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Northeast Overland is Maine's leading self reliant adventure travel community in the Northeast Region of the U.S. Led by a Registered Maine Guide, you can be sure that you'll have an unforgettable adventure all while we TreadLightly!


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Mr. Mike
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    Post by MtnClimber Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:34 am

    Barrows wrote:So I was looking over my saved links and the first blueprint picture is a Toyota Sienna van axle it and the Astro van use a 5x4.5 bolt pattern and coils/trailing arms.
    Perfect. So you have some blueprints for your trailer build. You saw how advantageous mine was at VOT, and I have more room in my XJ than your TJ! Razz But I also had Maliki...


    Last edited by MtnClimber on Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:00 am; edited 2 times in total
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    Post by AllanR Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:22 am

    IIRC Astro Van is NOT 5x4.5 It is 5x4.75 Like every other S10 based vehicle

    Lots of options for you Jareb, Seems like your leaning towards Coil's ..
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    Post by Barrows Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:29 am

    I misspoke about the bolt pattern on the astro, it is 5x5 like the 2wheel drive fullsize trucks. It is not the same as the s10 based vehicles.
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    Post by muffinman Thu Aug 15, 2013 3:11 pm

    what about seeing what harry j smith could build u for a leaf pack like a two pack leaf one being your main the other being as long as your main with curled tips so if one broke u would allways have the second one to back it up just thinking outloud
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    Post by MtnClimber Thu Aug 15, 2013 3:20 pm

    I just so happen to have a boat trailer out back with 33" long, 1 3/4" wide leaf springs. Spring hangers are $7.99 a pair. I'll try that route for now til I design and build my long arm trailer suspension.
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    Post by FKreider Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:33 am

    The leafs on my trailer are rated for 2500lb, they were three leaf packs and I took out the middle leaf. They have held up fine so far, however its still a brand new trailer only time will tell.

    Maybe what happened at the VOT was just a fluke thing from the rough trails? I've seen leaf springs break in all kinds of odd situations, sometimes it just happens.

    I do plan on offering shocks on my trailers as an "upgrade" option, but with all the test running I have done it seems that they aren't neccesary with a little weight in the trailer, actually I think it problably takes bumps smoother than my jeep !

    It was very cool to see your trailer being used at the VOT!
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    Post by MtnClimber Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:00 am

    Frank, where'd you get your leafs from? I'm hoping the breakage was a fluke, but where it broke tells me I shoulda left the leaf in..
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    Post by Mr. Mike Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:05 am

    Off topic from the suspension, but I want to buy your fenders a beer, those things got worked hard last week and just smiled and took it. I am still in disbelief that they held up in some of those situations.
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    Post by MtnClimber Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:21 am

    There's two fenders... Cool 
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    Post by Guest Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:32 am

    I am no engineer by any means, or do I play one on TV

    however thinking of how springs work it seems apparent that shocks would have a dampening effect upon the spring vibrations

    if you think of the suspension as in form of harmonics like a tire has going down the road, you are trying to maintain one within reasonable levels

    so if shocks keep the vibrations/harmonics within check it seems they are advantageous

    it might be that whatever broke the spring would have happened given the rough terrain & it was just too much anyways
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    Post by muffinman Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:45 am

    I don't know Ihave hauled alot of trailer over the years the only spring I every broke was on my snowmobile trailer and that was because it was over loaded and i hit a bump so hard i bent the axle and blew both tires and bent the tougne I think it was just a fluke thing
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    Post by MtnClimber Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:18 am

    This is the broken 4-leaf, 1750lb leaf pack. I removed the 2nd longest spring, the next one from the main leaf. With the removed leaf, the capacity is less. The four leafs are staggered in length equally. With the complete pack, the ride was harsh and not ideal. I couldn't carry enough weight to smooth out the ride, nor would I want to. Hence why I removed the 2nd longest leaf.
    I tried running lower air pressures to help with the jounce, but that only heightens my rolling resistance and could cause premature tire failure. This example is for paved roads. Off-road I air them down depending on conditions and load.  

    MtnClimber's Adventure Trailer - Page 3 IMG_20130817_105626_022_zps34d93a9a

    This is where the main leaf broke. Not an area that would normally have much, if any, stress if the pack was complete.
    MtnClimber's Adventure Trailer - Page 3 IMG_20130817_105633_256_zpsf7ccc5dd

    Here you can see how long the removed leaf is. This is to show where the break was in comparison to the removed leaf length.
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    MtnClimber's Adventure Trailer - Page 3 IMG_20130817_105746_745_zpsdc44928b

    I've tried running the stock 4-leaf set-up and it was very difficult to get the springs to budge. So I removed a leaf. BAM!, it broke. How soon til the other side breaks? I don't want to find out while I'm out in the willy-whacks. I'll toss in my boat springs, which are longer and offer a softer ride. Shocks will still go in at some point, but the boat leafs are free and this'll work for the NMW trip in 2 weeks.


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    Post by Guest Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:04 pm

    Oh man that makes much more sense now, here's my take of trying to understand

    it seems more wise to remove the shortest spring on the bottom & leave the others above

    however like you said it was too stiff of a ride

    it seems that each spring is in fact supporting the next one down from flexing too far

    so in essence it was like snapping a branch over your knee right where it broke

    & it needed the support of the one below that wasnt there & it snapped

    thats good to know, however you slice it
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    Post by AllanR Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:05 pm

    Great visual. I was thinking it broke closer to the eye. Food.for thought after setting the pictures.
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    Post by Guest Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:11 pm

    Honestly, as Im sure you are, I was very impressed with how far they made it. This isnt their first trip by any means and they have been through a lot of abuse and still held up pretty well. These are still the "stock" ones that Scott had put on originally right? If so, then I might go with a longer, larger set to try first but I wouldnt be to bummed out seeing as they did take quite the abuse, even after being altered which was probably past the given specs that they were tolerated for in the first place.

    It would be cool if you could some how get some Cherokee springs to work so that you could always bring a spare and it would cover both the jeep and the trailer.
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    Post by MtnClimber Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:31 pm

    Ya, I think I've used it more than Scott has/did Laughing 
    VOT was the first trip with the leaf removed, but the springs are barely 2 years old. I put the broken leaf pack back together and we'll see if TSC will swap 'em out for me.
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    Post by MtnClimber Sat Aug 24, 2013 9:26 pm

    New leaf pack & u-bolts installed on the passenger side tonite. 1750# leaf pack with the 2nd shortest leaf removed. Tomorrow the left side leaf pack gets "rebuilt".

    TSC wouldn't warranty the broken spring pack cuz it's been more than 30 days and I didn't have a receipt. So I had to call the manufacturer...yaa, cuz who's closed on the weekends. So I left a detailed message. Now we wait....
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    Post by MtnClimber Sun Aug 25, 2013 9:45 am

    Drivers side leaf pack has been reconfigured.....Off for a "road-test"...
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    Post by MtnClimber Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:43 pm

    This followed me quite well this past weekend although it doesn't care to drift around corners....

    Sooner-than-later upgrade will be LED tail lights. The filaments can't seem to stay intact with all the bouncing...

    Other than that a new floor is in order, fresh coat of paint before wintah, and the suspension & multi-axis hitch will get a revamp.
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    Post by MtnClimber Wed Sep 04, 2013 7:49 am


    I'm thinking the same but different that'll replace these:

    MtnClimber's Adventure Trailer - Page 3 IMG_20130621_151849_220_zps8f045202


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    Post by MtnClimber Wed Sep 04, 2013 7:57 am

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    Post by MtnClimber Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:08 am

    TSC reviews aren't so good, 50/50.

    Lowe's reviews are 100% x3

    I like the Lowe's ones.

    I could use some for the car trailer too.


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    Post by MtnClimber Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:11 pm

    Just ordered a pair of 39LED 1157 bulbs (white) for the trailer. Should arrive early next week. Cheap money too.
    I chose this style of LED bulb due to the way the bulb socket is situated. The bulb hangs down at a 30-45 degree angle towards the lense so I needed the light output to project in all directions.

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    Post by MtnClimber Thu Sep 19, 2013 11:14 am

    MtnClimber wrote:Just ordered a pair of 39LED 1157 bulbs (white) for the trailer. Should arrive early next week. Cheap money too.
    I chose this style of LED bulb due to the way the bulb socket is situated. The bulb hangs down at a 30-45 degree angle towards the lense so I needed the light output to project in all directions.

    MtnClimber's Adventure Trailer - Page 3 190482651360_1
    These came in today. Unfortunately I was mislead when the seller advertised these for trailer applications. They work "ok" as marker lights but do NOT function as brake/blinker lights. If you only needed them for marker lights, make sure you have ample reflective material in the housing or they're useless. The lumen output was not very impressive either.

    Back to the drawing board..
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    Post by AllanR Thu Sep 19, 2013 11:22 am

    Jareb, here is the LED guy I used. Give him a call/text and let him know what you are looking for.

    http://maine.craigslist.org/pts/3995797751.html

    I met him at a carshow threw another friend of mine. warranties most of his bulbs. easy to deal with and cheap.

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