Comfort Ride Slipper Spring system w/shocks

I wouldn't recommend that system. No equalizer, means you have to to perfectly level or you will have unevenly loaded axles and tires if not level. The ride will be stiffer, on uneven roads, you will have each axle loading and unloading.

Thanks for the input. The manufacturer puts forward the idea that not having an equalizer actually helps the trailer ride better since the axles work independently.

But this is why I wanted some input.

Slipper spring setups used to be more common, especially on lighter trailers, but went away when the centre equalizer system came on the scene. There's no problem with unlevel, or stiffness, as suggested above. The main issue in their demise was wear in a non-replaceable area, mainly the pad welded to the frame. Shackles and bolts became wear points, but are easy to swap out.

fj12ryder wrote:
I was just reading about this product: Comfort Ride Slipper Spring system w/shocks , and thought it looked pretty cool.

I think I may upgrade to 8,000 lb. axles next year and this looks like it would be a good suspension upgrade. But I don't think I've ever heard of them before. The upgraded system fits over the equalizer hanger and is bolted in place, which would might make it possible to be done at home.

Has anyone every heard of, seen, or know of such a system on an actual trailer? I'm very interested in Pro's, Con's, assorted opinions, no matter how far afield they may wander. Hit me with them all!!

TIA

Howard

If you want to "upgrade" this is what you should do.

Front slipper springs are about a $20,000 option over shackles and equalizer springs on the front of a twin steer 40k front Kenworth C500. They come with replaceable wear pads. Makes the truck more flexible off the flat road.

Back to regular programming.

I have an old diy flatbed made out of a tandem travel trailer chassis. It has slipper springs and equalizer, everything greaseable. It rides really nice, loaded or not.

Thanks for all the input, it's looking better and better.

Thanks for the suggestion Cummins, but that would probably double the amount of money I spent already for the whole trailer. :) Maybe with an unlimited budget...

fj12ryder wrote:
Thanks for all the input, it's looking better and better.

Thanks for the suggestion Cummins, but that would probably double the amount of money I spent already for the whole trailer. :) Maybe with an unlimited budget...

The way I always look at investments is the basic cost is a certain amount. The price I look at is the amount above to get what I really want.

The get what I really want argument usually wins. :B

fj12ryder wrote:


Has anyone every heard of, seen, or know of such a system on an actual trailer? I'm very interested in Pro's, Con's, assorted opinions, no matter how far afield they may wander. Hit me with them all!!

Hi,

I ran into this several years ago when it was being developed. Roadmaster I "think" bought the rights to the system.

Here is where it started back in 2015/2016. The system was called the Liberty Rider suspension with the Joy Rider shocks. The shocks could be done separate if wanted.

Here is some info on the original setup. An article from RV Pro, June 2017 https://rv-pro.com/news/liberty-rider-serves-smooth-ride-updated/

A Trailer Life article from March 2016 on the system. I can't link it directly it seem, but click on the link Trailer Life magazine article when this RvRideControl web site comes up http://www.rvimprovementsystems.com/liberty_rider.html

In that TL article it also talked about axle alignment adjusters in on the axle seats. I just saw this now. I do not think the new system has this feature, but I created a very similar adjustable axle seat and I have it on my 10K TT in my sig. I have a post here on RV net if you want to see it. I built my own.

Here is a testing video from April 2016 showing what went on inside the the camper before and after.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCW3ncx8ToE

Here is another testing video from March 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2-GReqUY-Q

Here is one of the original Joy Rider install videos by the Sonny Oct 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xofHjKQd3fo

This may be the early website of Sonny's company before the transfer to Roadmaster
http://www.rvimprovementsystems.com/products.html

In my case, in 2009 and 2010, I had already started upgrading my suspension with shocks, LT tires, self adjusting brakes, adjustable axle seats, heavier axle tubes, hanger reinforcement, upgraded brake wiring and the rubber equalizer before this slipper system was on the market.

You did not give many details on your trailer to know what you have now in suspension, but I'll pass along this tip to check out before you convert. Tire bump clearance with the inside of the wheel well. In my case I had to deal with a very low bump clearance between the OD of the tire and the inside of the wheel well under full suspension travel. My camper was setup from the factory lower then most and every upgrade in the equalizer area aggravated the problem. This forced me into longer hangers to create more lift of the camper but not going so high with an over/under axle conversion kit.

Point being, when you convert you will have independent wheel suspension and the ride height may change with the slipper center box. You may get more suspension travel and it may be starting at a different location then your original setup. I could not see different height center boxes for match up different hanger lengths campers on any of the offerings, including the Roadmaster.

If I did not have to rework so much, I may have gone to this slipper setup. Please report back how all this works out. And ideally a few pics.

Hope this helps

John

Thank you for the in depth information. It is very much appreciated, and will most certainly help with my decision on how to proceed.

My main problem with my toyhauler is I'm over my GVWR by about 500 lbs., which is why I'm leaning towards going to 8,000 lb. axles. And if I get 8,000 lb. axles, I'll need new suspension parts, and this system looks very interesting. I installed the EZ Flex equalizers on my previous toyhauler and it really helped with the ride of the trailer, especially over expansion joints and bridge joints.

You are welcome. I learned a lot the hard way, so figured passing the findings along may help someone else.

I had the EZ Flex when they first came out. Dexter had issues with the rubber from a sub supplier then, it was too soft. They stood behind the warranty and gave me new ones. The EZ Flex in my case lowered my bump clearance which started a lot of work to get the clearance back.

When I upgraded to 16" LT tires, I had to deal with low bump clearance again and the Dexter, even the larger unit was a no go. I switched to the Trail Aire rubber equalizer and with some hanger adjustments I made it work. I'm still using the Trail Aire today.

Since you are changing the suspension, think of creating a way to adjust the wheel alignment. You may be into a hanger change to go from 1 3/4" wide to 2" wide on the bigger springs. There is the Lippert Correct Track system, and they used to have 2 style of hangers, one that incorporated the correct track in the hanger (a better setup) or the one you bolt on your existing hanger. The correct track is not as good as the adjustable axle seat which you can dial in what ever is needed, (within reason) but being able to adjust the axle position for sure helps. And, make darn sure the place welding the new hangers on, take extra care to place them close to perfect. You do not want to eat up all your axle alignment from a poor hanger location to start with. I had one hanger welded on 1/2" off position from the factory.

I can attest that having the axles aligned to Dexter spec's, tire wear is close to perfect for a trailer. If you plan on many miles before tires age out, it is worth creating an axle alignment method. I never found any fuel savings, but I for sure did find out how good true running wheels can be. And I aligned mine in my shop.

If you do not have shocks now, they make a major difference. The shocks tame down the number of suspension oscillations after the bump. Before I added shocks, my long camper would flex up and down 6 full cycles after just about any little bump. It would do more on larger bumps. After the shocks, it went to 1 full cycle and stopped. Yes, that dramatic. It was amazing and took all that extra flexing out of the camper and frame. A good thing if you plan on keeping a camper a long time.

Since your toy hauler is that heavy, read up on frame cracks. Make sure your trailer has the right left to right hanger support and hanger attachment support to the main frame rail. They are still making trailers without enough support at the hanger area which can and will result in cracked frames, especially off road camping as the flex in the system is worse. I worked through this too.

You are doing the suspension upgrade, don't stop short and make sure you fix all the issues. It is sad that many of the camper manufactures do not offer a heavy duty or off road upgrade package from the start. This is all doable a lot easier and cheaper from day one. And less heart ache on the owner dealing with the problems after the fact.

Good luck

John