"Tiny Tears" Teardrop Trailer Technical Tips Page

"Tiny Tears" Teardrop Camping Trailers

Technical Tips

Axles

10 January 2001

Here is some information on axles.

Selecting an Axle

Text: I'm having a hard time finding any technical articles on axle selection. So, I will give you my thoughts on it. Bear in mind that I do have a degree in mecahnical engineering which means I have some theory in my head. When I find my Mark's Mechanical Handbook I will update this information.

An axle/suspension system is a spring mass system. If it has a shock absorber in it then it is a damped spring mass system. When a spring mass system is perturbed (a bump in the road in our case here) it begins to oscilate. The variables that determine how much it oscilates is the mass and the spring constant. The way to calculate this is by differentiating Force = Mass x Acceleration, twice (a second order differential equation). All very exciting stuff. Basically though, what all this math tells you is the oscilation is a balance between weight and stiffness of the springs. So, if you have a light trailer you may not want stiff springs.

Society of Automotive Engineers