Adding shocks to vintage trailers - Shasta Airflyte

This was my thread about the same topic. I always attributed the bouncy pulling sensation to my weak truck springs, but others here have recommended replacing or rearching my springs. How much does your trailer rock when pushed from the side? If you have access to little kids, can you play "earthquake" with them inside?

vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.net/thread/10070/

Tires make a huge difference both ply rating/load plus air pressure. Adding shocks can be done but there are many things that must be considered when doing this. Mounting angle, travel both up and down, bore diameter and valving. the wrong shock setup can be much worse than no shocks. Also if you are adding shocks make certain the mounts are capable of handling the stress.

Once I removed all the shocks from my car it was like floatng in a boat, it was up and down, rocked left and right all over the place. It gave me the feeling of riding on a trampoline at 65 mph. Go around a curve the whole car leans to one side like it is about to drag the fenders on the highway and gave me the feeling I was going to fall out of the window while going around a curve.

Our vintage camper rides like a boat too and it has nothing to do with weak springs. I want to put shocks on our trailer but the problem is which shocks to buy? Auto Parts stores refuse to let me open boxes 1 by 1 to find the shocks I need.

I need to make a bracket for the axle and the frame for the shock mounts. Shock needs to extend about 1/2 way when mounted to the brackets.

I think my best idea is to make a trip to Pull A Part auto salvage find a vehicle with the shocks I need then go buy 2 new shocks.

Any auto parts store worth visiting should have a catalog that shows shock specs. Including open and closed length, bore diameter, mounting type, and so on. This info is not on there computers. Also I can understand why they don't want you opening all there boxes as that causes lost and mixed up parts. You will want a small bore and a regular duty shock, but even with this info it is still a crap shoot because mounting position/ angle will effect how they work.

Weight is important. And placement is even more important. In lightweight trailers under 2000 pounds I have noticed that the shock that is on stock trailers is only on one side and angled at about 30 degrees. An old guy who I talked to who used to work for Zieman who made a lot of the trailer chassis' used on trailers like Kenskill told me that most of the bouncing came from using improper tires or tires that are not properly inflated. The one shock used on the axle was there for forward and backward movement caused by the movement of the shackle. Another obvious cause can be whether or not your tires are balanced. You should check the balance of your tires if you think they are bouncing or if only one side is bouncing. This is a great reason to use a proper fit because you are going to have to remove them once in a while to do so. Too wide of a tire will be hard to change in the small space that was built for a skinnier tire. Usually biased. And remember they didn't have radial tires back then.

I wouldn't add or change anything on a stock factory built trailer chassis. They knew what they were doing and a lot of these trailers made it all these years. And NEVER EVER flip a drop axle. Probably the most dangerous thing you can do to your trailer. The last thing we should think about is speed. Remember that when the 50s trailers were designed the average maximum speed was about 50mph. Today the average speed that I experience by drivers around me is between 80 and 80. And many is the time that I witness people towing all kinds of things, boats, travel trailers, fifth wheels and big rigs going 80mph and faster. I just shake my head and wonder where the brains have gone.

Bill have you ever heard this type of explanation?

Here's how much mine rocks when pushed hard on the side. The tires move a bit but most of it is the springs.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=YTrnHTT164M&feature=youtu.be