Suspension for 5m rib?

[diver 1]

I have a small 5m humber rib with 40 hp outboard - very lightweight and easy to manouver on a sturdy steel trailer with single axle. Heavy duty rover metro 12.5 inch wheels. Heavy duty wide tyres.

Should the trailer have suspension of some kind? It tows very well on smooth A roads and motorways - its hard to tell that its there, but on local bumpy roads the trailer does bounce a bit. The boat is supported on rollers etc

Is there a risk of damaging the hull towing the boat on this type of trailer?

Thanks

[chewy]

It should have some form of suspension as any shocks will go through the hull.
Can you post some photos of your trailer as my trailer has a big leaf spring that is the suspension rather than two individual units on each side.

[m chappelow]

Legaly to use on a public road in the uk,, yes ,,you do need some form of suspension .
solid are only for launching and private road use.
my current trailer has coil springs and shock absorbers fitted but i have had trailers in the past with torsion bar ,,single leaf springs and indispenion rubber units ,of which are perhaps the easiest to retro fit ,

[Steve_B]

Diver

Unless it was home built, I dont think there are many trailers produced that would not have some form of suspension.

My thoughts are either your rib is too light for the trailer or the rubber inserts in the axle that provide the movement, have gone brittle with age.

A picture of the hub/stub axle would help.

Steve

[9D280]

Assuming you have a bought from a reputable trailer supplier and it does habve some form of susopension fitted, yes, the suapension units do go solid over time.

I have an open box trialer that as an experiment I craned 2 tons of bagged gravel on board (thanks to mate with tractor for the help on that one!) Suspension units didnlt move more than about 1/2" between the top of the tyres & the mudguards!

As it's rated for 300Kg nominal, needless to say I am now the proud owner of 2 new suspension units.


What is the trailer rated for? Suspension is one of these things where more isn't necessarily better.........