Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm not a car geek but how can Heikki's shock work with the angle of the shock pointed away from the wheel? Shouldn't the shock be parallel to the wheel?

Chaotica wrote:I'm not a car geek but how can Heikki's shock work with the angle of the shock pointed away from the wheel? Shouldn't the shock be parallel to the wheel?

The shock will work okay in this configuration because they are designed to minimise rebound after hitting a bump. Shockers will also be okay leaning forward or back from the centre line of the axle for the same reason.
Cheers
Paul

The best position for a shock is in the direction of the wheel travel, but most of the time the shock must be at an angle because of the working length and the wheel travel. On a trailer there usualy isn't the room to put the shock straight up. The more of an angle that the shock is on the less effective it will be because it will compress/extend less than the wheel will travel. This will make it possable to use a shock that, lets say, has 3" of travel and depending on its angle the wheel could still have 4", 5" or even 6" of travel. The more compressed the suspension gets the more of an angle the shock gets, requireing it to compress less.

The shocks here are also placed in either position.. There are hundreds of the utility trailers here that have been done the same way..

It works - trust me. This company who makes trailers here use the same method and they have been making these for ages..

http://www.konekesko.com/index.cfm?ChangeSetNow=56

Heikki

PaulC wrote:

Chaotica wrote:I'm not a car geek but how can Heikki's shock work with the angle of the shock pointed away from the wheel? Shouldn't the shock be parallel to the wheel?

The shock will work okay in this configuration because they are designed to minimise rebound after hitting a bump. Shockers will also be okay leaning forward or back from the centre line of the axle for the same reason.
Cheers
Paul

Yup I agree - Thank You Paul..God its great to be different..
Also the leaf spring is not bolted on both ends the front is but the back is sort of inside a welded U angle.. Dont know if that is any different than that of the USA or elsewhere but here its used 99 percent of the time.

Take a look at the 2nd photo of mine..

Heikki

Heikki

On my R/C cars, you can tune the suspension by changing the shock angle. There are a series of holes that allow you to mount the top eye in different locations. I'm just a backyard basher so I never adjust them.

Its just a matter of liking I guess.. and opinion.. but it does work nicely..

Here is a website of one of the biggest utility trailer makers here in Finland.

They make little ones for everyday hauling to huge boat trailers as well.

http://www.farmi.fi/

Here is a spec from the same company..



Take a look at the bottom drawing...thats all I could find...

Heikki

PaulC wrote:

Chaotica wrote: Shockers will also be okay leaning forward or back from the centre line of the axle for the same reason.
Cheers
Paul

That's the way I am used to seeing them. Like I said, I'm not a car geek by any stretch.

Chaotica wrote:

PaulC wrote:

Chaotica wrote: Shockers will also be okay leaning forward or back from the centre line of the axle for the same reason.
Cheers
Paul

That's the way I am used to seeing them. Like I said, I'm not a car geek by any stretch.

If youve watched RV Crazy - Then you,ll know us Finns come up with some strange but innovative ideas... For the next tear Im going to this http://www.farmi.fi/ place and just pick up an entire frame with wheels already on...save time... They have 100,s of different size trailer frames sitting in the warehouse.. almost any width or length you desire...all galvanized..

Classic Finn

Classic Finn wrote: For the next tear Im going to this http://www.farmi.fi/ place and just pick up an entire frame with wheels already on...save time... They have 100,s of different size trailer frames sitting in the warehouse.. almost any width or length you desire...all galvanized..

Classic Finn

Or get one of these, it's ready for sleeping.

http://www.farmi.fi/farmi_pro_757L_757T_10J_13J.htm

this looks informative from Monroe:

I put the 555002 shocks on mine back in October before the eggs would scrambled in the ice chest after shocks eureka! no broken eggs!


jplock

For what it's worth, it would be pretty cool if those pictures, part numbers, and text were put into a PDF as a "How-To" article.

--mikew

I'm going to install shocks on my HF trailer which has a [ frame (flat side out). Seems like it will be easy to fab up a lower and upper mount:

upper: choose location for mount, drill hole in rail, install long SAE grade bolt, bushing, washers, nut.


lower: I'm leaving the axle below the springs, so a pair of u bolts and a mounting plate (reverse config of the existing axle mount) should work for the lower mount.


I'll see if I can get this done in the next couple of days and post photos if it looks worthwhile.

Chaotica wrote:I'm not a car geek but how can Heikki's shock work with the angle of the shock pointed away from the wheel? Shouldn't the shock be parallel to the wheel?

They aren't parallel to the wheels on most cars and trucks

Ideally, I think they should be perpendicular to the anticipated movement of the suspension, which is usually slightly inboard, assuming the tires are acting independantly, which they would be doing unless you run over something like a speedbump which deflects both wheels upwards by the same amount at the same time

On some cars and trucks, the top end of the shocks are inboard by a bunch from the lower ends

Don