Wow, I now have the smooth-riding trailer that I expected to get from Ranger under my 2021 RT198P from the start. The hard bounce is gone! It is like having a new trailer!

After asking tons of questions to Dexter, EMCO and eTrailer, I ordered and installed 1250lb, 3-leaf springs to replace the 1750lb, mono-leaf springs that were on the trailer from the factory. Since every bolt except the one attaching the equalizer to it's hanger had to be removed to install the springs anyway, I ordered and installed a wet bolt kit at the same time.

An engineer at EMCO shared that the friction between the leaves of a multi-leaf spring help to control the rebound and movement of the spring as it compresses. He said that mono-leaf springs, which they also make, will be more bouncy because of this lack of friction.

The old springs were DEFINITELY overrated for the actual load. I went to a CAT scale and my package weight was 3240lbs and 2840lbs sprung weight (subtracting the tongue weight). The install took my trailer spring capacity from 7000lbs down to 5000lbs. While that is still way above the actual load on the springs, I can now see and feel the springs compressing over road bumps.

I also changed tires from the 215-width Kenda/Loadstar tires to 205-width Provider tires. A local guy who has built trailers for 40 years thought my tires were the problem when I went to see him about my trailer bounce. While I thought to myself he is trying to sell me tires, I was BLOWN AWAY by how much better the Provider tires rode when he put them on and promised to take them off no charge if I did not like them after a long test ride.

With the wet bolts, brass bushings, beefier shackle straps, and higher-quality bolts and nuts, my trailer is now as quiet as a church mouse!

I HIGHLY recommend to anyone having trailer bounce more than normal or ride quality issues with their trailers that they look at their spring ratings and get CAT scale weights of their actual loads.