Does your damper need replacing on your trailer?
Are you getting a sudden thumping or ‘snatching’ at the rear of your towing vehicle when you apply the brakes? It’s probably reflection on the damper behind the hitch has seen better days, and it’s time for to be replaced or more still a trailer service.
Before replacing the damper it may be worth checking the adjustment of the brake shoes and the conditions of the brake cables. Sometimes badly adjusted brakes can have the same effect as a failed damper. As well as blistered or seized brake cables can cause issues with the braking system too.
The hydraulic dampers which are positioned within overrun couplings are pressurised so if they are working correctly, braking through your car would feel normal, and is pretty much nigh impossible to test by hand.
If the damper has failed you will be able to compress the coupling by pushing the coupling head and it will feel ‘springy’ or easy to manipulate.
Dampers are usually very reliable and can last for many years (or many miles), generally, the life of a damper can be shortened by lack of maintenance, bad driving habits or overloading of the trailers capability. Continued hard braking will shorten its life and even an emergency stop may bring the damper to the end of its life prematurely.
The most common cause for dampers to fail is the lack of maintenance or incorrect adjustment. Brakes should be checked and adjusted regularly (about every six months for the average trailer) this ensures that the damper does not take the full force of the overrun when braking occurs. A full road legal service should be annually unless the trailer undertakes hard daily work like a commercial trailer or livestock trailer where it carries out heavy work. Horse Trailers and Leisure Trailers are more suited to an annual service.
Does it sound like your trailer requires servicing? Then get in touch with us on ☎️ 01609 772449 or drop us an email here and we shall get back in touch with you to discuss an appointment date.
We regularly post on our social media pages about some of the trailers we see upon service. Catch us on both Facebook or Instagram.
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