We had a good look at the system yesterday turning the steering wheel while stopped and its amazing what all moves. With the truck running and the parking brake off the front wheels start moving first when you turn the wheel and then the trailer begins. The FPU slides one way while the trailer slides the other. You can see the tires loading up and flexing til they slip and when they unload there is a bang or clunk as springs and stuff bump against the sides of their brackets. Its not something I'd do much just to see but we wanted to know what was going on. We did it on fairly dusty smooth concrete so there wouldn't be too much sideload. It does appear that the design was intended to do this and the spring ends are free to move sideways in their end brackets. I'm sure there will be more wear with this system than if they were fixed tight but it also allows more freedom of movement to the suspension and wheels and for offroading thats important. As someone else noted, these trucks are offroad kings but on the road they are not so great. Remember what they were built for and it all makes sense. War and military action frequently require all terrain capability and while this truck will handle improved roads it shines on the unimproved and nonexistant. They were also intended to be worked on all the time by otherwise unoccupied youngsters with guns.( Gotta keep em busy you know....) What we see as a maintainence or wear issue wasn't a problem for the deep pocket govt who could afford all the spares and labor to keep em runnin.
Frank
Frank