Shock absorbers play a very important roll as part of the integral suspension on an off road trailer, especially when traveling on our very rough corrugated roads up north. Shockies on the suspension for kilometre after kilometre of corrugations & potholes are essential.
Shock absorbers help in the rebound of the leafs or coils. Without shockies the spring will rebound with equal force to that it was depressed resulting in the fatigue of components which can lead to their eventual failure.
There is a type of leaf suspension with small reverse leafs positioned on the top side to reduce the rebound force of the main leafs. This is known as rebound leaf suspension and do a similar job to that of a shock absorber.
Get under a top of line off road camper at the show, leaf or coil, & see how they are setup. The suspension has been developed after years of use. These guys wouldn't be selling campers if they had suspensions that failed. All use shockies on their off road models.
If you travel on the blacktop with only the occassion trip over corrugated road to the national park or state forest, then shockies are not necessary.
Having a suspension too stiff is just as bad as having it too soft. There is no comprise, you must have it right if you are traveling off road. The suspension either too soft or too heavy over endless corrugations will shake everything to pieces inside the trailer as well as the trailer itself & can cause components to fatigue & break.
Start by calculating your intended load when away on a trip & you should be able to match the leafs/coils, axle & bearings to that weight.
Slipper springs are not the right choice for off road work. The majority of off road camper trailers use eye to eye leaf or independent coil suspension.
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2011 Jeep JK Wrangler Unlimited CRD Sport 5 speed auto
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