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Old 08-28-2010, 06:00 PM   #1
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Project rear kitchen bounce eliminator is underway!!!

Trailer shocks.

Been wanting to do this for a while now and finally have gotten up off my dead butt and started head long in to it.

I looked at the Monroe kits out there and never liked the mounts and I see recently that they stopped produciton on their upper mount kit for I beam frames. Probably because it was a poor bolt on design with a single hole drilled through the frame.

Anyways I fabricated my own upper mounts and bought prefabbed lower mounts from the off road shop.

I am using a good twin tube shock for the rear of a 1 ton Dodge van. Should be plenty of shock and if not, should they ever fail are lifetime warranty Gabriels. After digging through a few shock catalogs this shock had the dimensions I was looking for on the Dodge mentioned.

Next weeked I will weld up the mounts to the frame and axles and get the shocks bolted on.

I am also going to cross brace the very long spring hangars on this rig. I will cross weld some 1.5 inch mild steel from one side to the other. If any of you have seen the MORryde crossmember kit it will be like that only better and for a 1/4 of the price.

Pics of the mounts as of today. More pics of installation to come.



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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
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Old 08-28-2010, 07:55 PM   #2
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I just love some well done fabrication

I thought those shock mounts looked familiar. I think I have been to that web site before. Keep us informed as to how it works out.
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Old 08-29-2010, 01:39 PM   #3
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Thanks Ed,

This morning I did a little more work on the upper mounts. I extended the upper gusset to extend out to the shock bushing stop washer.

I'm running the shocks about a half inch further inboard to clear gas piping and such. So I figured the little bit of extra bracing will keep any flexing/bending loads at bay on the shock stud.

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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
B&W goosneck/companion hitch, Airlift 5000 airbags.
2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
Nights camped in 09-14, 2010-23
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Old 09-03-2010, 07:09 PM   #4
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Step 2 is completed today. I will likely be so damn sore tomorrow that stage 3 might have to wait till Sunday lol.

Anyways, I got all 8 shock mounts burned in today. Shocks are officially bolted on. I need to button up the galley drain pipe hangers and clean up the horrid job of brake wiring that is typical.

The job became much easier when I decided to stop worrying about the cheesy insulator board that lines the belly of the trailer and just cut two big holes to work in. This is the first trailer we have had with that part of the "winter package" and I hate that board with a passion.

Anyways, not ready for a test drive yet. Stage 3 is to cross brace the really tall spring hangers. Should have that done tomorrow.





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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
B&W goosneck/companion hitch, Airlift 5000 airbags.
2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
Nights camped in 09-14, 2010-23
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Old 09-03-2010, 07:21 PM   #5
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Looking good. I wished I could do something like this on my boat trailer but there just isn't the room for it.
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Nights camped in 2009: 53 | Nights camped in 2010: 55
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Old 09-03-2010, 07:22 PM   #6
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Hit all the exposed metal with ruberized undercoating while you are under there. I use it under our Jeep everywhere, really keeps the rust at bay.
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Nights camped in 2009: 53 | Nights camped in 2010: 55
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Old 09-03-2010, 09:23 PM   #7
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Good idea Ed. I actually have a couple cans in the garage.

I damn near need to spray bomb the whole chassis.
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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
B&W goosneck/companion hitch, Airlift 5000 airbags.
2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
Nights camped in 09-14, 2010-23
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Old 09-04-2010, 03:14 PM   #8
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Well the cans of undercoating I had were too old. Wouldn't spray ended up just drenching it in black piss can enamel for now. Next spring I will likely underocoat the whole exposed chassis.
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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
B&W goosneck/companion hitch, Airlift 5000 airbags.
2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
Nights camped in 09-14, 2010-23
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Old 09-04-2010, 03:21 PM   #9
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Got the cross bracing done thismorning with the help of my son. He's ready to run the welder and was gonna let him try it, but we ran out of wire after the last weld. Thank goodness as the wifey would have been mad at me if I had to go out and buy another 40 dollar spool. I have about 200 bucks into this project already lol.

Also got the galley pipe moved and the brake wiring cleaned up.

Anyways I digress, Just sitting in the driveway I can notice a huge difference in movement or lack there of when we step in and walk around in the trailer with no stabilizers down. Can't wait to road test it for the shocks and park test it stability wise.










Highly recommend it for anyone with tall spring hangars and springs over the axles.
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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
B&W goosneck/companion hitch, Airlift 5000 airbags.
2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
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Old 09-04-2010, 07:34 PM   #10
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Awesome job. Perhaps you should build and offer these shock mount kits to other owners. I'm also a big fan of the shocks with the metal stone guards. I hate those that use the "accordions". I never use them on the Jeep. Nice work.
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Old 09-04-2010, 07:58 PM   #11
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Mr. Black
Great Mod!

Now the only question is why you decided to cross brace the shackels front and rear?

Was it to strengthen the chanckles and decrease any side sway or tail shaking?
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Old 09-05-2010, 09:08 AM   #12
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Quote:
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Mr. Black
Great Mod!

Now the only question is why you decided to cross brace the shackels front and rear?

Was it to strengthen the chanckles and decrease any side sway or tail shaking?
Cross bracing the spring hangers. Not the shackles. The shackles move attached to the equalizer.

Certain trailer frames have super tall spring hangars. Mine are almost 10 inches long. Laterally there is a ton of flex. All this mod does is make a box out of the frame at the spring mounting points. Huge difference in stability just sitting in the driveway.

Here is a mor ryde version you can look at to see more of what it's about. Moderators feel free to remove this link if it violates something. Not here to sell anything. My kit was 20 bucks installed lol.

http://www.morryde.com/pdfs/New/3XFa...ossmembers.pdf
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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
B&W goosneck/companion hitch, Airlift 5000 airbags.
2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
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Old 09-05-2010, 11:56 AM   #13
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No issue with the link Steve, it's perfectly fine. Does the cross bracing work similar to a track bar or would the addition of a track bar make a difference? I know usually with leaf springs a track bar (or pan hard bar) is optional but it does make a great difference on our rig.
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Old 09-05-2010, 12:54 PM   #14
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Actually a track bar would be really cool but probably overkill. axel coudn't move at all laterally with one. My F250 uses a track bar with leaf springs which really helps the manners compared to old trucks and jeeps from the 70s and 80s.

But yes, the cross bracing takes the same loads in the same directions but without a track bar there will still be that little bit of sideways flex in the springs.

John, have you ever seen someone back a trailer up jackknifed or close to it and then stop? 99% of the time you will notice the axles are all crooked under the camper. Looks like stuff is bent even though it really isn't. As soon as you drive straight again the axles float back to their neutral position. This bracing will help fight that.

Like I said earlier though, I am more curious to see if it helps at all just sitting in camp with the stabilizers down.
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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
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2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
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Old 09-05-2010, 04:41 PM   #15
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Nice piece of work.

Mike
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Old 09-05-2010, 05:31 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Black View Post
John, have you ever seen someone back a trailer up jackknifed or close to it and then stop? 99% of the time you will notice the axles are all crooked under the camper. Looks like stuff is bent even though it really isn't. As soon as you drive straight again the axles float back to their neutral position. This bracing will help fight that.
I have this problem with the boat trailer as it is a tadem axle. Real PITA.
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Nights camped in 2009: 53 | Nights camped in 2010: 55
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Old 09-06-2010, 10:46 AM   #17
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Quote:
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Nice piece of work.

Mike
Thank you.

Preliminary test drive went well. I only went about 5 miles though. It feels totally different now. We will be heading out of town on friday. That will be the true test.

I think I actually need to adjust the rear shocks on my truck to a softer setting now.

My goal is to get the least amount of chucking without buying an aftermarket pin box. Well on our way.
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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
B&W goosneck/companion hitch, Airlift 5000 airbags.
2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
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Old 09-13-2010, 01:10 PM   #18
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Good idea. Probably no big deal and a lot more work, but the only thing I would have done differently is built an upper bracket that put the top shock mount in double shear like the bottom mount.

It is possible that over time the upper mount could be torn off and rip a whole in the frame. I would just make it a practice for the first few trips to crawl under there and inspect your work for any signs of movement or stress cracks.

One other thing that needs to be considered is that shocks usually have a given installed height. That way you don't end up bottom or top out the shock during normal driving.

I agree shocks on a trailer are a great idea.

This thread has really got me interested in doing this. Google images comes up with some cool ideas and results for "trailer shocks" and "trailer shocks torsion axle"
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Old 09-13-2010, 08:39 PM   #19
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Good idea. Probably no big deal and a lot more work, but the only thing I would have done differently is built an upper bracket that put the top shock mount in double shear like the bottom mount.

One other thing that needs to be considered is that shocks usually have a given installed height. That way you don't end up bottom or top out the shock during normal driving.


1st, I thought about that, and then stopped thinking about that lol. You need to see how the frame and crossmembers (not the ones I added) are configured in the suspension area.

2nd, There must be a thousand shock mount applications out there in the real world that I have worked on where the shocks are mounted on a horizontal stud.

3rd, Yes I know there are shock operating lengths. That is how I came to the conclusion of the ones that I chose. They were found in a manufacturers shock spec book.

Not trying to come off as a know it all, and no I am not offended, but I am confident in my abilities in this area.


Like I said before. Take a look at Monroe's shock mounting kit (top and bottom) and we'll see what is stronger. Could I have made it stronger? Yes, does it need to be stronger? No

Took the trailer out for 300 miles this weekend over some of the bumpiest mountian roads around this area. All felt and looks awesome under the trailer.

I do agree with taking a look under the trailer every once in a while, but I do that already anyways.

I was actually disappointed in what came up for pics of "trailer shocks" in google. Not much out there that was practical for this application.

I say go for it though, I would like to see what others come up with.
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1999 Ford Superduty F250 PSD CC SB 6spd 4x4.
B&W goosneck/companion hitch, Airlift 5000 airbags.
2006 Sierra F28 Rear Kitchen 5th Wheel, 31' = 10k pounds.
Nights camped in 09-14, 2010-23
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Old 09-13-2010, 09:28 PM   #20
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I'm sure your set up will be fine. I was just given my 2 cents and wasn't meaning to give you a hard time.

Only time I really have seen problems with the horizontial stud mount is when they were a bolt in type of installation and they had managed to loosen up and the ratcheting motion tore a hole in the frame, and the other time was due to a shock that seized up.

Unlike a coil over set up, which I usually deal with, your shock setup is not carrying the load, just dampening it.

Only reason I mentioned the shock installed height is for anyone else that planned to do this would know.
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