- Location
- Michigan
My thoughts would be you do not want it to flex. I would think you would be more stable on the trail with the sway bar. I could be wrong
-
Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.
XJ Expedition Trailer
- Thread starter OutkastBoss
- Start date
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
Hmm I figured More flex less tip, I also could be wrong.
Anyone else have opinions on the rear sway bar?
I am curious what people think about this.
- Location
- Michigan
Ryan, chime in on sway bars?
When the body rolls to the left it pushes down on the sway bar also pushing down on the right side of the body keeping it more stable.
When the body rolls to the left it pushes down on the sway bar also pushing down on the right side of the body keeping it more stable.
DrMoab
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- The Utah Backwater
Flex is irrelevant on a trailer because your tongue does all that work.
If its swaying badly going down the road, put the sway bar on. If its stable, don't worry about it.
Seriously though you don't need to worry about flex on a trailer. Flex helps keep traction on tires that have power going to them. It doesn't matter on a trailer. Sway on a highway is a bigger issue though.
If its swaying badly going down the road, put the sway bar on. If its stable, don't worry about it.
Seriously though you don't need to worry about flex on a trailer. Flex helps keep traction on tires that have power going to them. It doesn't matter on a trailer. Sway on a highway is a bigger issue though.
XJ Eric
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Allegheny National Forest
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
Well looks like its probably going back on to be safe.
I was thinking the sway would allow the axle to tilt more and the trailer would tilt less.
I haven't had any problems with it swaying yet though so I may take it out on the test run as is idk.
I was thinking the sway would allow the axle to tilt more and the trailer would tilt less.
I haven't had any problems with it swaying yet though so I may take it out on the test run as is idk.
XJ Eric
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Allegheny National Forest
Fully load that trailer out when testing it. A loaded trailer can be a whole different animal.
kmanxj5050
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Reed City Michigan
This thing looks GREAT!!!!!
Root Moose
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- ON, Canada
You don't need a sway bar on a trailer... the suspension does not articulate per se. It just moves to absorb bumps.
If your trailer sways at highway speeds it's because the loading is wrong (too tail heavy).
Sway bars are mis-named - they don't do anything for sway. The correct name for a sway bar is "anti-roll bar" because it restrains body roll.
If your trailer sways at highway speeds it's because the loading is wrong (too tail heavy).
Sway bars are mis-named - they don't do anything for sway. The correct name for a sway bar is "anti-roll bar" because it restrains body roll.
DrMoab
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- The Utah Backwater
That trailer with its design could have a lot of "roll" on the highway with soft springs and a ton of weight up high. Those tents are deceptively heavy.
My trailer gets a lot of side to side roll or sway. I wish I had a way to put a sway bar on it.
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
Well I haven't updated this for a while. I believe last I posted we had just got it built, wired, painted and decided that the sway bar was a must.
We got it inspected and they loved it and of course it passed, I got a Plate and a Vin plaque followed a while later by a title in the mail. It is funny how validating that was to this project for me.
We got it done just in time for our trip to Moab for
's 3oth anniversary of the XJ event.
Even with the sway bar reattached it became apparent that the trailer had way to much sway from the old busted shocks and saggy leafs. With 1,000 mile trip towing it with our XJ ahead of us we stopped off at Chachis and threw in some extra leafs to try and stiffen it up and it seemed to help.
Here she is in CO most of the way up Hard scrabble just outside Westcliffe, CO
After the trailer cruised its first 1,000 highway miles to meet up with my dad for the Moab trip we slapped some cheapo gabriel shocks on it to try and tame it a bit more.
From my dads house we towed it on his trailer that it just barely fit on.
We got to Moab and met up with the awesome people from and we even scored a spot next to RAMROD. I wish I would of got a pic of the trailer tent set up next to his big MWC banner.
We started our week on an awesome 2 day run through Lockheart basin Lead by DrMoab where we put the trailer through it's first real trails.
It was awesome seeing the other guys trailers, Ryans m416 was impressive off road and Dave's conqueror trailer was impressively equipped with a bunch of goodies I would love to add to my build.
Here we start getting into really testing this thing out.
Here is a couple Videos of it on the trail
http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/Outkastboss/media/XJ trailer/Trailerwheeling_zps9abffb45.mp4.html
http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/Outkastboss/media/XJ trailer/Besttrailer_zpsd930876f.mp4.html
It did really well but we learned a few things from this trip out. For one if you plan on throwing some leafs in last second and driving 1,000 miles before you wheel taking the time to retorque the U-bolts is important .
Luckily for us there were great Naxja members there like Mark and Ed who were out of their rig in no time when we broke the centering pins on the trailer leafs allowing one side of the axle to shift back into the fender immobilizing the trailer.
We moved the axle out of the fender and tightened the U-bolts and were able to run the rest of the 2 day 100 mile Lockheart basin run and tow it home with the XJ another 1,000 miles.
We had a great time and wheeled the rest of the event with just the XJ,met a few new people and saw some MWC favorites.
I would like to say it was really awesome of Ryan and Aaron to let Chachi ride along on these amazing trails.
There wont be much progress on this for a while besides the 2 minor things I am doing to get it ready for Winterfest (next post)
I will maybe wheel it a bit at WF and use the Bottom room on our tent so I can get good Pics for the thread and keep testing this Thing out.
We have tons of pics but If you want you can go look at them here so as not to clog up this thread.http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/Outkastboss/library/Moab 2013?sort=3&page=1
I will however leave you with this one of camp taken by DrMoab.
We got it inspected and they loved it and of course it passed, I got a Plate and a Vin plaque followed a while later by a title in the mail. It is funny how validating that was to this project for me.
We got it done just in time for our trip to Moab for
's 3oth anniversary of the XJ event. Even with the sway bar reattached it became apparent that the trailer had way to much sway from the old busted shocks and saggy leafs. With 1,000 mile trip towing it with our XJ ahead of us we stopped off at Chachis and threw in some extra leafs to try and stiffen it up and it seemed to help.
Here she is in CO most of the way up Hard scrabble just outside Westcliffe, CO
After the trailer cruised its first 1,000 highway miles to meet up with my dad for the Moab trip we slapped some cheapo gabriel shocks on it to try and tame it a bit more.
From my dads house we towed it on his trailer that it just barely fit on.
We got to Moab and met up with the awesome people from
and we even scored a spot next to RAMROD. I wish I would of got a pic of the trailer tent set up next to his big MWC banner.We started our week on an awesome 2 day run through Lockheart basin Lead by DrMoab where we put the trailer through it's first real trails.
It was awesome seeing the other guys trailers, Ryans m416 was impressive off road and Dave's conqueror trailer was impressively equipped with a bunch of goodies I would love to add to my build.
Here we start getting into really testing this thing out.
Here is a couple Videos of it on the trail
http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/Outkastboss/media/XJ trailer/Trailerwheeling_zps9abffb45.mp4.html
http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/Outkastboss/media/XJ trailer/Besttrailer_zpsd930876f.mp4.html
It did really well but we learned a few things from this trip out. For one if you plan on throwing some leafs in last second and driving 1,000 miles before you wheel taking the time to retorque the U-bolts is important .
Luckily for us there were great Naxja members there like Mark and Ed who were out of their rig in no time when we broke the centering pins on the trailer leafs allowing one side of the axle to shift back into the fender immobilizing the trailer.
We moved the axle out of the fender and tightened the U-bolts and were able to run the rest of the 2 day 100 mile Lockheart basin run and tow it home with the XJ another 1,000 miles.
We had a great time and wheeled the rest of the event with just the XJ,met a few new people and saw some MWC favorites.
I would like to say it was really awesome of Ryan and Aaron to let Chachi ride along on these amazing trails.
There wont be much progress on this for a while besides the 2 minor things I am doing to get it ready for Winterfest (next post)
I will maybe wheel it a bit at WF and use the Bottom room on our tent so I can get good Pics for the thread and keep testing this Thing out.
We have tons of pics but If you want you can go look at them here so as not to clog up this thread.http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/Outkastboss/library/Moab 2013?sort=3&page=1
I will however leave you with this one of camp taken by DrMoab.
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
I am not planning on doing too much to this for a while but I do have a couple of things I need to do to get it ready for Winter Fest.
After I got home I took off the bumper cap on the side where the axle shifted into the back of the wheel well, the lower quarter panel must have been pretty rusted because when the tire hit it crumbled a big chunk of it out.
We are going to clean up the hole and weld some sheet in to fill the hole and seal it from the inside. It doesn't have to be a pretty repair because the bumper end cap will cover it up anyway.
I also want to stiffen the rear up so I was thinking of getting some cheap Full leaf packs like these stock HD ones 1.5" lift?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321151793092?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
or these 3-4" ones http://www.ebay.com/itm/330873196719?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
I am leaning toward t he 3-4" ones since as it sits the trailer tilts up a touch toward the rear of my jeep. It may eventually get 33's to match the Xj when I move it up to 33's later this coming year.
I figure it would be a waste of $ to get the matching Old man emu leafs that are on my XJ.
I wonder if I could get away with the cheap stock length shock since the sway bar wont let it move a whole lot anyway.
Any of the guys that saw this thing on the trails can tell you it needed stiffening up. Mark and Ed gave it the nickname the Weeble Wobble, after driving right behind us and watching it sway and hop and jump and bounce up on one tire.
Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down!
After I got home I took off the bumper cap on the side where the axle shifted into the back of the wheel well, the lower quarter panel must have been pretty rusted because when the tire hit it crumbled a big chunk of it out.
We are going to clean up the hole and weld some sheet in to fill the hole and seal it from the inside. It doesn't have to be a pretty repair because the bumper end cap will cover it up anyway.
I also want to stiffen the rear up so I was thinking of getting some cheap Full leaf packs like these stock HD ones 1.5" lift?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321151793092?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
or these 3-4" ones http://www.ebay.com/itm/330873196719?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
I am leaning toward t he 3-4" ones since as it sits the trailer tilts up a touch toward the rear of my jeep. It may eventually get 33's to match the Xj when I move it up to 33's later this coming year.
I figure it would be a waste of $ to get the matching Old man emu leafs that are on my XJ.
I wonder if I could get away with the cheap stock length shock since the sway bar wont let it move a whole lot anyway.
Any of the guys that saw this thing on the trails can tell you it needed stiffening up. Mark and Ed gave it the nickname the Weeble Wobble, after driving right behind us and watching it sway and hop and jump and bounce up on one tire.
Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down!
XJ Eric
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Allegheny National Forest
So jealous of you right now! It came out great and the fact you got to actually use it is awesome.
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
Well I got a good deal on new tires for the rig, if you haven't seen it its over here:http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1080904.
While I was spending money I got a set of 33/10.50 Bfg all terrains for the trailer.
I got them mounted with a HF tire changer and used HD Offroad balancing beads. I did not set the bump stops or test them on my ramp since I still need to replace the rear leaf with a stiffer pack, setting bumps would have been a waste of time .
As it sits, the axle is a bit crooked and has no centering pins through the leafs.
Here you can see the axle is pushed to the front of the wheel well, and the fresh repair in the rear from where it got crammed into the fender after the axle came loose and broke the centering pins. After I put on the bumper cap you wont see it.
I am still trying to decide on whether to get the Stock HD 1.5" or the cheap 3.5 full leaf pack. I am not sure how much lift the one random bastard leaf we put in gave us but it could use a touch more than it has to level it out when connected to the Jeep.
It already looks kinda tall to camp on but I guess I get a good view everywhere.
Recommendations welcome on the full leaf pack height you think would be better. Once I get the new leaf in I will get pictures of it connected to the Jeep and of bump stop testing.
While I was spending money I got a set of 33/10.50 Bfg all terrains for the trailer.
I got them mounted with a HF tire changer and used HD Offroad balancing beads. I did not set the bump stops or test them on my ramp since I still need to replace the rear leaf with a stiffer pack, setting bumps would have been a waste of time .
As it sits, the axle is a bit crooked and has no centering pins through the leafs.
Here you can see the axle is pushed to the front of the wheel well, and the fresh repair in the rear from where it got crammed into the fender after the axle came loose and broke the centering pins. After I put on the bumper cap you wont see it.
I am still trying to decide on whether to get the Stock HD 1.5" or the cheap 3.5 full leaf pack. I am not sure how much lift the one random bastard leaf we put in gave us but it could use a touch more than it has to level it out when connected to the Jeep.
It already looks kinda tall to camp on but I guess I get a good view everywhere.
Recommendations welcome on the full leaf pack height you think would be better. Once I get the new leaf in I will get pictures of it connected to the Jeep and of bump stop testing.
XJ Eric
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Allegheny National Forest
Maybe just get an extended shackle to add a little more height?
- Location
- Michigan
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
The existing leafs are worn out and I have too much sway on the trail so I want a full leaf, maybe I could do the shorter one and then add a 1.5-2" drop shackle that would give me some adjustment.
I was thinking if it ended up at 3.5 with the shacke at 2" and the 1.5" leafs it may not be as stiff as if i just got the 3.5" full leaf.
Maybe tomorrow when its light out I will search how to measure the current lift and see if I can get .5" more than that to even it out a hair without making it much taller.
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
I'm thinkin' it's 3.5" since the Jeep is 4" I think it would look better a touch more even but I don't really want it taller. I like the mount to the jeep as high as it is too I would rather leave it tilted a bit than put a drop there, I can just say it's for when the Jeep starts a steep climb.
I wonder If its only at 2-2.5" now because if so 3" would be good looks like I'm measuring tomorrow.
Last edited:
XJ Eric
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Allegheny National Forest
You could always go really cheap and do a lift block. Sway isn't really going to be controlled by springs. That's shocks and sway bars.
OutkastBoss
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saint louis
I don't see how loose saggy leafs could possibly have the same resistance as new ones. My friends XJ with new shocks, drop shackles and no sway bar can be pulled back and forth pretty easily and the old leafs arc and flatten easily.
On my XJ with no sway bar and new shocks/ leafs it has much more resistance before it starts to sway. and the leafs aren't flexing back and forth much at all.
It has the sway bar and while the shocks are new maybe it needs nicer ones. Stiffer leaves will help if we hadn't added the one before we left town I don't think we would have made it to Co and if we didn't add the new shocks I don't know if we would have made it out of Moab. It was pretty obvious that it swayed less with stiffer springs.
