independent trailer suspension
Submitted: Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 13:04
ThreadID:
85916
Views:
4796
Replies:
5
FollowUps:
1
This Thread has been Archived
prawnspatrol
Hey everyone, I have recently built an all alloy camper trailer with independent
suspension. For the trailing arms I've used 30mm OD tube with nissan patrol bushes connecting the arms to the trailer. I am running large 33" tyres to match with the tow car. I am having a problem with the wheel cambering in at the top. Trailer is fine when I have it jacked up but a soon as it touches the ground and the load of the trailer is taken up by the
suspension the taper in towards the trailer .Don't know where the flex is coming from, is it the large tyres, trailings arm bushes, or the alloy trailer itself where the arm mounts are welded. Any suggestion would be much appreciated.
Reply By: Member - Ann D (WA) - Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 13:28
Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 13:28
Try posting this on myswag.org.
Cheers Ann
AnswerID:
452551
Reply By: Crackles - Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 13:57
Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 13:57
Got any piccys? Would help heaps.
What are these bushes used for on a Nissan? Are they rubber?
30mm sounds a bit undersized but depends of course on the design.
The tyres won't be the cause of excess camber.
Cheers Craig.............
AnswerID:
452558
Follow Up By: Road Warrior - Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 13:59
Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 13:59
Yeah it would be good to see some pics. It could be the geometry of the trailing arms.
FollowupID:
725252
Reply By: kiwicol - Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 14:19
Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 14:19
sounds like the stub axle isnt lineing up with the swing arm mounting points.
Col
AnswerID:
452562
Reply By: ob - Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 15:28
Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 at 15:28
How about removing
the springs and maybe the wheels and working the swing arms up and down with no load and see if you have got the geometry right. It may be that the arms are not moving in the correct arc. By doing this with no load you remove the flexing of bushes etc being a factor.
ob
AnswerID:
452570
Reply By: Keith Berg - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 19:59
Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 19:59
The trailing arm bushes on this type of
suspension carry much heavier loads that do the bushes on cart-style leaf springs. This means that the bushes can distort and throw the camber out. The very high loads from this type of setup also expose the bushes to premature wear. Some manufacturers of this type of
suspension use adjustable bushes and others recommend frequent dismantling and inspection.
To
test the theory you could knock up some temporary bushes out of hardwood and see if this fixes the geometry. If it does, you can them maybe talk to Nolathane or someone like that about using a bush made from a harder compound.
If it's not the bushes and the setup is mechanically OK, you might be getting too much flex in the arms. Depending on the load, 30mm OD tube sounds very light to me. Most of the factory ones are heavy walled RHS. You may have to weld some stiffeners onto them. If they are bending enough to affect the camber I wouldn't be travelling too far on them.
AnswerID:
452961