Any Damage From Driving on Rough Roads?

[cpaharley2008]

Hhmmmm, I wonder if ETI would build a 21 with springs like on the 5.0 TA?? anyone know the answer?

[Bobbito]

I guess I'm still not quite sure shocks are necessary. On the one hand I've read good things about the rubber torsion suspension on forums of horse trailer owners and so on. On the other hand in this Escape forum I've read of fridge and oven doors coming off, giving me doubts about how this suspension handles pot holes. I would be interested in hearing if there are Escape owners out there who haven't had issues with potholes or washboard roads driven at a very cautious speed. Even in our Nash we had to alter the fridge door to prevent it coming loose on rough roads, so putting a strap on a fridge doesn't phase me. Worrying about oven doors shaking loose does concern me, if it is common place on rough roads.

I don't want to invest in shocks if they aren't necessary or make the ride too stiff.

Bob K

[gbaglo]

I broke the bottom shelf on the fridge door, by loading it up with milk, juice and other large containers and driving a washboard, pothole road for 45 minutes at 60 KPH ( 40 MPH ).
I've had the fridge door open on me on the same road so it's now bungee'd.
Other than that, it's all good.

[azjack]

I've had the torsional axles for over 25 years on many trailers and would not consider anything else if I have a choice. Right now I have a 15 foot tilt bed car/multi motorcycle trailer and the 21. The 21 with tandem axles rides very smooth with one axle at a time hitting the pot holes. I also feel that at least a partial load on a trailer helps. If my single axle car trailer is empty it will bounce some when the road is rough or on pot holes, it does not have a WDH. When I towed a 17 Casita behind the F-150 without a WDH I did bounce a TV off the bed when using the CA truck lane on I-5, a single bar WDH fixed that problem by stoping the bounce of the trailer without adding shocks.
This is my experience!
Jack

[Dave Walter]

I have no idea whether spring suspension would improve the ride, probably would. I do know that the torsion suspension gives a ride in the trailer that is much much rougher than inside my tug. If you are traveling just slow enough for the ride in your tug to become tolerable, slow down some more because all of the crap in your trailer is likely bouncing around and you are going to break something. I know.

[Donna D.]

Pulling a travel trailer, any brand, has often been described as an earthquake going down the road. What I worry about the most is the plastics inside the refrigerator. Milk jugs and cans bouncing up and down could break the innerds. It can be repaired, but will always be less than attractive. Slowing down for the road conditions seems to be the best advice.

[Bobbito]

I appreciate the feedback. I already go very slow when towing on potholed roads, based on past experience with things flying around. Our first trip down a rough road with our Nash (springs & shocks) resulted in our trailer floor and lower wall becoming an art canvas, with Basking Robins Chocoloate Mousse Royal and spaghetti sauce providing the mediums and a cabbage rolling around the floor acting as the paintbrush. It took half and hour to clean up and had me modifying our fridge to prevent a reoccurrence. As long as the Escape's suspension isn't worse than the spring suspension with shocks on the Nash I will be okay with it.

Regardless of whether we can get shocks on the Escape, I plan on following others' leads in securing the fridge door.

I believe that spring suspension without shocks would be a far rougher ride than with the rubber torsion suspension. So if I had a 5.0 TA I would want shocks added. I wonder how the rubber torsion suspension stacks up against that?


Bob K

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

Also I have a couple of questions about the rubber torsion axles on the Escape 21.

1. Is the range of vertical motion for a wheel with this rubber torsion axle any more or less than if the axle was on springs?

2. Is there any chance that adding shocks might result in too stiff a response to big bumps and potholes?

1. No, the manufacturer lists this data for all of their suspension systems - including leaf springs - and standard-length leaf springs and Torflex have similar travel. Good question, though. Either type of spring (as well as other types of springs) can be used to custom-build suspensions with longer travel, but the stock systems are all pretty similar.
2. AL-KO offers shocks (dampers) for their rubber torsion axles in Europe, and has three ratings depending on the mass of the trailer; it is possible to over-damp a suspension. On the other hand, a shock absorber would need to be extremely stiff to be too stiff for a Torflex, and the retrofit kit makes use a commonly available shock which is not too much for even an empty Escape trailer.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Hhmmmm, I wonder if ETI would build a 21 with springs like on the 5.0 TA?? anyone know the answer?

I certainly can't speak for ETI, but I have no idea why they would customize the brackets on the frame to mount a suspension which is generally considered inferior and might not fit with the tanks and plumbing under the floor.

Originally Posted by Bobbito

I guess I'm still not quite sure shocks are necessary. On the one hand I've read good things about the rubber torsion suspension on forums of horse trailer owners and so on. On the other hand in this Escape forum I've read of fridge and oven doors coming off, giving me doubts about how this suspension handles pot holes.

Horse trailer owners find that rubber torsion suspensions (including Torflex, but I have heard that they particularly like UCF's Flexiride) work better than leaf-sprung beam axles. That doesn't mean that the ride is smooth - only that it is better than the bad alternative.

Every RV of every brand with every type of suspension has issues with road bumps.

Originally Posted by azjack

I also feel that at least a partial load on a trailer helps.

Absolutely - a trailer weighing much less than the weight for which the suspension is designed will be too stiffly sprung and have poor ride and control. This is why the rubber in the suspensions of the Escape 19' and 21' are trimmed to match a load which is appropriate for the trailer, rather than suited to the whole 3500 pound per axle capacity of the hardware.

Originally Posted by ice-breaker

I have no idea whether spring suspension would improve the ride, probably would.

Why would you expect that?

Originally Posted by ice-breaker

I do know that the torsion suspension gives a ride in the trailer that is much much rougher than inside my tug.

Yes, essentially all trailer suspensions - whether the springs are rubber or steel - are far too stiff and far too poorly damped to provide ride similar to our tugs. Compare a trailer's leaf-spring suspension and a light-duty pickup truck's leaf-spring suspension of similar capacity - the springs are very different, the truck has shocks, and the ride is quite different, even though both have leaf springs.

Originally Posted by Bobbito

ISo if I had a 5.0 TA I would want shocks added.

So would I, but Reace included a rubber-cushioned rocker (the Dexter E-Z Flex) to soften and dampen the 5.0TA suspension, so damping has been at least partially addressed.

[Bobbito]

Thanks Brian. The fact that they have these shocks available in Europe suggests there is a need for them. I guess this may all be moot if there isn't a shock solution available in time for our build sheet deadline. I made some calls about getting Al-Ko shocks, but didn't get anywhere with it. I will be interested to hear what Widget Wizard comes up with.

Bob K

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

I guess this may all be moot if there isn't a shock solution available in time for our build sheet deadline.
...
I will be interested to hear what Widget Wizard comes up with.

Since there is no shock absorber option offered by Dexter Axle for the Torflex, I think it's a choice of custom-build, aftermarket, or nothing. I have not seen any indication that ETI is interested in including shocks at build time. In all of those cases, I don't think that there is anything to arrange with ETI: I agree that you can just look at what's available when you get the trailer, and decide what if anything you want to add. Fortunately, the proposed aftermarket shock kit is designed to be installed later.

[widgetwizard]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Since there is no shock absorber option offered by Dexter Axle for the Torflex, I think it's a choice of custom-build, aftermarket, or nothing. I have not seen any indication that ETI is interested in including shocks at build time. In all of those cases, I don't think that there is anything to arrange with ETI: I agree that you can just look at what's available when you get the trailer, and decide what if anything you want to add. Fortunately, the proposed aftermarket shock kit is designed to be installed later.

Sorry for the delay in responding - not been around on this forum for a while.
What Brian says is right - whatever we come up with will be an aftermaket add-on. ETI will not be offering them as part of the build.

-- Jim

[MyronL]

RE: Road Damage... I was reading that thread on chrome pitting.

Good news/bad news: Had not given it a prior thought, so then went out to look/see for chrome pitting. Good news is, my chrome's looking just as good as new. The bad news is, my inspection found something unexpected, a busted front curb-side marker lens. Have no clue when it got busted. We just did 2,300 mile trip that included dirt roads. Never heard it happen.

Guess I should be happy that rock hit the lens instead of the gel coat.

[gbaglo]

Better than losing the fog light lens on a RAV4, which requires hours of re and re, costing about $400.

[Bobbito]

Originally Posted by woodie

... the best fishing spots don't have paved roads.I also have noticed some pitting on the front of the trailer from flying rocks. I was thinking of getting some of that protective clear film you can get for cars ,put on the front.

We ordered the front storage unit for our Escape 21. ETI said that it served to protect the trailer from flying rocks. Can anyone with one of these storage units and with extensive gravel road experience tell me how they handle the flying rocks? Would you recommend putting additional protection on the front as Woodie describes on the front of his Escape 15 or does the unit already have rock protection on the front side?

Bob K

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

We ordered the front storage unit for our Escape 21. ETI said that it served to protect the trailer from flying rocks. Can anyone with one of these storage units and with extensive gravel road experience tell me how they handle the flying rocks? Would you recommend putting additional protection on the front as Woodie describes on the front of his Escape 15 or does the unit already have rock protection on the front side?

Bob K

The front storage box protects the lower 1/2 of the front of the trailer quite well from rocks. The upper 1/2 of the trailer is not protected at all, however, most of the rock hits occur lower down. We have not towed too much on gravel (enough to get a feel for though). However, the box itself is covered with a fairly rough textured protective coating, something like a bed liner in a truck. It seems to stand up quite well to rock hits, but because of the rough surface, is sometimes quite difficult to clean the bugs and tar off.

I am happy that we have the storage box, as it does seem to add a significant amount of protection to the front of the trailer itself.

[Bobbito]

Thanks Dave. I didn't remember the durable finish on the storage unit.

Bob K

[santacruzer]

I believe they just started putting the "rougher" finish on the storage boxes. My 2012 17 had a smooth box, the new 19 has the rough finish. I can see where the rougher surface will be a little more difficult to clean, but it won't show a ding as badly as a smooth surface.

[MyronL]

Here's the next best thing you can do... love a serious mud flap. Guessing for high flying objects nothing works as well as keeping far far away from that big truck in front of you.

[float5]

Originally Posted by santacruzer

I believe they just started putting the "rougher" finish on the storage boxes. My 2012 17 had a smooth box, the new 19 has the rough finish. I can see where the rougher surface will be a little more difficult to clean, but it won't show a ding as badly as a smooth surface.

Our 2011 has the rough finish on the box. We scrub it with a stiff brush.