Tandem or Single axle Caravan suspension

Gday Bob,

I am no expert but I for one would never buy a caravan without independent suspension. The beam suspension gives a much harsher ride and even though you are not in the van when it is being towed, the long term effect is for much more damage to the van.

The question of single or duel axle is one that starts with the question of weight. Again from a long term point of view, a heavy van, perhaps over 1500kg, will always suffer from a single axle. You also have things such as tyres and bearings to consider. The two tyres on the road on any one side will also act as a load sharing device simply because if one tyre drops into a hole, the other will take some of the extra load of the van, rather than have all of the weight of the van drop with the single tyre that is now in the hole.

One disadvantage of duel axle of course is that they make the van much less maneuverable, particularly off road. It is much harder to get a duel axle van to turn, particularly when trying to reverse, than a single axle.

Hope this is of some help.

This was discussed at length on the Jayco Forum a while back.

Everyone who had owned both (and these are the only ones to take notice of) supported tandems as much more stable to tow.

We have a friend with a single axel van and on rough roads it bounces all over the place, where as ours (being dual/independent suspension) doesn't move. Totally agree with the above comments.

Baz & Pud

Bob
Read this old post from last year about the benefits of 2 axles

ThreadID: 32440
Posted: 2 Apr 06 07:32


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I've had the pleasure to tow both types of van. A single axle Golf with independent suspension, and a Viscount with dual beam axles.

The golf towed beautifully and although I think it was at it's limit as far as weight was concerned I felt totally confident towing it no matter what the road surface was like.

I now tow the Viscount dual axle and find it is an excellent vehicle to tow. There is a bit more jiggling in the van as we notice more movement in the packed goods.

All up I think it is a slightly better vehicle to tow than the Golf as there is less for and aft pitching with the dual axle than with a single. Other than that either one would suit me fine.

Bob the number of axles is mostly just a requirement to carry the weight of the van, set up correctly both handle fine. Solid or independent is a price versus ride issue, your choice dependant on the type of roads you expect to travel on. No point spending thousands of dollars on twin axle independent if you're only driving down the highway with a 1400kg Van.
Some single axle vans do tend to sway and bounce slightly more but can be minimised with level riders. They are far more manoeuvrable particularly when pushing into a site or just to pull the tow hitch across to hook up to the car.
Tandem axles are of course dearer, heavier and have twice as many tyres, brakes & bearings to maintain.
If you are doing any minor road towing then independent suspension will be worth the money spent both minimising axle hop and giving the van a smoother ride which in turn will lessen damage to the Van & contents.
Cheers Craig............

My Rooster insisted on this one.

Our previous van was a small single axled wind-up.

Advantage - could spin it round by hand if stuck in a tight spot.

Disadvantages; stuff was tossed from one side of the cupboards to the other (we travel off the bitumen frequently), damage to fittings, milk bottles and cartons leaking from the bottom from the bouncing. I wouldn't even try and take eggs! His reasoning had more to do with safety in case of a blowout or losing a wheel, and general stability of the unit. There is also less thrust up and down on your tow hitch with the van stable on dual axles.

We now have a tandem axled caravan, and everything rides smooth. I am well and truly convinced.

Bob

I'm interested in this as the general consensus here is that the tandem gives a better ride. However a few years ago i had boat that was on a tandem trailer and the trailer was rusted and needed replacing. I replaced it with a single axlle trailer.

The ride improved significantly with the single axle. It was like the trailer was two tightly sprung with doubles and each axle was fighting the other. I never towed it off road so i cant compare off road performance.

Tandems although harder to swing around by hand are also easier to back for the same reason.

Alan

Hello Bob,
Check out Threads 49225 and 49945. These will provide you with alot of important information. I 'balanced' the views expressed and decided on a single on grounds of lack of towing experience, cost, ease of parking, lighter weight and towing costs. You must get proper weight distribution hitch and set this up correctly. So far I feel that I may have made the right choice. There are some great advice out there and it pays to be well informed.

regards
shameem