The Bounce

OMG! It is my least favorite thing about living in a trailer, and perhaps the one thing I have not gotten used to in 8 months. The bounce as people move about and the trailer frame flexes. You can feel it everywhere, but it's especially noticeable in the back (my bedroom) where the flex is the greatest. Some days I feel like I'm living on a trampoline!

When people walk around it creates a little bit of a jiggle, but my family has extra special bouncy talent it seems. The trailer really gets going when Morgan plays his Wii games - especially Wii Fit plus. (I can handle this a bit, but he loves to play these games first thing in the morning, which makes for one grumpy mama.) When he gets Bob playing a game with the balance board I'm amazed the trailer doesn't make horrible groaning noises from the forces applied to it. If I could just do away with the Wii, all my problems would be solved! - not really. (I already have a hate-relationship with the Wii, so I might be slightly biased against it.)

Morgan also likes to bounce and run from one end of the trailer to the other. Then we get both bounce and roll back and forth. (Running outside is apparently not nearly as fun!!!!) This is not a ship on the ocean, and yet, I've had moments of mild seasickness from it (albeit before we added anything)!

We've tried steps to reduce or eliminate this motion, but they've only been partially successful. There are many solutions on the market claiming to be the ideal solution, but I'm not sure there is one. We use both X-chocks in between our wheels (which helps with the front to back roll) and installed a SteadyFast system just before Christmas (which helps quite a bit with the side to side motion, but not perfectly, due to our trailer jack configuration and the need for a weld, which we haven't done yet). Our LT tires actually add to the bounce, as they have a stiffer sidewall than standard trailer (ST) tires, which have more give.

Sometimes I wish we would have gotten a trailer with a fancy ($$$$) level up, firm up system, but for the most part I like my trailer. Quite a bit. Except for this.
Aside from teaching my family to be light footed (and I'm told I make it bounce too), or spending more on another solution, someday I'm just going to have to get used to it (grumble, grumble).

Signed,
the grumpy mama

(Although, I am seriously considering adding a set of scissor jacks to the back, behind the tires to firm it up some more, as suggested by the owner/ manufacturer of the SteadyFast system. Anything to help!)