Noob/Academic Questions Re: Camper Suspension

CDA 455 II

ANFAQUE2
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Can a camper travel trailer suspension handle unmaintained fire/dirt roads?

I'm talking miles and miles and miles on fire/dirt roads.

Can a frame/suspension/axle upgrade be necessary?
 
There are newer campers out there that come with better frames/suspension. We have a small Coleman pop up camper that swapped out leaf springs for springs that use shackles (more free movement), converted to spring over axle with lift spring perches, and added cheapo shocks for a Nissan Altima from Amazon. That made a world of a difference in handling crappy/dirt roads.

Before
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After
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I'd say to upgrade as you deem necessary. Wouldn't be the hardest thing to weld on some frame stiffeners, add a cheap pair of shocks... My main goal for lifting it was to not drag the corners in holes (ripped off a jack doing that one of the first trips out)

Here's it behind the prerunner. Tows great
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Shocks will be the biggest bang for the buck to handle washboards
Good point

I'm thinking using a dually axle because of it's width; further helping side-to-side stability.
Water runoff (from snowmelt) can really carve through fire/dirt roads.

From my experience with my M1102 military trailer going through those ruts; a lot of side-to-side movement.
 
Good point

I'm thinking using a dually axle because of it's width; further helping side-to-side stability.
Water runoff (from snowmelt) can really carve through fire/dirt roads.

From my experience with my M1102 military trailer going through those ruts; a lot of side-to-side movement.
You can get a full width single wheel trailer axle.
 
Most campers are about 85" wide.

The only axles I see that wide are dually axles.

Multiple widths there. That’s just the first one that came up. Dexter will build whatever width you want.
 

Multiple widths there. That’s just the first one that came up. Dexter will build whatever width you want.
Wow!😍😎
 
Also, what are you seeing that are 85 wide. Camp trailers are 96-102 wide. I just sold a 30' and still have a 29 and 27. Besides the 28' I'm keeping and our 40' fifth wheel that we will sell as soon as the MIL finds a place.
 
Also, what are you seeing that are 85 wide. Camp trailers are 96-102 wide. I just sold a 30' and still have a 29 and 27. Besides the 28' I'm keeping and our 40' fifth wheel that we will sell as soon as the MIL finds a place.
It was a one minute go.ogle-fu search where I got 85" from.

My truck camper is 80" wide.
 
Lowering tire pressure will help washboards as well. But mainly driving smart. Look up Adventure Endeavor on youtube. They’re close friends who RV full time and they cover some offroad trailers.
 
Another thing to take into consideration. All travel trailers are built like **** and the more you move them down the road the quicker they fall apart. Price doesn't matter that just gets you a few more miles before it falls apart.

Enclosed race car trailers are built to go many miles down the rosd and not fall apart. Find one of those with living quarters and you will be much better off in the long run
 
1) Another thing to take into consideration. All travel trailers are built like **** and the more you move them down the road the quicker they fall apart. Price doesn't matter that just gets you a few more miles before it falls apart.

2) Enclosed race car trailers are built to go many miles down the rosd and not fall apart. Find one of those with living quarters and you will be much better off in the long run
1) Yeah; good point.

2) Interesting; enclosed racecar trailers, eh?
 
Those are expensive....!:shocked:
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So is buying the wrong stuff that falls apart so you have to buy something else.

It wouldn’t be hard to take any travel trailer you come across and put a tube steel subframe under it and replace whatever axles and tires it had with something bigger and heavier. Everything above the frame is going to fall apart next.
 
There is more to it than just dragging something down a rough dirt road.
What are you pulling it with? Your Bronco will not handle something large like a 1 ton can.
What do you want to do with it? Couple days to a week. How much water are you taking? Tanks typically need reinforced structure when hauled full, especially over rough conditions.
Tank drains hang down. I've seen pieces of plumbing left behind in place an rv had no business.
Truck campers add weight up high.
How much power does it need? Generator and fuel, solar and batteries.
What seasons are you going to use it. Furnaces eat batteries and propane. Tank heaters are pretty low wattage, but still...
Are you just looking to get off the ground and have a sheltered place, or full living? Indoor plumbing or ****tin in a hole? Cooking outside, maybe under a canopy when weather is bad. What about if the canopy blows away and crashes into your truck.
My wife has setup large base camps or parts thereof in some remote places, but they had large government or corporate support.
She managed a man camp in Virginia on a side of a mountain, two hundred feet from the Appalachian Trail. I was labor. Our equipment was pulled up on custom sleds by two & three D8s
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We lived in a fifth wheel for four years while building our house. The first year power was solely by generator and three years trucking water before we got the well in.
Definitely not the same as camping, but working through challenges.
 

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The suspension is adequate, the shackles all egg out and with tandems the equalizers all snap, toss in a few broken springs for random luck.
The box part, off road is hard on, the wood box is like a unit body with the frame, they are both needed to create the structure, but the structure sucks.
You need to brace up the frame to help avoid twisting for pro longed off road use.
If you're just towing it 100' from the paved road to a camp, it's fine.
 
Related topic, anyone tried putting shocks on an open trailer? I have a Carson 10k trailer with a ~6000lb JK on it and it's fine, but I wonder if it could be better.

I tow it with a 4x4 van on 37s and FOX 2.5s that will handle washboard pretty decently for what it is.

Sometimes we find ourselves camping a few miles down a dirt road, think JV or Meadow Lake and it's incredibly slower with the trailer. Is putting shocks on the trailer gonna noticeably help this?
 
Related topic, anyone tried putting shocks on an open trailer? I have a Carson 10k trailer with a ~6000lb JK on it and it's fine, but I wonder if it could be better.

I tow it with a 4x4 van on 37s and FOX 2.5s that will handle washboard pretty decently for what it is.

Sometimes we find ourselves camping a few miles down a dirt road, think JV or Meadow Lake and it's incredibly slower with the trailer. Is putting shocks on the trailer gonna noticeably help this?

They probably would help when its loaded and hurt when you pull it unloaded because of the valving in them.
 
A little bit tippy with all that weight up high? :lmao:
It felt like I was having a heart attack for 3 straight hours

baseball-basketball sized "gravel" road, crawling over 1 rock at a time and I'd have to wait for truck, camper and trailer to all settle then crawl over the next baseball sized rock

Thank god we unloaded the rock crawler a 1/4" mile before :laughing:
 
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