Trailer Suspension

[cochran]

The trailer was in storage all winter and before I got it out from the place where it was stored indoors I read about adding shocks to the unit.  I thought this is something I wanted to do.  So today I go and pick it up.  Figure I better do the bearings before anything.  Get to looking at the suspension and it is not like most trailers.  It does not have leaf springs and does not have the "equalizer" thing that goes in between the two leafs.  Instead, I have two independent axles with torsion spring suspension.  Never saw this set up before and, actually, never paid much attention that I didn't have the "normal" set up.  I have only owned it 2 years.  Probably saw it before when I did the bearings but didn't pay much attention to it because I wasn't really "interested" in the suspension at the time.

Question:  what gives?  Is this just a cheap set up vs. the customary leafs and equalizer set up?  Should I be concerned for any reason?  It pulls fine but does bounce alot ie. the reason I was thinking about shocks.  Really no way to set up shocks on this setup. 

Any comments?/

Thanks  JOHN

[rbell]

I've had several snowmobile trailers with Torsion suspension. They have not been a problem. It's very common on lighter weight trailers. Rubber torsion suspension is starting to show up in larger trailers also. Mor Ryde makes one of them although it's a bit different than yours.

BTW I never replaced a torsion suspension component, but I've replaced the Chinese springs on the trailer I have now.

[shawnc]

They are becoming more common on boat trailers as well.

[cota]

I see Jaco and Lance both are using torsion-bar. Is this a superior suspension?

[RV Roamer]

The rubber torsion suspension from MorRyde is superior to leaf springs, in my opinion. It's a quality product.

Many trailer suspensions are just plain cheap, designed to minimal standards to meet low cost objectives. Trailer manufacturers seem to skimp on suspensions - it doesn't add any bling for the typical customer so they go with the minimum size and type absolutely necessary. Not only are the suspension weight capacities often marginal, the axle itself is of minimal strength, the brakes barely adequate for the weight rating and the tires small. It's a crying shame because the whole thing could be vastly improved for a couple hundred bucks at most.