Leaf springs for large trailer

[The Nomad]

OK, the DIY bit is mend the knackered trailer, and seeing as you guys (gals) seem to have a wide level of worldly experience ...

I need to source a new set of leaf springs but have no idea from whence the originals came :-(

They are not your average trailer springs!

Size is :42" eye to eye with a depth of 7" and a width of 1 3/4" with 6 leaves. The mounts are 1/2" one end and 3/4" the other.

Any idea what they might have come off?

So I can go down the scrappy ^h^h^h^h^h^h^h recycling yard and get a replacement set.

N

[Jules]

Hmm, sounds more car-sized; I just checked our old 1/2-ton truck and those are 52" x 2", so a bit larger than what you have.

Lots of old 80s stuff had cart springs on the back, though...

I suspect if you can get something around that length and with one mounting that fits, you can always make up a couple of link plates for the other end.

[The Nomad]

Yeah one end is mounted with a 'swing' plate so we're not into precision engineering here (Thank goodness!). Was hoping I'd not have to troll round the 'yards with a tape measure but ...

N

[Harry Bloomfield]

The Nomad wrote on 10/09/2009 :

I would not expect to find many cart type springs in the scrappies these days, apart from on old vans. There are spring repairers around where you can walk in with your old spring and walk out with new ones, or if they don't have them in stock, they can make them to your sample.

[Jules]

How big's the trailer? If it's not that large, maybe caravan springs might work - I suspect they're just cheapy ol' leaf springs, and the weight of caravan chassis / body / interior would maybe weigh about as much as whatever load you could expect to fit in a small trailer.

I'm not sure if you can put in shorter springs than the distance between the mount points, though - the link plates must pivot outwards as the spring compresses, so having them 'within' the mount points at the bottom would make interesting things happen under heavy load!

You could just weld everything up, no springs at all, if it's a big trailer or has large wheels (which you can run slightly under pressure). I see lots of twin-axle trailers around here like that, and it doesn't seem to present any major issues.

cheers

Jules

[Another Dave]

Most (all?) the caravans I've seen have torsion bar springs. Motor homes are a different matter as they're based on vans/light trucks.

[The Nomad]

About 20' long, double axle job, and it has had more than it should have had on it before - don't ask ...

Replacing with torsion is an option but there will be issues of height (downwards IYSWIM) of the axle.

Looks like a scour of the yards is in the offing

Many thanks for the input, somewhat confirms I'm not missing the obvious

N

[Roger Mills]

What sort of axle has the trailer got? Could the axle and suspension have come off an old LandRover?

Any chance of a photo?

[The Nomad]

Now there is a possibility and I'll be able to measure one this week- end! The axle has been cut and 'extended' with a metal tube, I'll need to replace part as it has rusted through (thought the wheel looked at an odd angle!). However I expect it is more likely a transit or escort van, though escort may well be too light for the size of spring. It only has

12" wheels on it, but that means little.

Thanks again, I'll see what I can do re: a photo in the day light hours

N

[Harry Bloomfield]

Jules has brought this to us :

They don't use leaf spring anymore - some are rubber, some coil springs.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I can tell you thasts bigger than a midgets springs, sounds about like a triumph spitfire/herald transverse johny.. is it that sort of era?

I think someone still sells NEW springs for Spitfires.

Mihht be eatrly transit..

[The Natural Philosopher]

that's pretty possible. Its about the right size, but its too dark to go down the garden and measure.

Ther are landrover spares sites online..

[Tim Lamb]

In message , The Natural Philosopher writes

I have a new pair of Toyota Hilux front springs unlikely to ever get fitted.

Purchased from something like the *British Spring Company*.

regards

[The Nomad]

I had wondered about a tranny (Ford that is ;-)) and can measure a Landi this week end as I'll be seeing a mate who drives one

Thanks that has given me a few pointers, where I had none!

N

[Chris J Dixon]

And how much better the old vans used to ride. The modern torsion suspension has hardly any movement, the tyres have to do most of the work.

Old vans had decent clearance between the tyre and bodywork, modern ones are so close that I fear a blowout, which usually shreds the tyre, would do a lot of damage. Guess where the water pipes and cables run. That's right, just the other side of the thin plastic wheel arch.

Chris

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember The Nomad saying something like:

Transit rear springs will probably do, but you'd have to move the mounting points.

[Jules]

One of the in-laws has a motorhome like that; one of the rear tyres had let go at speed - it demolished part of the body's outer skin, but inside it was like someone had let a bomb off. Pipes, wiring, bits of metal, bits of cupboard etc. everywhere.

Carvans / motorhomes are not designed to take much abuse :-)

[Steve Walker]

Modern vans are mainly torsion suspension, but the vans I was used to back in the '80s were on coil springs and dampers not leaf springs.

SteveW