newbie needing help with wacky axle

[C.B.]

I started this thing over on the newbie - introduction thread, adn a few folks have already given me some good feedback. Basically, we bought a homebuilt trailer in pretty solid shape, but with a poorly designed/built akle. (I should add, the trailer pulls and tracks well). The pic of the axle on my 'new' teardrop was good for a lot of laughs, so I'm sharing it here...hopiong for more good advice.

We're not going to do a big tear-down at this point, so are looking for the simplest fix, and don't mind if the ride of the Tt rises up. I think my husband is going to take out two of the boxes. We have a friend to help with the welding...What other considerations should we be looking at? One of you mentioned something about the fenders appearing to ride high for the wheels - can you help me understand that, too?? Thanks, I'm pretty ignorant about trailers...




Thanks all…Carla and Wade

[Gerald_G]

Looks to me like the builder wanted the trailer as low to the road as possible. And maybe he had REALLY tall tires.

My first thought is to remove the blocks as well. This will raise the trailer by that amount of distance. The reason for the fender comment, is that the wheels will look lower against the body of the trailer. If the fenders are attached to the body then the wheels will lower in relation to them as well.

You will also want to buy new "U" bolts once you've removed the blocks to attach the axel to the spring. Your's look like they may have had extensions welded on, and this may cause them to have damage. Even without welding, new "U" bolts is a good idea.

[doug hodder]

The fender thing was me...I was wondering as it appears that someone painted out the background area behind the wheel in black to hide the aluminum side...nothing wrong with that, but when I see just how high the bolt pattern is on the side compared to the size of the wheel, It just appears that there is a lot of space there, a whole lot more than the axle travel needs, given it's installation method. Do you have a pic of the wheel and fender installed? Just like when you pulled it home? It's just my opinion, but I think you can get a different axle under it that will give you a lower profile, without hammering the U bolts into the bottom of the tear body. It appears that has happened more than just once. Since you have springs, a 4" drop axle might be a good choice, however, you could also go with a torsion axle. I'd think that either way, you might want to relocate the fenders to make it all appear more pleasing...or think about different wheels and tires...but like I say...it's just my opinion...doug

[Gerald_G]

Oh ya, and move that jack to the trailer frame before removing those bolts :-)

[sdtripper2]

hi,

You might look at this thread to see how the springs and the axle might ride.
If you get the springs mounted right and the axle mounted correctly things
might come into play. It seems that those spacers are too much and not
needed for the Teardrop's weight. Maybe your welder friend might help you
by looking at this proper axle view. Maybe you have too much spring?
Or maybe this rig was for some off road purpose in an earlier time?

Please look here:
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=11635

[Dale M.]

If it were me I would remove the two square" lowering blocks" and put axle right on springs, and NEW "U" bolts over axle ( existing "U" bolts are scarry).... You may be able to get new "U" bolts at local trailer supplier or if not there, local machine/fabrication shop may be able to make them for you...

Second thought would be if you like lowered look, get a DROPPED AXLE (axle with a "dog leg" in it) to get trailer body lower... You could either get new axle with drop built in or have that axle made into dropped axle if it is mechanically sound to start with....

Also when removing axle, place stands under trailer frame as some one mentioned and not under axle...

Dale

[A_J]

Greetings!

Yes, the lowering blocks and butchered u-bolts need to go right off the bat. That isn't a very confidence inspiring assembly.

If it is riding too high after the axle is properly installed, I see two possible easy solutions. First, the rear shackle brackets could be replaced with shorter ones available at any local marine supply or trailer parts store. The front spring hanger brackets look very tall in the photo. There appears to be plenty of room to drill new spring eye bolt holes in those brackets closer to the frame. That would mount the spring "higher" and effectively lower the overall ride height. Those are 9/16" holes, so you might need to purchase a drill bit as most folks don't have one that size in the drill index.

What size wheels and tires are on it right now? The sleeved axle ends are a little puzzling unless the PO was using automotive wheels with a lot of backspacing.

[C.B.]

OK, we removed 2 of the 3 spacers, got new u-bolts and put it back together. We keep asking ourselves - why did the guy put the spacers in there in the first place?? The galley rides pretty high now - about 40 inches, which will probably be ok b/c Wade is tall, and I'm not short... we don't know about having too much spring - we've decided to wait on further changes until we take it on the road for a couple of weeks later this month. We like that the axle is high enough to give a good clearance - we camp in a lot of outta-the-way places... The fenders do ride high, but unless we hate it, we'll probably leave them b/c, well, the thought of having to fill in those ugly bolt holes, make them waterproof, etc., is not too appealing...

This tear won't be the prettiest rida around, for sure, but we think we can make it work for us - which is to beat it up as a dirt road, nasty weather, handy-as-can-be camping machine. We'll post successes/disasters from this first trip in March when we return. Thanks for all the helpful advice - we sure soakied it all in and will consider it all agian in the future!

[Jiminsav]

OMG...rip that crap off there and get you a new axle..that whole setup is a piece of dookie.

run..don't walk to your nearest tractor supply store.

[brian_bp]

OK, we removed 2 of the 3 spacers, got new u-bolts and put it back together. We keep asking ourselves - why did the guy put the spacers in there in the first place?? ...

Good.
I was going to add my vote to the "chuck the spacers and replace the U-bolts" movement.

What do you mean by "2 of the 3 spacers"? I only see two spacers (of box-section steel tubing) and the spring mounting pad on the axle.

The spacers lower the trailer, by a distance equal to the thickness of the spacers. That's the only reason I can think of for using them. A drop axle is the right way to do it for a non-driven axle such as a trailer, but shorter spacers (with proper U-bolts!) are commonly used in old cars and pickup trucks for more moderate lowering. My travel trailer has a 4" drop axle, so that the axle can clear the frame and the appropriate tire size can be used... with 205/75R14 tires and a 12" frame height, that means 4" of drop for everything to line up.

I wouldn't expect much out of shorter shackles... they'll only lower the trailer by half the reduction in shackle length, and you can only shorten them by an inch or so.

[mikeschn]

That's the most unusual version of a dropped axle I've ever seen.

Obviously the builder thought the trailer was too high, so he lowered it by adding those pieces of tubing in between the axle and the spring.

If I owned that I would take that axle off, and replace it with a 2000# flexiride torsion axle. In addition to tracking well, and bouncing well, I could adjust it to the exact height I wanted...

http://www.etrailerpart.com/torsionaxles.htm

Mike...