night and came up with a distance from axle to frame that needed an eye to eye shock that was about 8" long.. Problem is I haven't found anything that short yet.. Anyone got a link for a shock about that long.. And referably CHEAP..

Thanks..

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

My CDN m101 has shocks, they were built like that OEM. I have hauled ******** with that trailer on the highway, loaded only about 80KMH unloaded or light load, 120KMH no problem. It tracks fantastic, over bumps the shocks make a big difference I am certain. I picked up replacement shocks recently, Napa response OEM ones as installed by the CDN government in 1992. They were $25.00 each or thereabouts? Of course they are a LOT longer than 8"...not sure what to say there? You may have to get creative... I am sure there are specialty shocks on the market, or do an SOA conversion and add them then? Head on down to a Napa or other shop of your choice and spend some time with the parts people. They can go over the catalog and you can pick and choose by compressed and full open measurements.

Loading was likely causing the bulk of your issues. Biased to the rear is bad, too much to the front, also not great. Center the load with a front bias I am told and so far it has been working great for me! Shocks will still help however.

 

[java]

i have $25 shocks on mine, with really soft springs it helps alot, especially when empty or with not too much in it. not sure it will cure death wobble but they are nice anyway

 

[Jeff Wanamog]

Try this: http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/mon_retrokit.cfm

They sell kits to retro fit trailers with shocks.
Jeff

 

[GI_Jeepin"]

What size tires do you have on your trailer?

 

[Scott Brady]

Shocks are critical on any trailer used on the dirt. The purpose of the shock is to dampen the stroke of the suspension, otherwise, if it is a leaf suspension, the only damping effect comes from the inter-leaf friction. Even a cheap set of shocks from a junk yard (or old ones from your truck) will work great and stop the bouncy-bounce

 

[Jeff Wanamog]

What size tires do you have on your trailer?

If you are asking me, I have 265/75 16 same as on my truck.
Jeff

 

[Woods]

I ended up using Volkswagen Bug (think 60's not 90's) front end shocks. They work great on my light weight trailer. I've got an extra set, that I'd sell cheap. If you're trailer is in the 1,000 lb. category, I'd say they will work great. Much over that and I just don't know.

 

[Saiyan66]

The shocks will certainly help, but it sounds like the problem on that day was your lack of sufficient tongue weight. You already know this as you mentioned it before. Sometimes a complete trailer repack is what's necessary to get it to ride safely. Been there, done that.

 

[GI_Jeepin"]

If you are asking me, I have 265/75 16 same as on my truck.
Jeff

I have an M416 Trailer and I have those same size tires. I dont have a problem with any wobbling at speeds up to 80mph but I am running shocks. When my trailer is empty the stock 10 leaf- leaf springs area bit stiff so i run a little less tire pressure. The trailer itself is small unit but I did a tongue extension to extend the wheel base a bit further out. I used Monroe Sensa-Tracs from NAPA as replacements and I have no issues with them.

I do however have a question for you, how is it that you are running 265/75/16s and require a shock thats 8" long? Thats a rather large tire for a shock so small. Is it s custom setup?

 

[Token]

What size tires do you have on your trailer?

Was 32".. Just put 35's on it over the weekend to match the tow pig..

 

[Token]

It's a pretty custom set up for sure.. The trailer started out life as a 4x6 Lowes utlilty trailer which was quickly modded with a 3500lb axle to mount a 6x5 bolt pattern on.. Also set up with a full shackled spring rather than the slip slider thing.. It's a 3500lb spring set as well, but cut back to 3 a leaf from the 5 leaf.. So.. I don't know what the spring rating would be..
And it is SOA already.. There's just not that much room between the bottom of the axle and the bottom of the trailer.. Maybe 5" max.. The 8" distance is putting a pretty good angle on the shocks to get a distance that is something even close to a realistic length expectation.. 8" should be the mid stroke of the shock too.. Compress to 6 and stetch to 10.. Shouldn't ever need 4" of travel, since I don't think the spring will move quite that far..

Total it weighs in at about 1000lbs loaded..

 

[GI_Jeepin"]

Im afraid your gonna have to do some research to get the right size shock absorber. May take a few trips to the auto parts stores but start with small cars

 

[Token]

Yeah.. I've been looking but the shortest shock I've found is about 10" compressed.. Was hoping there might be something shorter out there that some of you fine folks might have stumbled across in some of your builds..

Best option I've been given so far is to lift the trailer, but if I do that, it's not going to fit through my garage door..

Guess I could have some inverted shock towers fabbed up like under a JK and have them angled into the hubs a bit so they wouldn't just be hanging out way below the axle to be grabbed by a passing rock..

 

[Woods]

The shocks that I have for sale are EMPI 9650's. Compress to 9.75". $15 each, plus a little shipping. I had mounted them, but never used them.