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myredracer's avatar
myredracer
Explorer II
Sep 28, 2015

Upper shock mount broke clear off. Flippin' unbelievable!

Could have killed us: We had Monroe shock absorbers installed on our TT care of our dealer when we got it new in April of 2014. The dealer insisted they take care of it so they sent it down the st...
Huntindog's avatar
Huntindog
Explorer
Oct 01, 2015
myredracer wrote:
I just found the printed instructions from Monroe and they say "if adequate clearance is available between the frame and tire, then outside frame installation may be completed" so for Monroe shocks, I've not contradicted what should be done.
Yes adequate clearance is needed.
How that measurement is taken makes all of the difference.

I believe that it should be measured when the axles are distorted as in a tight turn. IOW Take the TT with NO shocks installed, and jackknife it in reverse as tight as possible. Stop and measure. If there is enough room for the shock body between the frame and tire with about a 1/2' to spare, I'd say it's enough.

Your pics show about that much clearance with the axles in their resting position...

Do you as an engineer think my way is the correct way to measure the clearance? If not, why not?

I won't accept "I would never do that to my TT" as an answer. You never know just what situation may arise, requiring such a manuever. The time to find out if it is a problem is not on a trip.

I am a pretty good welder. Laid a few miles of bead over the years. I am confident that I could weld your brackets so that the welds would not break... But then the next weak link would. Could be the shock, or the base metal of the frame etc. The point is that whether these welds are good or not is really not relavent.. In fact having them tear away probably did you a favor in a warped sort of way. No real harm was done, and you now have an opportunity to make some improvements.

As for the shock orientation, NO I was not refering to shocks that are installed for and aft of a drive axle to control wrap.
My design would have both shocks on the same side (front or rear) the shocks would be angled from the tie plate towards the center of the trailer.

I am still of the belief that the reason your not so heavy duty axles and springs don't flex as much as others in tight turns is that the shocks are binding. When things bind, usually something eventually breaks.... If you do my test without the shocks... You will see the problem.

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