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Thread: Soft ride trailer
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28th Nov 2015, 11:46 AM #31
Ive considered all sorts of trailer suspenion options in the past ..... the problem with many of the options is the height required to house the suspension.
If you are considering trailing links and either a panhard rod or whats link .... you must pay attaention to the geometry and the lemgth of the links and rods.
pretty much the longer the trailing links and lateral rods the less errors in the suspension.
Idealy all the links and rods in a suspension should spend as much time as close to paralell to the ground as possible.
Failure to consider the two above points is what causes most of the problems with the various exotic trailer suspension options.
In most effective motor vehicle panhard rod installations the panhard rod is entirely horisontal and paralell to the ground when the suspension is at normal rest and moves above and below this position .... if the panhard rod is 4 feet long that is a long arc and there is very little leteral movement to worry about ..... the suspension will be more lateraly stable than most leaf spring suspensions without lateral support.
There are a number of laterally supported trailing link suspensions out there on vehicles ..... the Mazda Capella had an excelent 5 link rear suspenion ...... a couple of the later model Ford Falcons had a Watts link rear suspension.
There would be plenty of Falcon wrecks out there that the suspension could be lifted from.
If ya wanted to go that way, there are a lot of off the shelf 5 link racing suspension out there. Most speedway sprint cars ans some off road racing buggies run a 5 link or whats link rear.
For a trailer only 3 links are needed because there is no driving torque to consider ...... the only thing that makes it a little hard is getting the axle attachment that provides sufficient articulation in the joint.
If ya looking for something a little better than a stock trailer shop suspension, it realy is worth looking under the back of as many road vehicles as you can.
Remember there are quite a few front wheel drive commercial vehicles out there .... some of those quite large euro vans are front wheel drive and they have suspensions designed for minimum intrusion into the load space ...... I recon some of them would make ideal donours.
cheersAny thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
Most powertools have sharp teeth.
People are made of meat.
Abrasives can be just as dangerous as a blade.....and 10 times more painfull.
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28th Nov 2015, 12:01 PM #32Novice
- Join Date
- Oct 2015
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- Wimmera
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I like your thinking
Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art
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29th Nov 2015, 04:01 PM #33
If salvaging the suspension from a Falcon you will probably need to look at sedans. I have yet to see a wagon with anything other than leaf spring. Maybe the latest models? I have a 2002 AU wagon.
Dean
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29th Nov 2015, 04:39 PM #34
yeh i think only the sedans had the Watts link ........ unless it was a light trailer the whole suspension from a falcon may be a bit light ...... but there is a complete watts link assembly there and bushes and stuff available as spare parts.
cheersAny thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
Most powertools have sharp teeth.
People are made of meat.
Abrasives can be just as dangerous as a blade.....and 10 times more painfull.
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