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Old 10-28-2019, 05:12 PM   #21
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Good pro and con of leaf vs torsion:
https://www.trailersuperstore.com/tr...torsion-axles/
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Old 10-28-2019, 05:22 PM   #22
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The horse trailer I used to have had leaf springs. Pretty common still on most horse trailers.
Probably so but here's "blurb" from the internet regarding Miley Horse Trailers which I've heard from one of my horse owner friends that is a pretty good trailer:

Quote:
Miley owners enjoy the corrosion-resistant aluminum fenders, long-lasting rubber torsion axles
My friend recently bought his wife (who shows horses) a gooseneck horse trailer for four horses with changing room, tack storage, etc and it has torsion axles. Wasn't a Miley but he said "it cost a pretty penny" so I'll guess it's one of the better ones.

Another thing I've been reading lately on Torsion Axles. According to many they behave more like spring supported axles with shocks installed. Apparently the torsion axle design with the rubber components surrounding the main torsion element act like shocks.
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Old 10-28-2019, 05:33 PM   #23
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Probably so but here's "blurb" from the internet regarding Miley Horse Trailers which I've heard from one of my horse owner friends that is a pretty good trailer:
LOL...he said that a Miley is a good trailer!

They used to be good 30 years ago until they went out of business and some company bought the name a few years later! Cheap junk.
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Old 10-28-2019, 05:38 PM   #24
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One thing you shouldn't do with a torsion axle trailer is store it on a steep driveway with the trailer level so that one axle has a LOT of weight on it vs the other. You want to block the lower tire up so the axle deflection is the same for each axle.
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Old 10-28-2019, 05:47 PM   #25
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LOL...he said that a Miley is a good trailer!

They used to be good 30 years ago until they went out of business and some company bought the name a few years later! Cheap junk.
Reason they went out of business was the owner of the Co had all his assets seized for drug running. Universal owns them now.

Personally I've never owned a horse much less a horse trailer so I'll let my friend play with them.
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Old 10-28-2019, 05:49 PM   #26
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Reason they went out of business was the owner of the Co had all his assets seized for drug running. Universal owns them now.
Like I said went out of business and another company bought the name. I didn't know HOW they went out of business but that they aren't the original company anymore.


My ex and I had 2 horses. Super expensive hobby and it wasn't my hobby. Just trail horses too..nothing super fancy. Owning an airplane is cheaper.
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Old 10-28-2019, 05:57 PM   #27
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Like I said went out of business and another company bought the name. I didn't know HOW they went out of business but that they aren't the original company anymore.


My ex and I had 2 horses. Super expensive hobby and it wasn't my hobby. Owning an airplane is cheaper.
I hear the same from my friend only he's still married to wife #1 and it's her hobby. He has a T-Shirt that says "I just hold the horse and hand over the cash".

I stopped and saw them last October and they were "down to" 5 horses. Let's just say he has a lot of crap to deal with when he get's home from work.


As for airplanes, at least you can rent them out if you want.
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Old 10-28-2019, 06:02 PM   #28
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I hear the same from my friend only he's still married to wife #1 and it's her hobby. He has a T-Shirt that says "I just hold the horse and hand over the cash".

I stopped and saw them last October and they were "down to" 5 horses. Let's just say he has a lot of crap to deal with when he get's home from work.


As for airplanes, at least you can rent them out if you want.
Yes...not a pleasant experience for a husband of a wife horse owner. Horses are a huge reason she is an ex now.


I used to belong to a flying club when I used to fly. Cheapest way to do it although I came pretty close to building my own airplane.
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Old 10-28-2019, 06:15 PM   #29
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Yes...not a pleasant experience for a husband of a wife horse owner. Horses are a huge reason she is an ex now.


I used to belong to a flying club when I used to fly. Cheapest way to do it although I came pretty close to building my own airplane.
Up here a lot of people do build their own. Unfortunately a few of them end up in the trees.

My Dad flew as his business owned two planes back in the 50's. A relatively new Piper and a brand new Stinson Voyager. Back then a new airplane could be had for around a year's payments on a new pickup truck today.

I enjoyed it but never bothered to get my license.


Decided I wanted a "More Grounded" hobby so I tried to kill myself on motorcycles (on and off road).
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Old 10-28-2019, 06:18 PM   #30
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Decided I wanted a "More Grounded" hobby so I tried to kill myself on motorcycles (on and off road).
Me too....currently selling my Harley. Sold my dirt bike years ago. Now I just try to kill myself MTB or road cycling. Have a titanium plate in my shoulder with 9 screws.


I was going to build a Vans RV-14.
https://www.vansaircraft.com/rv-14/
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Old 10-28-2019, 06:33 PM   #31
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Gettin way off topic I see!
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Old 10-28-2019, 09:27 PM   #32
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Dexter Torsion Axles

Works ok, but do not let anyone put a jack on the axel and get a drive on ramp to change tires. W/O a leaf spring and with the thin metal on the light weight trailer frames, there is not a really good place to put a jack. Look under the trailer and you can understand what I am describing. The cross members that keep the axels aligned are also very thin and will bend if a jack is used on them.
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Old 10-29-2019, 06:42 AM   #33
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The Dexter Torflex axles were one of the deciding factors for me when we were shopping for our current 5er. If I had gone with a model with regular leaf springs I would have had to do some mods to reinforce the hangers and add wet bolts. We find that the trailer contents aren’t affected much by bumpy roads with the Torflex axles.
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Old 10-29-2019, 07:57 AM   #34
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My experience with Dexter after experiencing a problem with a failed brake assembly was VERY positive. Dexter went above and beyond to get me back on the road quickly.
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Old 10-29-2019, 08:49 AM   #35
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Here's my $0.02 on the spring vs. torsion axle:
Prior to owning my own RV, I used my parent's RV. It was a 34' fifth wheel that weighed just over 10K empty. It had a leaf spring setup. When they decided to be done with camping, my wife and I purchased their tow vehicle, but decided their trailer really didn't work for us that well, so we found a different fifth wheel. Ours was also 34' long and weighed just over 10K, but it had torsion axles. When I towed it home I could tell immediately that it towed nicer than my parent's rig. It's kind of hard to describe WHY it was nicer, but generally it just felt more stable and less bouncing and noise making, etc.

So, to recap: Same tow vehicle, same driver, same size rig. Torsion axle felt better!

We kept that trailer for 15 years and other than brake maintenance, never had any issues with the axles. This year we just purchased a new Rockwood Ultra Light fifth wheel and one of the reasons we liked this brand is that it has the torsion axles.
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Old 10-29-2019, 06:22 PM   #36
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Here's my $0.02 on the spring vs. torsion axle:
Prior to owning my own RV, I used my parent's RV. It was a 34' fifth wheel that weighed just over 10K empty. It had a leaf spring setup. When they decided to be done with camping, my wife and I purchased their tow vehicle, but decided their trailer really didn't work for us that well, so we found a different fifth wheel. Ours was also 34' long and weighed just over 10K, but it had torsion axles. When I towed it home I could tell immediately that it towed nicer than my parent's rig. It's kind of hard to describe WHY it was nicer, but generally it just felt more stable and less bouncing and noise making, etc.

So, to recap: Same tow vehicle, same driver, same size rig. Torsion axle felt better!

We kept that trailer for 15 years and other than brake maintenance, never had any issues with the axles. This year we just purchased a new Rockwood Ultra Light fifth wheel and one of the reasons we liked this brand is that it has the torsion axles.

The rubber tubes in the torsion housing act as shock absorbers according to Dexter. If the old 5-er had shocks you probably wouldn't have noticed as much difference. Shocks take a lot of bounce out of the trailer's ride and as a result the tow vehicle feels a lot smoother.
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Old 10-29-2019, 06:59 PM   #37
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The rubber tubes in the torsion housing act as shock absorbers according to Dexter. If the old 5-er had shocks you probably wouldn't have noticed as much difference. Shocks take a lot of bounce out of the trailer's ride and as a result the tow vehicle feels a lot smoother.
I've always kind of figured that a spring style suspension could be made to ride as smooth as the torsion axles. Unfortunately, I don't end up towing a lot of different trailers so I can't say that I have a bunch of experience either way.

It would be interesting to have a RV transporter type chime in with their experience in pulling a wide variety of trailers with different suspension systems.

I do wonder if the torsion axles require a certain amount of loading before they work properly. A fishing buddy has a small rowboat on an old torsion axle trailer and that thing bounces like mad when going down the road. He kind of wishes he had a standard leaf spring type trailer.
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Old 10-30-2019, 09:41 AM   #38
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I do wonder if the torsion axles require a certain amount of loading before they work properly. A fishing buddy has a small rowboat on an old torsion axle trailer and that thing bounces like mad when going down the road. He kind of wishes he had a standard leaf spring type trailer.
Yes, all axles need some "load" to smooth out the ride. It's not so much a matter of actual load as it is "Inertia". A light weight rowboat has no inertia so it will be tossed up and down with the slightest bump in the road. Something heavier has more mass and inertia to resist the up motion, flexing the spring, and on the down movement the inertia tends to slow the movement.

It's like how an old Cadillac would float over bumps but a VW Beetle would feel every bump.
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Old 11-04-2019, 07:10 PM   #39
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The Tore-Flex axle is an independent axle and your correct it does make a world of difference in the ride. When you hit a bump on any TT with a straight axle it forces the opposite side to move which is not good. The independent TF stops that effort to create SWAY. That said. They still do not have shocks which would limit the rebound and reduce the frequency of SWAY which is a no-no for a TT.

The axle design is great but why didn't they add some shocks????
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Old 11-04-2019, 07:57 PM   #40
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Axles

I think torsion style axles are great. I am convinced that with a leaf spring setup you are subject to much more side sway through the springs and hangers. With torsion the only side sway is the tires.

A little upset with Forest River - on my last 5th wheel there were 2 3500lb axles - axle weight loaded was 6800 - so you have used up most of the spring effect of the axles. However it is real easy to roll up on a couple of 2 x 6 for tire change.
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