Suspension question

[tanker]

I just changed to a larger diameter tire on our travel trailer, and need a little more clearence between the top of the tire and the wheelwell. There are two holes in the spring hanger's. the front spring hanger is in the bottom hole, the rear most hanger is also in the bottom hole., however the center equalizer is in the top hole. Can anyone with suspension knowledge tell me if I can move the equalizer to the bottom hole, and gain more clearence without doing any alignment problems ? I have about 1-1/2" between the tire and the wheelwell top. The rubber snubber on the frame above the axle allows for about 2-1/2" of axle travel. I'm also going to install a "Trailair" Center Point air suspension system, but the manufacture says it will not change ride height. Thanks, Tanker

[chipper]

Yes, moving to the bottom hole will increase your clearance & will not change your alignment. I am not sure how much more clearance you will get.

[tanker]

Thank you, I may give it a try.

[DickWells]

:) Wow 1/2"! How big did you go? I just looked at my Mountaineer suspension. Apparently, I don't have the same kind of center equalizer as yours'. If I had to get clearance, I'd just flip my center equalizer shackles, so that the spring ends, there, would be under, compressing the shackle straps, instead of being suspended above the equalizer, as they are now. My front and rear spring eyes pivot directly on a cross-bolt, through a hole in a "U" bracket, which is welded to the frame. No help there, without cutting off the brackets, and welding on taller ones. Different than your's, is it not?
Now, perhaps the only bit of info that I have which might make you feel better, is this. I raised the ride height of my old Sunline trailer by 3", without changing the ride/handling in any way. That trailer had rubber/torsion suspension, with the axle housings bolted directly to the frame. I simply put in a 2 by 3" heavy wall tubing above the axles, using longer grade 8 bolts, and got my 3" of clearance without any pain. The point is, if you are careful to maintain your axle allignment, front/rear, and use big, high grade fasteners, you won't change the handling, or tire wear, or safety of you trailer.
Good luck.
Dick Wells:)

[tanker]

Well we decided on a "Kelderman" air suspension for our travel trailer. When they do the installation they will put on my new tires and wheels and adjust for proper ride height, not by adding more air, but by installing the new suspension at the proper height for all air pressures. "Kelderman" will do the install at their facility in Oskaloosa IA. I will report on this when it is installed. We had an appointment for 4-30-07, but an illness in my family has delayed the trip for a few weeks.

[a5150nut]

Hey Tanker,

Sorry about the illness in the family.

Will they let you take a few photos while they do the instal? Might mention the FREE advertising it would get them here! :cool:

[StrangeEngine]

Well we decided on a "Kelderman" air suspension for our travel trailer. When they do the installation they will put on my new tires and wheels and adjust for proper ride height, not by adding more air, but by installing the new suspension at the proper height for all air pressures. "Kelderman" will do the install at their facility in Oskaloosa IA. I will report on this when it is installed. We had an appointment for 4-30-07, but an illness in my family has delayed the trip for a few weeks.

I have the Kelderman 2-bag rear suspension my truck. The original install shop (recommended by Kelderman) COMPLETELY botched the install.

I have never seen a company stand behind their product the way Kelderman did. They even went so far as to pay for another company to fix the issues that the first installer caused.

I can not recommend the people at Kelderman highly enough. My only complaint is that the 4-link rear susenspension setup was not available when I upgraded and does not fit short box trucks. :)

Two thumbs up.

- Mark

[tanker]

Hi Mark, Sorry about your problem with the original install. I asked them if any shops offered installation and there comment was yes, but most were 4 X 4 shops, that may not be equipped to do trailer installs. So we opted to let them do the install at the factory. Its a haul from here in Pennsylvania, but my wife has relatives in Illinois, and Minnesota, so we will do visiting and sightseeing along the way.

I will be taking photo's of the install, unless they object. I doubt if they would object to some good advertising.
This may not happen until June as our schedules must align with their's.

[mark45678]

Hey tanker I just did a little work on my Dads Travel trailer , 4 shocks and dexter ez flex equalizers makes the trailer feel like it was even on his truck after the upgrades. His TT is 5800 lbs unloaded and going over bridges and speed bumps would shock the back of the truck as the trailer crossed the bumps. After the upgrade you almost cant feel the trailer going over 3" tall speed bumps or washboard roads. Honestly for the cost of the upgrade (shock kits where under 200 for all 4 and the dexter equalizer was 210 for the heavy dut kit) its well worth doing. I was looking into Trailair products for my 31' holiday rambler before makeing these upgrades for my dad , honestly I cant see spending more money then what I did for my Dad. It works the good ! I am not saying its better then your looking to do but his 2005 F-350 rides like **** to begin with so atleast now the trailer isnt banging the back of the truck around .

EDIT: I just noticed your towing a 32' holiday TT , mine is a 2001 31' cks holiday TT that weights 7580lbs dry and no cargo . I just did a 16" tire upgrade and going to do the dexter ez to mine , cant see spending 1500 ~ 2000 dollars on full air ride if 250.00 dollars cures 90% of the issues. Also GM shocks are crap , if you havent changed your on the truck you really shold be doing that ASAP even if the truck has 10 miles on it....

http://www.dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/18099

Also I did a axel flip on my dads TT for tire clearance, the axal sits on top of the spring and you add a second axel perch to the tio of the axel tube and it lifts the trailer about 5" higher from the body to the top of the tire. its easy to do and it took about 2 hours in the driveway with basic tools . Dexter sells a kit to do the axel flip , they cost around 40.00 per axel.

[Craig M]

Air rides are nice, and raising the trailer 2 or 3 inches is relatively easy on many traielrs. But remember the laws of physics, anytime you raise your vehicle your center of gravity is likewise raised. A 3" lift raises your center of gravity 3 inches. In straight line towing no problem, on curves your maximum speed before tipping is now less.