Trailer leaf springs

Hi Geoff,

Try this group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wa_campertrailers
You don't have to be a Sandgroper to join and plenty of experienced members there who should be able to help you out.

:o) Melissa

Petrol 4.5L GU Patrol &
Camprite TL8 offroad camper

Geoff - without knowing the size or weight of the trailer that you are building it is difficult to recommend the springs.
That said - you will find that leaf sprung trailers can be made to ride very well provided you start with LONG leaves. Any spring manufacturer or blacksmith will tell you that short leaves are for carrying load and long leaves are for smooth ride. A classic example of this is with european built trucks with long leaves (benz, MAN, volvo etc) ride corrugation better than many others with shorter leaves.
If you approach any caravan/trailer component supplier you will end up with hard short leaves, and a better approach is to use Landcruiser/Hilux/ Nissan etc - with long leaves. Even if the spring pack is too rigid for your light trailer it is relatively easy to remove some of the bottom shorter leaves to achieve the load/ride compromise. Shackle components for these are also readily available.
Adding a pair of shockies will also help the ride - but be wary of gas shockies, as sometimes they can make it rough again.
I recently removed the ALKO suspension from our aluminium camper trailer as I was unhappy with the ride. I replaced it with Hilux front leaves (1050mm) and shocks - a great improvement!

Tuco in Cairns

when i buildt my camper i went to melbourne trailers and gotall the answers i needed to setup the springs etc
also important is the postion of the axle in relation to the load acounting for the draw bar length but you need to give them a finished weight
have fun cause I did
Tim

For that kind of rig I'd recomend an 11 leaf spring put out by King springs on the Gold Coast. It'll give you a 2 ton capacity which is plenty for a loadedand bouncing camper trailer and these springs are narrower than most and have an awful lot of movement in them whicmakes them soft. Talk to Barry at Trailer world at Springwood, He's No nonsense.
Also after watching my camper jump up and down on rough terrain for the last 8 years and hearing my gear banging around, I'd put a set of Koni shocks on my next one.
Allan