I personally owned an Argosy 24' travel trailer that had shocks and
also torsion bar suspension, pulled it for 22 years.

Joe

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 22:29:10 -0500, Bret Chase >
wrote:

>On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:16:16 +1300, "rnf2" >
>wrote:
>
>>:|
>>:|"Bret Chase" > wrote in message
>>:|news >>:|> On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 14:17:22 +1300, "rnf2" >
>>:|> wrote:
>>:|>
>>:|> >:|
>>:|> >:|"David Thomas" > wrote in message
>>:|> e.com...
>>:|> >:|> I'm considering adding rear air springs to my '99 Toyota 4Runner to
>>:|> >:|> level the 4x4 when towing our 2003 Coleman Santa Fe pop-up camper.
>>:|I'm
>>:|> >:|> mainly concerned about the coil springs rubbing holes in the air bags
>>:|> >:|> over time. This is my wife's kid taxi so no plans for mudding or any
>>:|> >:|> rough off-road (although we do live down a 1/4 mile gravel drive).
>>:|> >:|>
>>:|> >:|> I'd like to hear from other's experiences with these air springs.
>>:|What
>>:|> >:|> brand they used, how long the bags last, that sort of thing.
>>:|> >:|>
>>:|> >:|> Thanks!
>>:|> >:|>
>>:|> >:|> David
>>:|> >:|
>>:|> >:|Why do you need to level it? A towed item such as a caravan or trailer
>>:|> >:|should be balanced to have about 20-50Kg on the towbar. IOW you should
>>:|be
>>:|> >:|able to lift it comfortablly without straining, and it should
>>:|definately
>>:|> >:|notdepress the springs overmuch.
>>:|> >:|
>>:|> >:|You should be able to pack the camper proper, I've been able to lift
>>:|with
>>:|> >:|one hand the drawbar of trailers loaded with over 2 tons.
>>:|> >:|
>>:|> >:|rhys
>>:|> >:|
>>:|>
>>:|>
>>:|> I hate to disagree with you here, but a trailer *should* have 10% of
>>:|> the weight on the tongue (ball hitch) to maintain good stability and
>>:|> tracking. a trailer with 2 tons on it should have 400lbs on the
>>:|> tongue. pintle hitchs and 5thwheel/goosenecks can have significantly
>>:|> more weight on their tongues.
>>:|>
>>:|> -Bret
>>:|
>>:|Went and had a look at the LSTA site.
>>:|
>>:|"The load supported by the tow coupling should be about 10 percent of the
>>:|trailer gross weight (30 - 40kg for the average household trailer). The
>>:|trailer draw bar should be level or slightly nose down."
>>:|
>>:|I've never had a problem however towing the trailer over hills, tight
>>:|curves, gravel roads and hairpin bends. and it stays square behind the tow
>>:|vehicle without sway.
>>:|
>>:|It helps that the trailer has springs made for the weight and has shocls or
>>:|dampers. Overly light springs or an undampened trailer would tend to sway a
>>:|lot more.
>>:|
>>:|rhys
>>:|
>
>I personnally have never seen a trailer with shocks on them. 30-40Kg
>is fine for a trailer weighing in at 300-400kg (i.e. the average
>household tailer). tongue weight gets real important when you start
>talking about short trailers with 4000kg on them (a small skid steer
>loader for example). the local rental place LOVES to load them right
>up on the tongue of their trailer.... probably 40-50% trailer weight
>on the tongue... the trailer tows like crap... when I load the trailer
>with the loader more on the wheels it tows soooooooo much better.
>
>-Bret