empty trailer bounces at 35 mph

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
What causes my trailer to bounce at around 35 mph? above and below that speed it rides smooth. Recently changed tire sizes, but don't recall if it did it before. Only does it empty. thanks Dave
 
Is it a single axle or tandem axle? If a single axle, the axle could be bent. A tandem, could be either a bent axle, or the two axles are out of alignment.
 
roads cause any trailer to bounce because of tire ruts, cross traffic ruts. your trailer is following the road at slow speeds, faster you go they start to hop over ruts because no weight to hold trailer down, ever with some load it still could bounce, you don't see/feel it as much. my 5x14 single axle does the same. i try not to look in mirrors at it.
 
Dave, FWIW, have similar size trailer and had same problem @ 45-50 mph, balanced them-no help, out of town tire guy diagnosed tread
was "snakey": uneven side to side on tires. Got home, replaced tires and solved problem. Good luck.
 
You are not alone. I have a double axle trailer with house trailer axles. Brakes on all four wheels, new tires, two tire shops to try to balance.
Loaded no problem. Below 35 or above 40 no problem.It doesn"t take long for me to speed up or slow down! I have owned the trailer for some time. It was like that when it only had 2 wheel brakes and old dry-rotted tires. I carry 90lbs in each tire. Under inflation with a load is NOT good. If I were making an empty long trip on slow roads ,I might consider dropping pressure to 50#? Otherwise I just adjust speed accordingly.







f
 
You have an axle alignment issue, and/or at least one bent axle.

Two or more tires are traveling in slightly different directions. When they get a certain amount of side pressure on them, they lose traction and *POP*, the trailer jumps into the air like a tiddly-wink.
 
Put a little load on it and have someone follow you, watching your tires. My friend was pulling his 560 one day and thought he felt a vibration, checked his tires when we stopped for gas. Followed him about a mile down the road and got him pulled over, a tire came apart that fast. It had no visible problems at the gas station, and when I got him stopped the tread was separating, and the cords were all broken. It's a wonder it didn't blow up when we threw it on the deck.
 

Maybe the angle of the trailer has changed with the new tires? Do you have a different drop hitch you can use?
 
Thanks for all the replies, I bought the new tires on Ebay, only place I could find 14.5 tires. I went from 700-14.5 to 800-14.5 They are made in China, which I did not know until I received them.
The company name was tires USA so I thought I was getting a quality tire. Live and learn. thanks again, Dave
 
When a company has the word "America" or "USA" in its name, you can pretty much guarantee that their specialty is in selling Chinese products.
 
(quoted from post at 18:57:54 06/05/11) Thanks for all the replies, I bought the new tires on Ebay, only place I could find 14.5 tires. I went from 700-14.5 to 800-14.5 They are made in China, which I did not know until I received them.
The company name was tires USA so I thought I was getting a quality tire. Live and learn. thanks again, Dave

Your second clue should have been "Ebay".
 
Just raised the hitch point on the truck 2 inches, seemed to help a little bit, but maybe wishful thinking. Dave
 
My trailer did the same thing and drove me nuts. But I did find the problem, the front axle was bent and I replaced it. Now it tows smooth at all speeds. Older rubber is harder and will slide easer and new rubber is softer and will grip more so if axle is bent alittle new rubber will make it more pronounced and cause it to hop. Bandit
 
14.5" rim size sound like MH tires. Unless it is a HD tandem dual beaver tail. Then it would be about a 30,000 lb trailer, probably pintle hitch. Could be the heavy MH springs.

CT
 
yep.. last 'rough ride' I had was a golfball size knot that let out right before I hit the interstate.. was on my horse trailer.... loaded!


soundguy
 
New tires on a trailer??
I never saw that til I went to work for the guy I now work for.
I'm starting to get used to not having to patch things together to get through the season. Dad would have had my hide if I had a service call for a hydraulic hose.
 
I think minimum tread depth for a trailer or drive tire is 2/32 or 3/32. I know though, it's nice to have more tread than that.
 

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