Bike Trailer mods

[BillyGoat]

Just wondered if anyone had thoughts on this, can get more pictures if needed.

I've got a bike trailer that looks like this:

buggy.JPG (72.4 KiB) Viewed 9180 times

The wheels have little spindles that slot into the metal frame and are held on with split pins.

I wondered if anyone could think of a way of modding it to allow the use of some suspension like these:

suspension.JPG (39.56 KiB) Viewed 9180 times

It's alright on the road/tracks slowly but is TERRIBLE on any kind of tracks off the roads, which is why I wondered if it would be possible to add suspension, also it's different.

To buy one with that kindof stuff on bumps the prices upto the 500 quid+ mark which is silly money.

Any thoughts? I'm in one of those moods where I just keep looking, but it's just not leaping out to me. Might go take some pictures of the wheels and fixings if that would help.....?

BG

[dewaltdisney]

Hitch is your man for that Billy

DWD

[BillyGoat]

I'll hold out for the sagely one to return.... :D

[Razor]

You're never going to have enough weight for coilovers! Unless you are going in it yourself

Either fit a proper axle between the wheels and use leaf springs or you need to separate the body from the frame and isolate that from the bumps

[Inky Pete]

550lbs per shock absorber??!!!

Kid takes after you then does he BG?

[BillyGoat]

I wasn't thinking when I took the screenshot - I was actually thinking of mountain bike monoshocks.

hmmm leaf springs you say......

[pfb5]

I'm new here so I don't know you BG - do you do welding? Can you drill steel?

Could you do a pic. of the spindle/frame area with the wheel off? Perhaps from both sides - it looks like the spindle is mounted in a separate piece welded under the chassis. Or is the spindle secured into the wheel (I see it has a cap on the outer side) and the split pins are on the inside of the chassis. What does it use for a bearing, if that's the case?

I've seen this type of trailer but not up close.
_______
Paul

[Razor]

hmmm leaf springs you say......

Yep, you'd need to separate the body from the carriage, it's been done before

silver-cross-heritage-collection-balmoral-pram-9542-4247_zoom.jpg (90.97 KiB) Viewed 9108 times

[BillyGoat]

I'm new here so I don't know you BG - do you do welding? Can you drill steel?

Could you do a pic. of the spindle/frame area with the wheel off? Perhaps from both sides - it looks like the spindle is mounted in a separate piece welded under the chassis. Or is the spindle secured into the wheel (I see it has a cap on the outer side) and the split pins are on the inside of the chassis. What does it use for a bearing, if that's the case?

I've seen this type of trailer but not up close.
_______
Paul

My welding is terrible, as I found out when repairing the wifes MGF a couple of years back, drilling and stuff isn't a problem.

I'll do some proper pictures over the weekend of all the pins and check the wheels out to see if the spindles are removeable and post all the details up. It's quite a basic construction which means it folds away quickly, but I'd like moreeeeeee.

Mr Razor Sir Squire,

I've got to be careful about raising the ride height, it will affect the way it connects to the bike which I'll also put some pictures up of too.

Over and out, 4am start tomorrow....

[nick200]

BG, you don't need to raise it by much for leaf springs. Just type in car leaf spring and you will see or even look up go kart or golf kart leaf springs. It would need two fixing points to attach the leaf spring front and rear and attach the wheel to the middle.

Sounds like a cool project

[Grumps]

I would doubt that leaf springs, needing a fixed pivot at one end and a 'hanger' at the other, would work. You could consider quarter-eliptical springs, which require only one fixing point but, in either case, they would be heavy and possibly require some form of 'damping'.

Besides which, both wheels would need to be on the same axle so as to preclude any torsional forces on the springs.

Looking at this page it has what is called 'Elastomer' suspension which, I would presume to be very similar to the Indespension units for trailers that appeared in the..............1960's? Although, zooming into the image, there appears to be horizontal member joining the units together possibly, again to reduce torsional forces, but in this case as to how they relate to the chassis.

Perhaps you may be able to source the suspension units separately.

[Grumps]

Just found this:-

United States Patent 4193612
An elastomeric suspension system for wheeled vehicles includes an equalizing beam pivotably mounted about its center to a trunnion tube which is rigidly mounted to the frame of the vehicle. The trunnion tube is press fitted into an aperture in a trunnion rubber bushing which, in turn, is press fitted into an aperture in the equalizing beam. Near each end of the equalizing beam is an axle mounted transversely to the beam. Each axle has mounted thereon one end of a cylindrical elastomeric spring which is connected at its other end to the equalizing beam. A rebound shaft is slidably connected at one end to each axle and at the other end to each end of the equalizing beam to prevent excessive rebound of the equalizing beam with respect to the axles. Each axle is pivotably connected to a central portion of the equalizing beam through radius rods. The elastomeric rubber spring isolates a substantial amount of vibrations of the axle, particularly vertical vibration, from the equalizing beam. Each radius rod acts as a guide for the vertical movement of a respective axle. The trunnion rubber bushing further isolates any vibration of the equalizing beam from the trunnion tube.

So the 'horizontal member' is actually an equalizing beam mounted in a trunnion tube. It works in much the same way as the front suspension of a 'Moggie Minor'.

Either fit a thicker foam to the seat or try a Cycling forum.

[mikew1972]

A set of bicycle front forks (you'd probably get a set with wheel from down the local dump if the attendants are friendly and you bung them a fiver for a couple of beers) may be easier to work with ie. attach than a rear shock. The other option would be a much bigger fatter wheel and tyre - something like an oversize wheelbarrow tyre perhaps and no other suspension with the pressure kept quite low to absorb the bumps.

[Hitch]

BG....

A bit of modding to create a swinging arm setup would be nice i reckon.... easy enough... but can your really be bothered!?

Have a look here- simpler option