Why Are Shackle Straps Hitting Frame When Re-Building Trailer Suspension

Question:

I have a 1992 pro design car trailer ,I got the APT8 kit and TRSL313 shackles to rebuild it,my question is the spring shackles point away from the center of the axles both with old set and new set they also hit the frame how do I go about changing this. Im using the bracket that came on the trailer they are-front and rear are 1.5 inch and the center is 3.25 inch bracket center hole to hole is 28.It has 3500 lb.spring 25 1/8.Any help would be great.Thanks

asked by: Curtis M

Expert Reply:

The problem seems to be mostly that your shackle straps are hitting the frame, and the reason for this is almost certainly because the 3-1/8" Shackle Strap # TRSL313 you are using are too long. The other possibility was the hangers being too short but that is unlikely considering the lengths you gave. What I recommend is trying out the 2-5/8" shackle straps from the the # APT8 kit you have, as those are the typical length for a tandem axle trailer, while 2-1/4" straps such as # TRSL225 are generally used on single axle trailers.

I have added links to a couple help articles as well on trailer suspension which you may find to be useful.

expert reply by: Kyle S