Axles Worn Out - What To Do?

Interesting about the axles being the same except for bearings. I guess the next selection is spring ratings. I still wonder about the arch of the axles, and whether the lighter weight trailer is going to supply the heft to put the arch where it should be. But it may be one of those things that can be simply overthought. :)

Howard I was worried about that with my axle swap. A 3.5" 1/2 wall tube is not going to give much with only 6600lbs on the pair. However it has not been an issue so far. Tire wear is good.
 
Howard I was worried about that with my axle swap. A 3.5" 1/2 wall tube is not going to give much with only 6600lbs on the pair. However it has not been an issue so far. Tire wear is good.
May be that it isn't as big a deal as I first thought. Wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong. :)
 
Does anyone know of a source for axles that have a spring centers of 68.50? It seems GD used a non-standard size.

I contacted etrailer who don't list axles like that and all they suggested was to buy the spring brackets separately and have them welded on, which of course is extra hassle taking them somewhere to do the welding.

Waiting on Dexter for a quote for drop-in replacements but I bet it won't be cheap.

Thanks!

Auto Safety House
You can order exactly what you want.
On my Momentum GD touts the extra wide frame. That will mean wider spring perch spacing on the axles for sure. Not sure about the hub face measuremeant.
 
Which axle place in Tucson are you dealing with? With negative camber the axle tube is bent. GD specifies LW tubes with Dexter. LW tubes are 0.16 thick. Dexter makes 3 tubes. Light wall, standard, and HW. If ordering I suggest HW.

MY Reflection 220RK is just shy of 9000 GVW. I bent both axles on my Alaska trip and did a whole lot of research on the axles. With the light wall if someone uses a jack on the tube it will most likely bend it. I had taken it to a truck frame shop and the said they could bend them back, but being and engineer I know that wont last long as it weakens the tube. Also the price to bend back was more than half the cost of new.

I also wanted to lift my trailer slightly for my new truck. So after talking with Iron bear the ordered 3.5" HW tube (7K tube) with 6K hubs to match my rims. HW in the 3.5" tube is 1/2" thick.

I also went with 6 leaf 3K springs. This got me the 1 to 1.5" lift I was looking for. Overkill - yep, but I plan to keep the trailer for a while. The trailer tows better too . I wanted things bullet proof. I also added the HD shackles and wet bolts (Morryde)

The trailer actually rides better with less stuff moving around. The initial spring compression rate is the same as my old 2200 springs - the first 3 leafs are the same.

Some folks were concerned about the built in camber being too much, but after 6K miles no adverse wear pattern. Also going to a 6K axle got me 12" brakes - a big improvement over the 10"

Last reason is you can find parts almost anywhere on the road for the 6K axle, but the 4400 or 5200 are considered orphans. Probably what e-trailer does not stock them.

Hope this helps

We are on the same page. I could have written that myself. Except I have upgraded 3 TTSin similar fashion..
 
Just took my 2500RL trailer to a truck axle place because I was getting very uneven tire wear.

They found the bearings are worn, the alignment is completely wrong, shackles and spring bearings are worn, emergency breakaway not working. Here are the prices I got (ex tax):

Replaced bearings, services brakes, alignment = $1,200
Overhauled axles = $2,300
Upgrade axles to "hybrid style" = $4,300

Any thoughts on these prices? They seem very high to me.

I have an extended warranty but I guess it won't cover any of this because it seems to all be wear and tear.

I work on my own vehicles so I would consider a DIY alignment and perhaps bearing replacement. How difficult it is for one person to DIY replace the axles? I am thinking they must be pretty heavy.

Thanks!


I changed my axles in about 4 hours because the inside edges of the tires were wearing. This happens because the axles were overloaded and bowing. New axles come with new brake assemblies installed. I went from 4400 lb axles with 2200 lb springs to 5200 lb axles and 3000 lb springs. The firmer axles completely fixed the tire wear problem.
I also replaced the suspension components at the same time, since the springs had to come off anyway. The old axles used 10" brake assemblies and the new axles came with 12" brakes. I was very pleased with the 10" brakes. I very much dislike the 12' brakes.

Do you have the tools and confidence? You'll need to lift the entire trailer to swap out the axles and suspension. I used the electric jacks that came on the trailer. They are rated to lift the entire trailer. Do you have a friend with the confidence and a few more tools who will help for a few hours? Do you have a place at home to do the work, level and fairly flat? This is the perfect time to justify buying a 1/2" battery powered impact driver and 1/2" torque wrench. Be careful. The impact driver can produce 700-900 lbs of torque and will easily damage or break bolts!

The new axles came delivered to a truck repair shop and I drove 90 miles to pick them up. Saved $200 in shipping. Total cost of new axles, springs and brake assemblies was under $1500. Suspension parts were about $250, Dexter E-Z Flex Suspension Kit-Tandem. I wanted the bronze bushings and lub system. However, turns out the bronze bushing just fall apart in a few thousand miles so I've since switched to Never-Fail bushings from Camping World. Do NOT grease these bushings. Since you can't grease them (without ruining them) there's no real reason to switch to bolts with grease zerks built in.

I spent many hours researching and agonizing over this project. Once I understood what I wanted to do I started price shopping parts. Eventually I contacted Marc at the OEM Parts Store (email: [email protected]). I told Marc what I wanted to do and he made several suggestions that made a lot of sense. He recommended I have them drop shipped to the truck repair place to save shipping costs. He is very knowledgeable and will save you dozens of hours trying to figure out what you need.

I can't say I love working on my trailer, but I do it and take a lot of pride in knowing it got done correctly. Wait times at RV repair shops is measured in MONTHS and $200/hour. I'm a retired financial advisor and RV maintenance cost comes out of "disposable income". Not a necessity. For each $1.00 of "disposable income" I have to earn $7.00. So, to me, your $4300 estimate translates to $30,100 earned income. Something else to consider!

Please, let us know what you decide to do.

Dustin
 
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Well... I got a quote from an axle/trailer company for upgraded axles with 6-lug so I can reuse my Goodyear Endurance tires. The guy wasn't very responsive by email after that so I called up and got someone else. Read out their part numbers to them from their email. Didn't get a confirmation email because they got my email address wrong, but called back and corrected it.

I didn't notice that they had entered the wrong part number for the hubs and now I have in my garage 8 on 6.5 which means 16" wheels which means another $1k on tires. Sigh. :mad:
 
Well... I got a quote from an axle/trailer company for upgraded axles with 6-lug so I can reuse my Goodyear Endurance tires. The guy wasn't very responsive by email after that so I called up and got someone else. Read out their part numbers to them from their email. Didn't get a confirmation email because they got my email address wrong, but called back and corrected it.

I didn't notice that they had entered the wrong part number for the hubs and now I have in my garage 8 on 6.5 which means 16" wheels which means another $1k on tires. Sigh. :mad:

Not to worry - just have them send the correct hubs and swap them in.
 
Update: new running gear is installed. It took three long days.

Along the way I found that one of the spring eyes had a nut missing :eek::eek: and the trailer breakway switch didn't work :eek::eek: My bad for not keeping a better eye on things.

I bought everything but the springs from R & P Carriages in Illinois. I asked for 5,200lb or 6,000lb axles but they quoted and sold me 7,000lb Dexter axles. Supposedly the only difference is the bearings but I don't know. They sent eight lug drums instead of six and offered to swap them for six lug but I decided to stick with the eight. Shipping was a reasonable $60 per axle and the rest was free.

I got the six leaf springs from etrailer.

I got new Sendel T16 16" wheels and Falken tires from Discount Tire with 0% interest for 12 months.

Everything is installed and greased but I am not completely happy. The trailer is six inches higher than before, which is quite a bit more than I expected. I now have to get more wood blocks. The biggest problem is that I now have porpoising. This is with the same trailer, same WDH and same tow vehicle. The loading of the trailer is the same.

I have re-setup the WDH so the trailer is level and I have a small amount of squat and a small amount of increase at the front of the tow vehicle, so I believe the WDH is set up correctly.

I didn't get the Dexter EZ-Flex equalizers because of the cost. Would they help with the porpoising? Do the wet bolts increase porpoising?

Thanks!
 
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Shackles are not right in the last pic - I fixed them though!
 
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"I didn't get the Dexter EZ-Flex equalizers because of the cost. Would they help with the porpoising? Do the wet bolts increase porpoising?"

The Dexter EZ-Flex equalizers are a huge step up from the solid equalizers, and help to lessen the amount of feedback from the trailer to the truck. It helps lessen any "chucking" with a fifth wheel, but don't know about "porpoising" on a trailer. Any improvement over solid equalizers will help the ride. No, I can't see how wet bolts would increase, or exacerbate "porpoising".
 
Update: new running gear is installed. It took three long days.

Along the way I found that one of the spring eyes had a nut missing :eek::eek: and the trailer breakway switch didn't work :eek::eek: My bad for not keeping a better eye on things.

I bought everything but the springs from R & P Carriages in Illinois. I asked for 5,200lb or 6,000lb axles but they quoted and sold me 7,000lb Dexter axles. Supposedly the only difference is the bearings but I don't know. They sent eight lug drums instead of six and offered to swap them for six lug but I decided to stick with the eight. Shipping was a reasonable $60 per axle and the rest was free.

I got the six leaf springs from etrailer.

I got new Sendel T16 16" wheels and Falken tires from Discount Tire with 0% interest for 12 months.

Everything is installed and greased but I am not completely happy. The trailer is six inches higher than before, which is quite a bit more than I expected. I now have to get more wood blocks. The biggest problem is that I now have porpoising. This is with the same trailer, same WDH and same tow vehicle. The loading of the trailer is the same.

I have re-setup the WDH so the trailer is level and I have a small amount of squat and a small amount of increase at the front of the tow vehicle, so I believe the WDH is set up correctly.

I didn't get the Dexter EZ-Flex equalizers because of the cost. Would they help with the porpoising? Do the wet bolts increase porpoising?

Thanks!

Porpoising is generally caused by not enough tung weight. I would find some scales and get your weight checked. As for setting higher, it will settle a little bit. Are you towing level? Unlevel towing can also contribute to porpoising. On other thing to check is the TV shocks.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Yes, towing level.

The springs are rated for 6,000lb trailer axles and have six leafs. Did I go too big and they are too stiff?

Old Goodyear Endurance tires had a max of 65 PSI and I ran them at that. New tires are Falken, have a higher load rating and have a max PSI of 50 but I am running them at 40. Should I try increasing or decreasing the trailer PSI perhaps?

Thanks.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Yes, towing level.

The springs are rated for 6,000lb trailer axles and have six leafs. Did I go too big and they are too stiff?

Old Goodyear Endurance tires had a max of 65 PSI and I ran them at that. New tires are Falken, have a higher load rating and have a max PSI of 50 but I am running them at 40. Should I try increasing or decreasing the trailer PSI perhaps?

Thanks.

I don't think so. I have a 220RK 5th wheel that is only about 500lbs heavier with the same springs and 7K 3.5" dia axle tubes with 6K hubs. and I have zero issues. I do have the Ez-flex equalizer and sumo springs acting a bumper stops. I also have X-factor cross bracing at the three hanger locations.

I always run my tires at max pressure, but 50psi seems very low. Most trailer tires are rated at 80 psi. That could be the issue right there as low tire pressure will bounce more. Are you sure they sold you ST E rated tires, or were your GY Endurance D rated. MY 16" Endurance are E rated at 80psi.

Try searching the issue. I'm sure the topic has come up before. IRV2 has been a good place for me to look up topics.
 
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I think from the looks of the pictures it is an LT truck tire. Pump them up to max and see if your porpoising changes?

Scott - would you agree that the LT tires being much softer would translate to more bounce thus the porpoising. I don't think the suspension changes would cause the issue. [MENTION=35116]Groover[/MENTION] What Falken tires do you have. Knowing the size and load rating would help. And if they are LT why did the tire store sell them to you for use on a trailer - seems strange.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Yes, towing level.

The springs are rated for 6,000lb trailer axles and have six leafs. Did I go too big and they are too stiff?

Old Goodyear Endurance tires had a max of 65 PSI and I ran them at that. New tires are Falken, have a higher load rating and have a max PSI of 50 but I am running them at 40. Should I try increasing or decreasing the trailer PSI perhaps?

Thanks.

So you have 12,000 worth of springs with only what about 6500-7000 lbs on them? That's going to beat the crud out of your TT.
 
On reflection I am not sure I have porpoising. It's not oscillations at the back. It feels more like sudden tugs and jerks, for each bump in the road. Seems more like chucking?

Falken Wildpeak H/T HT02 235/75R16 112T XL BSW

So these are not stiff enough? I figured the higher load rating = stiffer sidewalls?

How could I eliminate the cause being bumps resulting in a momentary activation of the brakes? Could be my integrated brake controller? Is there a way to monitor the brake voltage while driving perhaps?
 
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This thread makes me wonder about practicality of replacing leaf spring axles with rubber torsion type axles. The mounting would be different so there would be some work to do there. Other pros and cons?
 
I increased the trailer tires from 44 PSI to 50PSI, the max, and I think it is a bit better. So now I am thinking there is just too much flexing of the tires and I need specific trailer tires. Sigh.
 

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