How to Fix Simplicity Suspension Issues? (Expert Guide)

In this brief article we are going to discuss the different Simplicity Suspension problems, what the causes are, and Troubleshooting Tips.

What are the most common Simplicity suspension issues? 

The most common Simplicity suspension issues are:

• Tyre Scrubbing
• Broken Hitches

Simplicity Suspension Set-up

The Simplicity Suspension is a load sharing independent suspension designed especially for vehicles that need to be in Off-Road situations. 

The Simplicity suspension products are used by certain Leading Caravan Manufacturers, Agricultural Equipment Manufacturers and Commercial Transportation Companies.

Different Types of Simplicity Suspension Products

Simplicity Smart Coil

The Simplicity Smart Coil is available as both in a single axle configuration as well as tandem axle. The Smart Coil features a coil spring with progressive spring rate. This is particularly useful in maintaining a steady ride height with increasing loads. The set-up is more suited to caravans that do more Off-roading.

Airbag tandem systems

Instead of Coil springs, there are tandem axles that  incorporate airbags. This setup is a more popular option for touring vans travelling mostly on motorways, with relatively lesser off-road travel. The set-up is more oriented towards ride comfort.

Leaf spring axle systems

Our leaf spring systems also feature a load-sharing type of design which closely resembles the Boogie configuration that came from railway cars. The main advantage is full wheel articulation, without requiring shock absorbers, since the interleaf friction takes care of the damping. Available in single and tandem systems.

Tyre Scrubbing

• Uneven Tyre wear on the wheels
• The reason this happens is due to the tires missing their alignment 
• The best way to deal with  it is to get the alignment done at a place that does alignment for Trucks. Car and Van alignment shops might not be able to do a good job.
• If an alignment did not solve the issue, then it might be the case that the axles are bent. 
• In order to check axle bened, you can use a straight edge plank or a sheet-metal channel of roughly 1-2 mtr and place it over the edges of both the tyres on the sidewall.
• Ideally, there must be no gap between the tires and the plank. If there is a gap, then it means that there is an issue with either of the axles

Broken hitches

• Caravan Hitches broken
• In some extreme cases, caravans rolled over with extensive damage

Root cause for Roll-over

• The Rollover happens due a phenomenon called Harmonic Resonance
• Resonance happens when the trailer suspension follows the “Ruts” created by the Tow vehicle

Resonance means that a certain vibrating object ‘A’ reaches peak amplitude when it is excited by another vibration of a frequency that is close the natural frequency of the object ‘A’

• The Tow vehicle itself has a suspension and that too undergoes massive vibrations in a situation where the road excitation frequency is very close to the natural frequency of the suspension. 

Natural frequency of the suspension is a certain frequency at which the suspension tends to vibrate on its own without the need for external input excitation.

• When the Tow vehicle undergoes this kind of peak vibration, it creates “Ruts” on the wet muddy surfaces. These ruts on the wet track are an imprint of the vibrational frequency at which the towing vehicle’s suspension is oscillating.
• The Trailer/Caravan follows this pattern and gets excitation inputs. When these are excessive, the caravan tends to roll over, thus breaking the Hitch.

• The solution to this sort of problem is to widen the Tyre track of the Caravan/Trailer to be much wider  than the Towing vehicle’s rear tire track. This will avoid the Caravan following the rut of the towing truck/SUV/Pickup.

Conclusion

In this brief article we have discussed the different Simplicity Suspension problems, what the causes are, and Troubleshooting Tips.