REAL LIFE STORIES FROM THE ROAD

REDUCING ROAD SHOCK & VIBRATION FOR RVs

by Jerry Neal of iLoveRVlife

When we purchased our new Montana 5th wheel, we knew something had to be done to protect our investment. We have plenty of experience from the impact of rough roads we experienced with over 8 years of travel and 60,000 miles from our previous 5th wheel. Experience from the shock of pot holes, bridge access and departure, on top of the miles and miles of uneven Interstate concrete, found the constant impact either breaks or adds substantial wear to our RVs.

“The roads had been beating it to death!”

We started our investigation at the rst of the year for a system that would signi cantly reduce the shock and vibration at the 5th wheel axle. We considered the complex installation of shocks or air bags to the 5th wheel axles, but nding the ease of installation, reasonable cost, and test data results for SuperSprings International’s Trailer SumoSprings, we had to install these units on our Montana.

WHAT ARE SUMOSPRINGS?

SumoSprings are made from a micro-cellular polyurethane. The Trailer SumoSprings are designed to remove road sway, hop, and vibration. The two key bene ts for SumoSprings was no maintenance and the airless air springs increase of overall driver control and ride comfort when towing.

Our goal after the installation of the Trailer SumoSprings was to keep suspension rebound to a minimum when navigating rough roads for a much smoother ride.

Trailer SumoSprings can be installed on various axle configurations including spring-over axle, spring-under axle, and for trailers frames that have springs off-set from the axles. For springs off-set from the axle, an optional contact plate is available from SuperSprings International for these installations.

A set of SumoSprings comes with all parts needed for a each axle – two micro-cellular polyurethane springs, all hardware with brackets, bolts, spacers, thread lock tight, even a gas line kit for when trailer installations require moving the propane gas line to make space for the springs.

WHAT CONVINCED ILOVERVLIFE WE NEEDED SUMOSPRINGS?

I was a large infrastructure engineer in the telecommunication industry for over 30 years. I held a number of roles where my teams were responsible for the entire communications of large cities and worldwide communications for some of the largest US based corporations and government installations. Part of our operations included labs to test products prior to use.

I was impressed that SuperSprings International went steps above other RV suspension manufacturers, scienti cally proving that their products work. Viewing their website, I found charts and a video showing their testing process and results.

They put their money where their mouth is and I was sold.

INSTALLING THE TRAILER SUMOSPRINGS

Before I installed them, I brought my back jacks up so that all the weight was on the axles so that I could measure how much space there was between the axle and trailer. This allowed me to make sure that about a quarter to half an inch of the SumoSpring would be engaged and have some tension before I headed down the road.

Now I had a gas line on the driver side of my 5th wheel that I had to move over about an inch and SuperSprings International provides a kit for this but I didn’t need it, I just reversed my clip which gave me plenty of room for the springs to operate and not rub up against the line.

Once I got the bottom brackets loosely attached to the leaf spring I measured the gap. The springs I got are 4" tall and I had a 3 ¾" gap which t the SumoSpring, without the use of any spacers, perfectly. I took the brackets back off and assembled them with the SumoSprings and the provided bolts then mounted them to the leaf springs and finished tightening them down. Overall I am very impressed with how simple the installation was and that they even provided extra parts and brackets for moving the gas line.

I was so con dent in this product that I put a ll glass of water on the table inside our camper and drove down the road. My wife, Joan, was not as sure about it and let me know that I would be cleaning it up myself. But sure enough when I pulled over and went in to check on it, it was in the same place. I thought that was pretty incredible.

Not an inch moved or a drop spilled.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Bottom line, Trailer SumoSprings work. We found SumoSprings to be affordable and easy-to-install giving our Montana 5th wheel a noticeable improvement when traveling on rough roads. To learn more about Jerry & Joan’s RV adventures, visit iLoveRVlife.com