Quote:
Originally Posted by Arya Ebrahimi
Looking good!
I have concerns about a couple of things though. The first is your shackle setup. Why did you decide not to use any sort of bushing for the shackle mount? I have a feeling this will make a LOT of noise and eventually wear away at itself. Especially in the harsh conditions of Baja. If this was a landscaping trailer to go to Home Depot it might be a different story, although I would still be a bit suspect.
Second is your overload springs. They appear to be upside down. If your leafs go that inverted you have big problems IMO.
Third is your u-bolt plates. Now I realize these won't see the forces that they would on a vehicle(much less articulation on a trailer axle), but I would still brace them so that the u-bolts do not pull them down on the sides. You can do this by simply welding a piece of angle iron across them. If you look under any truck with leaf springs you will notice that the u-bolt plates have bends in them perpendicular to the spring, this is why.
Overall great job though. The frame looks absolutely bomber and I doubt you will have any problems there!  |
thx for the feedback, its exactly what i want.
1. Shakle set-up - i was soo excited to get it put together, i didnt put all the correct pieces on. My plan was to put a sleeve over the bolt which sits inside the shakle mounts freely, or tacked in. Then put the toyota rubber bushings between the hanger and the shakle itself then locked with either a lock nut or lock washer/nut combo.
Any ideas on that? Ways to improve?
2. Overload springs - these are leaf packs out of a tacoma - thats how they come from the factory and i too hope that the leafs never arch that far, hence i might put 1 or 2 more leaves in to compensate for the weight that will be inside it for trips.
3. U-bolt plates - great idea on welding an angle on them to prevent bending - definately gonna do that one - thx.
U-bolts - i need longer ones so i can put a lock washer beneath them and have some room to play. Maybe put some bump stops - dunno yet.