With air ride trailers being pretty much the industry standard these days, there are a couple of points we need to be aware of. First and foremost, do not, under any circumstances pull a trailer down the highway with the suspension exhausted. Fortunately most trailers will inflate the suspension as soon as the air is supplied to the trailer, but not all of them do, so double check that the suspension is “up” before moving the trailer. If not, serious tire damage from the trailer running on the tires will occur. Secondly, most air ride trailers have “anti-dock walk” supports. These are the bars you see behind the air bags on the read axle of the trailer. The lower mount for the air bags will have a platform that extends towards the rear of the trailer. When the air is released from the trailer, these bars swing towards the airbags, and as the airbags deflate, they come to rest on the platforms, so the rear of the trailer doesn’t bounce while being loaded. Without these bars, the trailer can “walk”, in some cases over a foot, away from a dock while being loaded if there’s no truck hooked to the trailer. If you’re ever under a trailer for any reason, make sure that these bars are in the released position (not sitting on the platforms). If they are on the platforms, be very careful, and make sure you are nowhere near them, because when they release, they’re moving with the force of the changed air system, about 120 psi. If you get hit by that, it will ruin your whole day.
