have ya ever seen one of these? I just got her done and I tell you it is an awesome design. It uses the stretching of the cable to absorb shock, the ride is better than any, I have several pics I will be posting I hope you find it interesting
Cable suspension trailer
- Thread starter rctoys
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nice work
interesting. can't say I have seen one of those yet. What do you know about the elasticity of your metal cable (wire rope?)? is there some data out there about its durability under these kinds of stretching stresses?
Is it worth relocating what is now the lower part of the cable to where it may not be hit by obstacles?
interesting. can't say I have seen one of those yet. What do you know about the elasticity of your metal cable (wire rope?)? is there some data out there about its durability under these kinds of stretching stresses?
Is it worth relocating what is now the lower part of the cable to where it may not be hit by obstacles?
- Thread starter
- #6
the cable is 13/64" rated at 5000 pounds breaking, its a pretty specific built trailer for my generator and mig welder. Won't be off road and there is a safety pin if the cable snaps and a safety cable to prevent it from flipping the axle all the way to the front. The front crank allows the rear of the trailer to drop all the way to the ground for easy loading, (drive right up) then there is really not enough leverage to lift it up when loaded so I added a scissor jack under neath to aid in lifting it up the initial 10" or so. Not sure where you would find the stretching specs on the cable, there is about 23 feet of cable + about 8 feet to the boat crank. As I said rides awesome way way better than springs and shocks.
By nature of it's usual applications cable isn't supposed to stretch. It does a little, which is why it's so dangerous when a winch cable snaps, it has a lot of energy stored in it. I'm guessing that is why the cables are so long. With not a lot of stretch per inch you need a lot of inches to get any travel length.
With the really shallow angles (cable vs. load direction) the forces on the cable could be quite high with very little load on the trailer.
With the really shallow angles (cable vs. load direction) the forces on the cable could be quite high with very little load on the trailer.
- Thread starter
- #9
here is the mother load of photos for your entertainment. Let me know your thoughts
http://s1291.beta.photobucket.com/user/rctoysinc/library/
http://s1291.beta.photobucket.com/user/rctoysinc/library/
not knowing anything about this, my gut feeling is that one should be really careful to use metal that is not designed to act as a spring to work as a spring. I believe that real springs have to be carefully heat treated and of specific composition to have a chance to function as a spring for a long time. No doubt, many things are sort of elastic when you pull on them. That doesn't mean they will do it for long or that it's a good idea. Another related gut feeling is that it's likely that one would see this everywhere if it were the best way to go in general.
But eh, visionaries will go beyond the status quo. Good for you!
But eh, visionaries will go beyond the status quo. Good for you!
Do suspension bridges drive over potholes all day long at 60 mph?
Neat design and I like the idea, but I think the cable will not last as long as you intend it to. I would suggest a coil spring mid way on the main cable to take up some of the shock load.
Good for you for thinking outside the box, but I dont think I would have tried that. Maybe a lever off the arm to an airbag or something, but maybe you'll prove us wrong.
- Thread starter
- #13
apprieciate the comments, bridges do deal with 60 mph + winds thats got to be tough on them as well. For my purpose I love it, heck had to do something dofferent, so I did. Ps lived in Calgary 12 years man don't miss the Winter thats for sure, I do miss the Chinooks though.
Suspension bridges don't use cables for springs, they use them for flex. There is a difference.
The design recovery option would be to use something like a one-piece garage door spring between where cables come together and the winch. All of the functions that it currently has would still be there, but with a real spring. IDK though, let it ride as-is and see how long it lasts. Go with something like my spring suggestion only if/when it fails.
The design recovery option would be to use something like a one-piece garage door spring between where cables come together and the winch. All of the functions that it currently has would still be there, but with a real spring. IDK though, let it ride as-is and see how long it lasts. Go with something like my spring suggestion only if/when it fails.
complicated but cool. are the trailing arm strong enough and why not independent suspension. or is it. i love the out side the box thinking a lot of nay sayers around so what if brakes it brakes next time build better.
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- #16
independent sus would have cost another 60 bucks for the pillow bearings and i did not want to deal with sway bars etc. not noticing much or any actually situations where ind sus would make a difference. This is not meant to be an off road trailer and will never see more than 500 pounds on it. And I agree if it breaks make it better. I made it pretty beefy as far as the pulley mounts are concerned as I knew there would be a huge amount of stress there so they are overbuilt in my opinion.put another 50 miles on it today , rides great no odd tire wear cold wheel bearings ( now that I loosened them ) no sagging at all. So far so good
- Thread starter
- #17
I also like all the opinions of others that was the whole purpose of posting it in the fiest place, as for the trailering arms it is 3/8" plate 3 " wide with a 1/2 pipe also welded to it, the direction of the 3/8" steel makes it very strong forward and backwards I suppose a side impact may bend it but at that direction the 1/2 round pipe has a lot of strength, besides a side collision would be bad for most trailers. The cable offers a ride as good as or better than shock absorbers would, it does not bounce what so ever.
