Why so many suspensions

Reyco four spring, cheap to rebuild, probably cheap to buy originally, light weight but no traction empty.
Volvo (spring) suspension, BGT18 and 20 from the 80's was really good. Rest of the truck, not a fan.

V8Ian wrote:

Well Paul,

Mack.Camel back apparently offer the best articulation amd traction

Certainly have the harshest ride
And bump steer.

Please explain further, news to me

Walking beam trailer suspension is simple and last for ever pretty much
Air bags are the go for a smooth ride
Normal spring suspension never gets a air or perished air bag

Walking beam, as in Hendrickson is 100% load sharing and pretty much maintenance free. A superior ride to almost every other type can be had by fitting two stage springs. 

There is a air ride conversion for the Hendrickson

Type of walking beam I was thinking of was only walking beam, springs at all on low loaders

Who remembers that cable suspension some WA trailer manufacturer used in the 70's and 80's ?
Apparently was robost on harsh conditions

Wasn't that developed by a Taswegen and used on log jinkers? May have been Elphinstones.

may well of been, brain isnt as good at remembering as it was a few years ago

Goth was another Australian company that made truck suspension with lots of moving parts but apparently road like air and handled even better

Air is not the be all and end all, we were all lead to believe. It's definitely not load sharing and the ride is not all it's cracked up to be. 

I have never owned airbag anything so I dunno much about them

Nobody has mentioned Reyco or Page and Page.

Reyco 4 spring rides brilliantly, best ever in my opinion, but as Southbound suggests, has poor traction when empty.

I well remember automatically letting my foot off the throttle whenever crossing a street drain or gutter, to avoid wheelspin when empty.

Brett.

Elphinstone developed their own trailer suspension called TriBeam .. articulated very well off road

The TandemTrac lazy fitted to a lot of butterboxes in the b60s and 70s was an odd one....IH factory original...........another odd one was the Leyland Four spring /Non- Reactive with all sorts of lever s and linkages to fix when they got worn.

How about White "Velvet ride" I think it was called

oh yeah baby

 


Paul

And bump steer.

Please explain further, news to me

Excuse the tardiness of my reply, Paul.
As the camel back spring loads up, the axles obviously move apart. If only one spring loads, or one side loads more than the other, steering from the rear is induced. 
Mt. Cotton used to teach how this could be used to advantage, during cornering. 

I remember the International TandemTrac, we were forever welding all the cracks.

Not forgetting Peterbilts own Rubber Block Suspension
Dave

V8Ian wrote:

And bump steer.

Please explain further, news to me

Excuse the tardiness of my reply, Paul.
As the camel back spring loads up, the axles obviously move apart. If only one spring loads, or one side loads more than the other, steering from the rear is induced. 
Mt. Cotton used to teach how this could be used to advantage, during cornering. 

This is a advertised design feature of the Mack camel back

I thought bump steer was on the steer axle and it was when the axle moves up and on leaf springs the drag link from the steering box turns front wheels slightly as the geometry changes 
the drag link should be horizontal when at normal ride height to minimise the change over bumps

 

Paul