off road trailer specs
Submitted: Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 at 18:52
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Swaggy1963
Hi all I am currently in the planning stage for a 7x4 off road trailer i have decided to use 1500 kg out back springs by industrial springs in
Adelaide and a 50 mm solid square axle with 2 tonne landcruiser hubs and bearings I was going to use a tregg coupling but after reading many posts around the traps on the subject it seems the main problem people have with them is lining them up when connecting and seeing that i will be doing this by myself I am now leaning towards a hyland coupling as the most common problem people seem to have with the hyland is using the incorrect towball but if you use the correct 3.5 tonne 50 mm hyland towball you wont have any problems and connecting by ones self would be easier but then theres the noise factor
it may
well be worth putting up with the difficulty of trying to align the tregg rather than having to listen to a rattling towball for 8 hours your thoughts would be appreciated.
cheers
Andrew
Reply By: Ross M - Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 at 22:30
Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 at 22:30
If you use Landcruiser springs then you can get replacements more easily than the industrial springs whatever they are. Carrying a spare main leaf you can use in either side is just good insurance. If you can't change it someone else can cos you got it with you. You can't fit something you haven't got.
The LC spring also has military wrap on the second leaf so if main does break no high degree of self steering will happen to the trailer. Far safer than no milwrap which just shoots you off the road.
As reported to someone else re trailers off road, I used LC springs and vw shocks on a 6x4 trailer which people said wouldn't make it up Oodna Track.
With the use of shocks, essential, it has lasted 20 years and rides softly and compliant while carrying the load. Short sharp highly curved springs are the pits in offroad situations.
Most axle breakages, damaged and fatigued trailer frames and smashed goods are attributable to short sharp non compliant springs and too hard a tyre pressure.
Ross M
AnswerID:
475246
Follow Up By: Swaggy1963 - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 00:14
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 00:14
The outback springs by industriall springs have military wrap as they supply the army with springs good enough for the army good enough for me and Jol Fleming rates them very highly on his website they also have a website to buy them online so i dont really think it would matter what type of spring you had if you had one break somewhere very remote and didnt have a spare you would still have to get somewhere to order one unless you had a satellite phone but even then you might be able to order one but then you still have to take delivery of it and if your somewhere remote you wont exactly be on the local couriers route very good point thought the tyre pressure most people dont lower there pressures off road.
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750216
Follow Up By: crd patrol - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 11:39
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 11:39
Swaggy,
I think what they are tyring to say is that with the toyota springs if one does break, there are more of these out there than probably anything else, and if there is a farm/property nearby, they will probably have them laying around and you may be able to buy one off them to get you out of trouble. If you do have a sat phone all you would have to do is contact the local tourist centre,service station etc (wherever that may be) and they may be able to get a number from the nearest
farm to help you out.
Cheers
crd
FollowupID:
750252
Follow Up By: Charlie B2 - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 13:27
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 13:27
Hi all,
Industrial Springs is a highly regarded company here in SA. Fundamentally, while they certainly have "catalogue" lines, you can tell them what you want and they'll build it for you. I wouldn't have thought it would be much of an issue to obtain Toyota-spec springs or spring-sets from them, if that's what you want or need. You might want to tell them which particular Toyota spring you wish to replicate, though - fronts and rears differ, not to mention the differences between the 60's, 75's, Hi-Lux etc!
One issue others have not mentioned (at the time I commenced this follow-up) is to make sure you build your trailer with a strong enough A-frame - I saw one at Swan Reach a while ago which had an A-frame made out of what looked like 50mm X 50mm mild steel angle and which was flexing at least 50mm up and down from its stationary position even in the
parking area.
While I'm reasonably sure that amount of flex would eventually lead to failure, the big problem for that guy was that no-one in the vehicle could see it happening while they were travelling so I suspect he probably didn't even know he had an issue. (And no, I couldn't let him know because I didn't see it until he was past me and heading away at an angle.) I'd hate to see that failure occur out in the J.
Regards
Charlie
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Swaggy1963 - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 14:48
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 14:48
Gday there Charlie yeah i got the drawbar covered its going to be 100 x 50 x 3 rhs the outback springs that industrial springs make have been specially designed for extreme off road poly urethane bushes with greasable pins 9 leaf and to military spec and considering that i wont be doing extreme off road i think they should suffice build it strong to twice the weight capacity you need and there shouldnt be failures.
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750269
Reply By: Ross M - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 16:04
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 16:04
Compliant
suspension is what you need. Yes, the spring has to be strong enough to handle the intended load but 9 leaves sound like it will be far less compliant than the same spring with only 4, 5 or 6 leaves. I know they are graduated in length etc.
Is the spring you intend to use a fully graduated spring or does it have an overload leaf lower in the pack. These are used where a vehicle suddenly has to carry higher than normal load. Your trailer is not like this and requires a fully graduated style to flex to the bump stops with soft progressiveness.
How long is the spring from eye to eye. This is a critical issue as 9 leaves and a relatively short eye to eye measurement will ride far far harder than a 9 leaf set with a longer eye to eye distance.
I have seen a Jayco camper at Kings Canyon who had 9 leaves in a highly curved spring acting on an independent arm setup.
A combination of: possibly too high a tyre pressure and the 9 leaves abrupt type spring caused the axle to fracture and loss of wheel. Big repair bill, loss of 4 days of holiday and an extra 1000km traveled to have it fixed. Just what you want when on holiday.
Your axle strength is less than a LC with 9 leaves.
My 6x4 trailer will carry 1 ton and has 5 leaves. Old modified LC 60 series fronts.
You may need 6 leaves but 9 ???
Just something to think about.
Ross M
AnswerID:
475319
Follow Up By: Ross M - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 16:51
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 16:51
Forgot to mention.
The 2 ton landcruiser hub and bearings are just landcruiser stud pattern hubs on a 50mm square axle machined down to a size equivalent to a falcon inner bearing. The size of the axle for this is same/same, inner and outer. Good size, but don't be confused, it is not landcruiser inners or outers you are actually talking about. Nothing like it.
Many people who sell this stuff call things by generic names and what they say is not always what you are buying. It is usually the recognized trade gear and widely used. For instance, if you went out and bought a spare LC bearing to use, it wouldn't fit the hub or the axle.
Be careful and make sure you know the sizes of everything before the big trip.
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