Trailer Suspension

Most of the trailer built today still use an pretty basic leaf spring suspension. What I think many people don’t realize is that these suspensions are not maintenance free. Parts of the suspension can wear out and need repairs in possibly a very short period of time. The first major issue is the bushings in the suspension pivot points which I believe are made of some sort of plastic or nylon. Owners of new trailers are reporting that they have worn out in less than 10,000 miles. The other part that wears out is the holes in the suspension shackles, they get elongated and eventually fail – which means the springs are no longer attached to the frame. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize how bad things can go from there.

Our trailer at this time of this work was 13-14 years old but the previous owners obviously used it very little based on the wear we could see in the trailer (not much!). I’m sure everything in the suspension was original, so it can last a long time but if the trailer is used a lot, I’m hearing they wear out quick.

You can replace the shackles and bushings with some upgrades. I went for the Morryde heavy duty shackle kit It’s a lot stronger than the factory originals and is greaseable. The plastic/nylon bushing are replaced with brass bushing the new shackle bolts have grease nipplies. It’s another thing to add to my regular trailer maintenance and can be a bit messy but it was so worth it. As a side benefit the suspension creaking noises the trailer use to make are all gone. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of the new parts or the installation process.

The shackle upgrade kit we installed. I completed it in a day, and it required me to fully jack up each side of the trailer and disconnect the springs. I then needed another smaller jack to hold up the axles.

You can also update the center equalizer with one of these kits to improve your trailer’s ride: Morryde CRE3000 or Morryde SRE4000 I have not done that yet, but it is on my wish list. If and when I do I will update this page with all that info.