[VAC] Re: Shocks...again.

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jamie,
 The purpose of shock absorbers is to control the rebound of the
suspension springs, whether they be actual leaf springs or the rubber
'springs' in the Dura-torque axles. Years ago, it was common to see a
car with bad shocks that you could bounce on the bumper and it'd
continue bouncing; today's shocks seem to be longer-lasting, as I've not
seen that in recent years.

If you have no shocks, the trailer will tend to bounce up and down after
hitting a bump. This makes it ride terribly and it's quite a bit less
safe; tires that bounce off the ground have no contribution to the
trailer's staying in line. The only reason I can think of that a trailer
manufacturer can get away with not using shocks is that people seldom
take a ride in their trailers, so are unaware of just how badly they
ride. Bad/missing shocks will cause a worse ride, which tends to shake
things loose. When I bought new trailer tires, the dealer didn't want to
balance them, mumbling some B.S. about "trailers don't need the tires
balanced". My retort was that the trailer goes the same speed as the tow
vehicle and is subject to the same laws of physics and needs the tires
balanced just as much. Same thing as with the shocks, if your tow
vehicle needs 'em, why wouldn't your trailer?

                                          <<Jim>>