How does the suspension on an Avion trailer work?

[JimGolden]

OK, before you guys flame me...let me just say that I was looking at a '77 Avion today, one of the "other" silver trailers out there.

I wanted to know what kind of suspension it had, so I took a peek under neath it. It does not use the dura-torque type swing arm rubber axles that Airstream uses. It was not leaf sprung either.

The Avion had some type of suspension that threw me for a loop. It had beam axles, and shock absorbers. However, I saw no actual spring attaching the axle to the frame. There seemed to be some type of horizontal bar on each side attaching the front axle to the rear axle, and there was a very large pivot in the center. There looked to be a very small leaf spring attaching this center pivot to the two axles, but it was not attached to the frame at all. It looked like the entire affair floated.

I could not tell what the actual springing medium was. I saw no real attachment from the frame to any kind of springing source to the axles.

There was also a very heavy duty looking device between the tires on each side. It looked like some kind of super heavy duty stabilizer jack. But, I didn't see a switch inside to actuate it. As well, this thing seemed to tie into where the big pivot was between the axles. Maybe this was some kind of suspension part?

I looked on SilverAvion.com and saw in one of their manuals they call it "smooth glide" suspension, and it's rubber suspended, but the manual gave no info at all beyond what I just mentioned.

I feel embarassed, as I'm a good mechanic and all, but this suspension setup has me stumped. I've never seen anything like it.

Does anybody know how these systems work? Is this what they call Moer Ride (or however you spell it)? If it is Moer Ride, how does it work? I saw the shocks attaching to the frame, but no actual springs. Does anybody know how this works?

It was built really well. The frame rails were 6" deep, and it had three of them. The ones on my trailer are only 4" deep. Huge difference in strength. My trailer is starting to show a little bit of the "sag". That wouldn't happen with a 6" frame. The Avion had a lot more apparent room inside than my 'Stream does too. But, I liked the larger bathroom better in my trailer, and I think the AS has it all over the Avion in looks. AS is also much brighter on the inside. Still, I can't bash the Avion, it was made very well.

Just wish I knew how the suspension worked

HELP!