Opinions on trailer

[jfrye2007]

Hey everyone. I bought my first crawler 4-5 months ago. I got the Ascender Suburban and love it. I am now starting my first custom crawler build. It will be a slow drawn out process, but I will get it done.

With that said, I am also wanting to make a gooseneck trailer to go with the truck. It will be a dual axle dual wheel trailer. This is where my questions start. What is the best options for suspension for the trailer? I would like the suspension to have some flex to it. We often run in creeks or trails with larger rocks, so I dont want the trailer tipping over bc the suspension is solid.

Not to sound stupid here, but is a smaller 4-link suspension with shocks possible on a trailer? Would you attempt that, or run leaf springs back there?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated.

EDIT : edited title

[JacktheRipper]

look here see if this will help with ideas

https://www.hobbytown.com/cross-rc-t...100001/p789333

pep

[vf750rider]

hobbyjumper I'd love to see an upside down pic of your trailer!

[jfrye2007]

Would a cantilever setup work on a trailer? Since I really dont want to run leaf springs unless I have no other choice, I am looking at different options. I have found 50mm shocks for 1/14 scale big rigs, but Im not sure if they would be short enough to fit between the axle and trailer frame. So I was curious if anyone thought a cantilever would work on a trailer.

I have been told that the leaf springs dont hold up to the weight as well as the shocks from a 4 link would. Thats why I am trying to avoid the leaf springs. But if anyone has some good solid input on leaf springs, and how much weight that has been used on them/for how long, that would be great. Im also thinking about cantilever on the truck, again, just because of what Ive heard about leaf springs.

[vf750rider]

Originally Posted by hobbyjumper

Does this help?

That's PERFECT!!!

[vf750rider]

Nice vid hobbyjumper!

I'm not as talented at the scratch building as many are. I don't know a thing about metal-working - I'd like to get some supplies and try some brazing. I looked at styrene, very expensive unless you happen to have a local 4x8ft sheet supplier. I have a source for ABS that I can get 1/8in thick 4x8ft sheets, and I have a little experience bending it with heat (I use an old toaster oven). I'd like to try my hand at a scale camping trailer.

[jfrye2007]

My biggest thing is wanting the suspension to have more flex so its less likely to tip over. I might not have mentioned it, but this trailer will have around 3 or more inches of ground clearance, so it will be top heavy, and even worse with 1 or 2 more rigs on the trailer. Thats my main reason for not really wanting a solid suspension


EDIT : Its also a scale 30 foot gooseneck trailer, that will have tandem axle duals on it. So I do like the setup on your trailer hobbyjumper, but I dont know how well a suspension setup like yours would work with another axle in front of it.

[vf750rider]

jfrye2007 - Firstly, sorry hobbyjumper and I kind of highjacked your thread. Now back to YOUR topic, and my limited experiences with suspensions ...

I had issues with leaf springs because I couldn't find the right size. The 1:10 scale sets were too long for smaller than 4.25+ inch tires. In my mind a trailer's tire would be smaller than the truck's tire - my thinking being that my truck has "38's" or "44's" (ie. BIG crawler lugs) on it. I found plenty of inexpensive plastic 1.9in wheels that came with foams and 2.75in tires, and they were a great size for the boat trailers I built. But the leaf spring sets I found were all way too long for those 2.75in tires (spreads tires too far apart on dual axles to look right), or way too small/short. I tried shortening the longer ones by just rolling the circular ends more with needle nose pliers, but I found that spring steel doesn't bend too well (duh, that's why it "springs") and they just snapped. I also tried cutting one end off and allowing it to move laterally as the leaf 'sprung'. But needed to move the holes back to center after shortening (holes to attach the axles), and I found the spring steel impossible to drill.

My next attempt was to make my own, using metal strapping usually found holding heavy objects on pallets. I found I could bend this easier, and could trim to size with tin snips and some grunting - but that metal didn't have as much "spring" as was needed for suspension. In the end, I gave up on a working scale leaf spring set up for now.

But I have seen where someone used 1 axle with dual wheels. And that 'looked good' going over bumps and such, even though it wasn't really a "suspension" but just 1st wheel rolling up and over the bump then falling down as 2nd wheel started rolling up and over. I've also seen some pretty awesome scale gooseneck trailers on Youtube that were dual wheel (I think I searched things like "RC trailers" and "scale RC trailers"). Maybe spend some search time there - might be able to contact some of those builders through YT.

Please update us on what you come up with - I love to see and learn from others builds!

[jfrye2007]

Thanks for the input. Since the truck and trailer will have matching wheels, the tires will match also, and come in around 4.75 inches tall and 1.4 inches wide. I will check youtube, but most of the stuff I have seen is just small little tandem axle single wheel trailers, more equivalent to a 18 foot car trailer. I will see if I can find any other videos also. Thanks for the response, and no problem with the hijacking of the thread. lol

[vf750rider]

Originally Posted by hobbyjumper

I think you mean "tandem" not dual.

Yes! Tandem! There was a word I couldn't quite spit out - that was it!

[vf750rider]

Here's pic of the boat trailer with the 1.9in plastic wheels and 2.75in tires. As mentioned, worked great on-road and looked pretty scale.




But using these same size tires for a small trailer that was meant to do some off-roading, I quickly found those tires to be way too small to drag this little guy off-road. The 'shortness' of 2.75in meant the trailer front was plowing up leaves and sticks that the truck cleared without thought. I'll just have to limit this little trailer to hauling my DIY trash to the dump and start again!



But you mentioned having matching truck and trailer tires at +/- 4.75in. The leafs I tried that would be the right size for that large a tire had multiple leafs for some adjustment and all hangers and hardware included:

https://ebay.us/OmFdiN

[JacktheRipper]

Good realistic action, nice .

pep