Need advice on reducing trailer bounce!

Based on your other thread, get it as close to level as possible, make sure your truck tires are aired up to the proper pressure for the weight that are on them, then look at replacement shocks for the truck.

When I replied, I was thinking porpoising, I.e., the teeter-totter effect on the trailer affecting the tow vehicle rear. Shock absorbers do not control that. Weight balance does. If the concern is the trailer appearing to bounce up and down excessively on its wheels, yup, get some shocks.

Snomas wrote:


The trailer is bouncing and I think the back of my truck could use some stiffing. I'm thinking of adding some air bags to inflate to stiffen my truck rear end. I can deflate them when not towing so I will get a normal ride again. What do you think?

Air bags are just an additional spring, you add them to restore ride height. Shocks dampen the rebound motion of springs and you add stiffer units if that is the problem.

GordonThree wrote:
What's bouncing, the truck or the trailer, or both?

The trailer is bouncing and I think the back of my truck could use some stiffing. I'm thinking of adding some air bags to inflate to stiffen my truck rear end. I can deflate them when not towing so I will get a normal ride again. What do you think?

I think once you add some weight to the front of the trailer with your belongings, you will have a much more steady ride. Try that and if that doesn't work, try tweaking the WDH and if that doesn't work, THEN consider some other alternative AFTER doing lots of research.

Describe bounce and your comparison as to why it appears to bounce more than it should. What is bouncing, truck, trailer or both?
WDH is not necessary for 500lbs tongue weight and your truck, but you may prefer it.

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
To the more experienced, knowledgeable and mechanically inclined, why are shock absorbers useless in tempering the bounce?

Did someone say that? Shocks are called, more correctly, dampers in some other countries and are for the purpose of controlling the rebound of a spring after a compression caused by a bump. I installed them on my trailer, the OP can do it as shown above.

Some concrete highways have a spacing of bumps that are a distance apart and not great enough to bring shocks into play so shocks will be of marginal help on those.

To the more experienced, knowledgeable and mechanically inclined, why are shock absorbers useless in tempering the bounce?

Normally, first check is tongue weight. Bump it up a bit to nearer 15%
Second, try to put more tension on your WDH spring bars to lock the TT to the TV more firmly. Different hitches use different methods to do that. Some involve tilting the ball mount back, others simply changing a chain position.

I have my first set of torsion axles and they are great.
Try to stay out of the truck lanes, and watch for harmonics in the undulations of highway beds.
Try different tension on your WDH. Might need more, but could need a little less.
I have a light trailer I haul canoes with. It has a short shackle on it. On some dirt road it will start to hop and literally bounce off the ground.
You might need more or less tongue weight.