Bouncing Camper? What?

[Toet101]

I had new tires put on my camper today and it bounced so much that is scared me and my son. You could hear it in the van with the windows shut. My camper weighs about 1,000 pounds. I called the tire place and they took out some air which helped a whole bunch. The tires are not fully filled to what is suggested but it works better like that. What are your thoughts? Suggestions? Please share your knowledge!

[evenweight]

are the wheels balanced? Not normally an issue for trailers but could be an issue. Also the pneumatic tires are part of the suspension. With the tires inflated at a high pressure there would not be much flex in the tire. With a lower pressure the bumps will be absorbed by the tires.

[Jon in AZ]

I've never heard of a Toet trailer, so I don't know what kind of suspension it has or how old it might be. But I'm wondering about the axle. I know a worn out rubber torsion axle will do exactly what you're describing. The rubber hardens and the axle no longer has any flex to it, so the tires act as springs and shocks.

If that is the case, the only solution is a new axle.

[Toet101]

It is a 2006. The bumping really concerned me. It didn't do it on the way to the tire place. It only happened after they put on the new tires. I want to prevent any problems in the future. Thanks!

[Toet101]

Supposedly they balanced the tires when we were there.

[Glenn Baglo]

I would ask what load range tire they put on the trailer. You need to know the weight of the trailer ( loaded ) and select the appropriate tire for the weight so you can inflate it for the load and the tire.

[Jon in AZ]

Not the axle, then. Wondering if there is some defect in the tire itself. My utility trailer bounced badly right after I purchased it new. I could see in the rear view mirror it was on one side. They just gave me a whole new tire and wheel. Problem solved.

Interesting trailer. I've never seen one like that before.

[Borrego Dave]

One other thing to possibly consider is it is really designed as an enclosed cargo trailer meant to have the weight of a motorcycle in it. Your build out is a lot lighter than a bike . I think other posts of the tire load rating you have now may come into play also, they may be to high. My utility trailers seem to off the ground half the time when empty but that's the nature of them.

[Joe Romas]

Another possibility is the wheel(s) could have been improperly installed on the trailer. Here's a link to what follows.
http://tires.about.com/od/understand...ric-wheels.htm

Unlike cars and trucks that use "Hub centric" wheels, Most trailers use "LUG CENTRIC" wheels. That's where the nuts holding the wheels on are tapered and center in the corresponding holes in the wheels. That in turn centers the wheel on the hub. It's possible when tightening down the first nut put on that the nut did not center in the hole. Therefore the rest of the nuts would not center properly also.

Joe

[DeBreez]

Is the bouncing affecting both sides or one side? It it in reaction to a bump in the road (e.g. railroad xing, expansion strip) or is it occurring on smooth roads once you reach a certain speed?

If it's reactive, then it may be that the tire sidewall stiffness is just different from your old tire. As Glen B noted, the load range (b, c, d) may be higher/stiffer than your original tire. The fact that letting air out of the tires helped seems to confirm this. Adding weight to the trailer would change the "resonant frequency" of the suspension, as would tires that are less stiff.

You may find that once the trailer has a full camping load that it won't be an issue.

Otoh, if it's vibrating or bouncing in response to nothing, then something is out of whack - balancing, bad tire, etc.

[Donna D.]

What kind of tires? LT, ST or passenger?

[ABK]

Check also for tires "out of round "

[Kai in Seattle]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

One other thing to possibly consider is it is really designed as an enclosed cargo trailer meant to have the weight of a motorcycle in it. Your build out is a lot lighter than a bike . I think other posts of the tire load rating you have now may come into play also, they may be to high. My utility trailers seem to off the ground half the time when empty but that's the nature of them.

Yes, "Shelly," our little motorcycle cargo trailer, bounces like a rabbit when towed empty. When loaded, it just glides along. (Towed behind our dodge van.)

[Cathi]

Originally Posted by Toet101

I had new tires put on my camper today and it bounced so much that is scared me and my son. You could hear it in the van with the windows shut. My camper weighs about 1,000 pounds. I called the tire place and they took out some air which helped a whole bunch. The tires are not fully filled to what is suggested but it works better like that. What are your thoughts? Suggestions? Please share your knowledge!

1. You hopefully had trailer tires put on.

2. As Joe mentions in post #9, balancing is different for trailer tires. Many places with tires do not have the equipment (which is different from that used for cars) to balance trailer tires nor do they even know that trailer tires are balanced differently, much less how. (Then there are the places that think that trailer tires need no balancing.)

Try to determine if the place actually knows what they are to do differently for a trailer tire and whether they have such equipment.

[Roy in TO]

Was the trailer empty?
If it was designed to carry a motorcycle, chances are that the suspension was designed for a load.
No load and the suspension will be too stiff and the trailer will bounce a lot.

On edit: I see Borrego Dave mentions this in post #8.

[Kai in Seattle]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

Was the trailer empty?
If it was designed to carry a motorcycle, chances are that the suspension was designed for a load.
No load and the suspension will be too stiff and the trailer will bounce a lot.

On edit: I see Borrego Dave mentions this in post #8.

Not sure if you're replying to me about Shelly--no, Shelly was designed to be towed BY a motorcycle. And, yes, when Shelly was empty she bounced like crazy. You could feel every bounce as it shook the whole Dodge Caravan. Full, my husband couldn't tell she was even there, so we put the flag on so he wouldn't forget he was towing her.

Interestingly enough, we sold Shelly between that post and now. She went to a home where she'll be towed, once again, by a motorcycle and not a van. The wife fell in love and he agreed they wanted Shelly.

She was our introduction to fiberglass trailers, and Paul's first shot at getting mold off of fiberglass--thanks to advice here on FGRV he got 'er done.

We made a few bucks, learned a lot, and moved on up to Peanut.

Paul said Peanut's tires "cannot" be balanced, as they are 4-lug Dexstars...but Peanut tows like a dream empty or full, suspension seems to be great either way.

Peanut (one shell, two nuts) on her first camping trip, WA National Forest.