Author Topic: leaf spring vs slipper spring  (Read 4440 times)

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Offline dsrace

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leaf spring vs slipper spring
« on: January 13, 2021, 07:12:57 AM »
fabr...... you had meantioned some time back, that you didnt care for slipper springs on light and med duty applications. can you elaborate on that?

i ask because i'm getting ready to order a custom trailer with dual 7k axles and debating standard leaf vs slipper. i do not like torsion axles as i have seen there limitations many times.

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Offline DeepBusch69

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2021, 09:59:40 AM »
fabr...... you had meantioned some time back, that you didnt care for slipper springs on light and med duty applications. can you elaborate on that?

i ask because i'm getting ready to order a custom trailer with dual 7k axles and debating standard leaf vs slipper. i do not like torsion axles as i have seen there limitations many times.

Could you expand on the torsion axle issue?  thanks

Offline dsrace

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2021, 12:47:07 PM »
 ;D   where do i start  ;D    so if you look at the construction of them, you'll see how/why they wear quicker. now they do offer a smoother ride and an independant ride for sure. be extremely careful taking thos trailers off pavement. torsion axles do not handle the side loads mounds/bump/holes in fields or back roads trails. once they start wearing they add camber to the wheel and on some trailers there isnt suffient clearence to the inside edg of the wheel well lol ask zoomies about that one lol he blew 2 tires on the way back from waynoka. you can overload them easier than a standard axle. the best system is what moryde are building. for $8k they better be damn good  :m   now i'm not saying there bad just not for myself. the vast majority of my toyhauler travels are on pavement. when i go home to the ranch i have 15 miles of sandy roads then i cut down the field where i park. i have gone down a back road or two from time to time.  just for grinns and giggles........ do a quick search and look at how many horse trailers use torsion axles.   again they are smoother especially with a shock absorber.  then again most everything is smoother with a shock absorber. i state the above based on what i have either experienced or seen/heard from close friends of there experiences. i have a fair number of family that cattle ranch. none of those stock trailers are torsion for a reason.
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Offline fabr

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2021, 08:44:43 PM »
I'll reply tomorrow,Busy now..
"There can be no divided allegiance here.  Any man who says he is an American,
but something else also, isn't an American at all.  We have room for but one
flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is
the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a
loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907

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 " You have all the right in the world to believe any damn thing you'd like, but you don't have the right to demand that I agree with your fantasy"

Offline fabr

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2021, 10:19:36 AM »
Completely agree on the torsion pros and cons. If I had a trailer that would never be off road or continually needing tight/near jack knifing turns I would definitely go torsion again. I still have a 45 footer with triple torsions and they do ride much smoother than springs. TOrsions with triple axles have proven to be quite hard on the center axle when turning tight. Off road or on rough terrain there is no equalization of the load like shackle springs or  slipper suspension offers. Therefore each axle can be easily overloaded on rough terrain or going through intersection dips in the roadway. Bottom line is torsions are best suited for highway transportation and limited offroad/uneven terrain.

Slipper spring suspensions are just noisy. Slippers will require less maintenance and they do avoid the issue of shackle wear. Slippers are in reality heavier duty in that sense.Slippers ,in general allow less articulation between axles compared to shackles though. Just depends what you need. Slippers are not a bad design.I just don't like all the squeaking.Personaly, on a dual axle 7K each setup I'd go with shackle suspension.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2021, 12:03:17 PM by fabr »
"There can be no divided allegiance here.  Any man who says he is an American,
but something else also, isn't an American at all.  We have room for but one
flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is
the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a
loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907

-----------------------------------------------------------
 " You have all the right in the world to believe any damn thing you'd like, but you don't have the right to demand that I agree with your fantasy"

Offline dsrace

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2021, 11:48:17 AM »
Completely agree on the torsion pros and cons. If I had a trailer that would never be off road or continually needing tight/near jack knifing turns I would definitely go torsion again. I still have a 45 footer with triple torsions and they do ride much smoother than springs. TOrsions with triple axles have proven to be quite hard on the center axle when turning tight. Off road or on rough terrain there is no equalization of the load like non slipper suspension offers. Therefore each axle can be easily overloaded on rough terrain or going through intersection dips in the roadway. Bottom line is torsions are best suited for highway transportation and limited offroad/uneven terrain.

Slipper spring suspensions are just noisy. Slippers will require less maintenance and they do avoid the issue of shackle wear. Slippers are in reality heavier duty in that sense.Slippers ,in general allow less articulation between axles compared to shackles though. Just depends what you need. Slippers are not a bad design.I just don't like all the squeaking.Personaly, on a dual axle 7K each setup I'd go with shackle suspension.


where i can only imagine the extreme loads of a triple axle i did not know the center axle take the brunt of it. good to know and i wouldn't go torsion anyway.  100% correct on not equalizing the load.....i failed to meantion that above.

so slipper springs were offered as an option and that's why i asked. i will go with standard leaf springs on 7k axles.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2021, 11:51:46 AM by dsrace »
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Offline dsrace

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2021, 12:47:45 PM »
fabr, on the last trip you asked what i hated about the overnighter..........the cad print above answers that question.  ;D
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Offline DeepBusch69

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2021, 01:02:52 PM »
Well the boat trailer didn't last long.   5:  Thanks for answers about torsions.  Mine rides good, never sees any off road and is only loaded to 6k but is rated for 10k.   :nw

Offline fabr

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2021, 05:13:18 PM »
fabr, on the last trip you asked what i hated about the overnighter..........the cad print above answers that question.  ;D
I guess I'm missing something. WHere does the car go? On the roof?
"There can be no divided allegiance here.  Any man who says he is an American,
but something else also, isn't an American at all.  We have room for but one
flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is
the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a
loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907

-----------------------------------------------------------
 " You have all the right in the world to believe any damn thing you'd like, but you don't have the right to demand that I agree with your fantasy"

Offline fabr

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2021, 05:17:10 PM »
Well the boat trailer didn't last long.   5:  Thanks for answers about torsions.  Mine rides good, never sees any off road and is only loaded to 6k but is rated for 10k.   :nw
Love how the 45 footer rides for sure. I can leave stuff on the counters and it never falls off.Somewhere around 10 years and you need to start considering the condition of the rubber in the axles if they have been ran near capacity usually..Torsions,in the right application are very nice. they don't tolerate overloading well though.
"There can be no divided allegiance here.  Any man who says he is an American,
but something else also, isn't an American at all.  We have room for but one
flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is
the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a
loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907

-----------------------------------------------------------
 " You have all the right in the world to believe any damn thing you'd like, but you don't have the right to demand that I agree with your fantasy"

Offline fabr

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #10 on: January 15, 2021, 05:33:38 PM »
Another thought on torsions is the clocking position of the torque arm has a huge effect on the ride "softness". The closer to parallel with the ground,the smoother the ride. The further the arm clocking position begins to angle down or up the harsher the ride becomes.

Torsions are available in about 8 different clocking positions.
"There can be no divided allegiance here.  Any man who says he is an American,
but something else also, isn't an American at all.  We have room for but one
flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is
the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a
loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907

-----------------------------------------------------------
 " You have all the right in the world to believe any damn thing you'd like, but you don't have the right to demand that I agree with your fantasy"

Offline dsrace

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2021, 05:14:03 AM »
fabr, on the last trip you asked what i hated about the overnighter..........the cad print above answers that question.  ;D
I guess I'm missing something. WHere does the car go? On the roof?

inside through the rear ramp gate lol  that's what the 165" is for. found a company that specializes in custom toyhauler floor plans. casey has drawn and redrawn 6 cad prints for myself to get the floor plan exactly how we want it. he said we do custom and i said..... really, lets find out lol  the cad print above will be 29'6" over all length and on the bumper. 26' box with a bumped out nose to scoot the bed forward to gain 16" on the floor. a 36" flip up counter top on the L shaped kitchen counter top. had to do that as my wife wants her kitchen back! was informed of that after the first trip! there base floor plan weighs in at 6700 lbs so a guesstimate with the side patio is 7k lbs. not bad considering 8' side wall. with the 8' side walls he gave me an 8' tall ramp door on the rear for a lighter loading angle. he also let me choose two 7k axle ( larger break shoe model as well) with 16" rims as well. dual ac units and 50 amp service. decided on the 12v dometic fridge and i got the solar prep to support it on longer trips. a number of other extra's as well like 1000lumen lights on all 4 sides, power roof vents with rain sensors, flip down ceiling mount tv etc etc  i might be the only one that asked for a smaller tv and a shorter manual awning  ;D  lol  i just don't see a 21' awning as having a long life and the current power awning was a bad experiance imo! btw power awning fuse is labeled radio in the breaker panel. that's why couldn't find it on the last trip! what's really funny is the fact the units don't come with radio's!  dune sport out of mesa arizona is the name of the company. tried to give stw trailer a shot but he didnt respond to my messages. the fool has to know i can see that he viewed the message and now he purposely ignored them lol
« Last Edit: January 16, 2021, 05:42:27 AM by dsrace »
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Offline dsrace

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2021, 05:18:33 AM »
Well the boat trailer didn't last long.   5:  Thanks for answers about torsions.  Mine rides good, never sees any off road and is only loaded to 6k but is rated for 10k.   :nw

there are a few reasons it didn't last long. the one reason i wanted it and still really like it is for how easy it tows! with that being said i was VETOED  rofl my daughter, son in law along with my grandson would like to attend a trip or two so we need room for them to stay with us. i don't want my grandson or daughter staying the roach motel in town. maybe it's gotten better/cleaner so who knows.

i have no doubts your torsion axle trailer rides quite well. torsion axles are cheaper, easier for the manufacturers to install and manipulate ground clearance with. if yours doesn't have shock absorbers then i would add them and it's pretty easy to do with torsions.
Don't never argue with an Idiot!
Because he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience

Offline dsrace

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2021, 05:22:42 AM »
i had thought about something like the pic.  i could enclose the rear on site and still get less wind drag in tow.  out of 3 companies that offer them, A.. they do not, will not, offer smooth sides, only riveted or screwed, for that reason i am out. B.. they want $25k for that trailer with only a small bathroom and ac unit on the roof!

« Last Edit: January 16, 2021, 05:24:27 AM by dsrace »
Don't never argue with an Idiot!
Because he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience

Offline dsrace

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Re: leaf spring vs slipper spring
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2021, 05:37:25 AM »
when he let me add the side patio for $3300 we were sold! that's the thing we love about the overnighter. genesis's customer service .... i hate!

this is on a fifthwheel and i ordered a bumper hitch model for the additional cargo space. also went with the reversable couch , no bed. the couch flips into a queen bed but seats 4 as a couch and will face the tv that flips down off the ceiling.

the reason i asked about slipper springs is they can offer those. i declined as i didn't know much and sounds like for the best on this lighter weight application.  add the morryde armor rubber equalizer instead to dappen. https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Leaf-Spring-Suspension/Lippert-Components/LC696740.html?feed=npn&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhv7ZhMCg7gIVvPbjBx2S7gV5EAQYBCABEgIrZfD_BwE

« Last Edit: January 16, 2021, 05:56:31 AM by dsrace »
Don't never argue with an Idiot!
Because he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience

 

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