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Originally Posted by trailerman
The owner was going to make a post on the trailer performance after he came back from a trip to Baja. I've been holding off so as not to take any wind out of his sails.
The AT system is a vast improvement over the standard axle, but it would sound more convincing coming from the trailer owner rather than me.
I'm convinced he will find the handling much improve, as the original stock axle had been installed upside down with the arch of the axle bowing upward causing a negative camber.
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Martyn,Dave,
Sorry for not responding earlier. Life intruded in a big way last year, and I just plain forgot to post my experience with the trailer. I also don't visit this forum too frequently...my bad.
Embarrassingly, the trailer was not used extensively: only three major trips. The big one would be when I loaned the trailer to buddies to go down to Baja to windsurf at Punta San Carlos. I couldn't go.
Let me give a little history: They used the trailer once, before the conversion. The top of the trailer had Yakima tracks on which I mounted Thule/Gorge racks so that three boards can be mounted on each side. The inside of the trailer was stuffed with the masts, sails, booms, and all the other windsurfing paraphernalia. They were careful on the way down. But on the way back, at one of the hidden topas, they didn’t slow down in time. The shock of the bump tore the racks off the tracks on one side and the feet subsequently buried themselves in the fiberglass top. No one knew about this until at the checkpoint at San Yisidro. The damage was repaired and I came to see you about a more compliant ride. After the conversion, I offered the trailer to the friends again. They were reluctant, but I insisted. I even wanted them to revisit that hidden topa to see how the shock dampening worked. For that scenario, I offered to cover all the incurred damages.
Well, they did find the topa on their way back and exercised the trailer. The guys watched the lack of bounce with amazement, since they were expecting the trailer to catch air. They now want to borrow the trailer all the time. I am currently in negotiations to go down to Punta San Carlos for free, with the loan of the trailer, of course. We’ll see how this works out.
The other two trips were less dramatic. I went back to Nebraska to visit the in-laws. They wanted me to haul a dresser (heirloom, ~150 lbs) back. The dresser had an oval 4’X3’ mirror that we detached and wrapped with bubble wrap. We laid it on top of the dresser inside the trailer. I drove from western Nebraska to Pueblo to our ranch property just west of there to camp for a couple of nights. Then we drove the interstate down to NM through AZ and home. The ranch property was just bare land and required a moderate amount of 4 wheeling to get to the flat spots. Average speed on the interstate was 70 mph. I just adjusted the preload air once, before leaving the homestead in NE. The mirror was checked at the camp on the ranch and when we arrived home. Everything was intact and did not shift! By the way, the trailer seemed to be tracking even better than before. There was absolutely no drama back there at all.
Finally, I went to Lake Isabella to windsurf, late in September. To get to the area near the water, sometimes 4X4 is required: soft or wet sand. Since I had the identical setup as the trip to Baja (racks/boards), I decided to drive a bit faster/recklessly around the lake front to see if the trailer would behave. Conclusion: I think that my Sportsmobile would have serious suspension damage long before the trailer would encounter anything that would cause it to take air, or flip. The compliance of the suspension over the rocks is outstanding. I no longer needed to air down the trailer tires to add some cushioning to the trailer contents. All I have to remember is to adjust the preload height via the airbags after loading and before the trip. Then I need not care what’s happening back there.
Although the cost would seem steep to a lot of folks, the AT conversion has transformed the SMB trailer to be a couple of orders of magnitude more user/content friendly. This trailer does not just carry hard “adventure stuff encased in Pelican boxes” all the time, I actually use it to help people move houses, as well as haul home improvement ‘junk’ that us husbands must suffer through. So it’s nice to know that the “air ride” really works to keep the contents safe and with minimal shifting. If I had to do it again, I would in a heartbeat. Of course, I would also badger Mario into welding a nose cone to your trailer (for a longer interior length) so that I can buy yours.
Regards,
Peter
Sportsmobile (AKA Money Pit)
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