Tx River Rat wrote:...I am no a big fan of Dexter axles and since this is a foamie I want it supported around the perimeter of the trailer.
I do a lot of long range trips and I can get parts just about anywhere for a leaf spring axle plus by adjusting number of springs can adjust how soft a ride....
swoody126 wrote:TRR, Dexter makes straight axles too
i became a fan long ago of their spindles w/ a nipple in the tip that lubes from the inside out
that way i can just push out the older grease w/ fresh stuff keeping an eye on any telltale colour changes(most of my smaller trailers are boat trailers requiring an eagle eye on grease colour)
since the rubber dust cap pug doesn't pressurize the system when things heat up i am warned when things begin to turn south w/ a bit of ooze
your surmise about the number of leaves more or less is spot on
sw
* I've used both Rockwell-American and Dexter axles on my trailers, and both brands were just right, as I had ordered.
Dexter bought Rockwell-American in 2016, so they're pretty much the same, now. I used two R-A 3500 lb axles (both braked) on my car-hauler back in 2006-7, and they were perfect for what I needed, but I wish I had ordered EZY-Lube spindles from Dexter, instead, because I really dislike the maintenance of lubing them manually (I always forgot to do the annual check until
after I was already on the road to my first race of the season...I spent all my time on my drag-race car). For that reason, I ordered a 3500 lb straight axle from Dexter, with brakes and the EZY-Lube option, when I upgraded my suspension/axle on my TTT.
* For my car-hauler, with tandem axles, I had used standard 25.25" eye-to-eye 3500 lbs-a-pair springs, but had one break due to a friend overloading my loaned-out-to-him trailer with too many engine blocks. The springs were already 15 years old, and hadn't been replaced when I installed the new axles, so I wasn't surprised. When I went to retrieve it, I stopped by Redneck Trailer Supply (about 5 miles from my house) and got a replacement for $27. I could've gotten the same spring at any Northern Tool, but Redneck was on my route. Easy-peasy.
* When the TTT needed repair, I ordered the Dexter axle (built to my specs) from a dealer that was closest to my job, so I could pick it up as I drove home (I was under time constraints, before my next camping trip). I also bought steel to reinforce my frame from a dealer also close to my job (almost 60 miles from home), for the same reason. I bought springs from a Northern Tool while on lunch-break, so on the day the axle came (a Friday), I had all the components (including new shackles, hangers, and hardware...bought at the axle dealer) in my truck-bed, so I could start fabrication immediately.
* I chose 3000 lbs per-pair springs for my ever-increasing-weight trailer, knowing that if the ride was too bouncy, all I'd have to do is buy a different set of lighter-capacity springs from nearby Redneck, Northern, or Tractor Supply stores (I don't know if TSC still sells springs) for $50-55 a set (at that time, April 2014). As it turned out, now that my trailer is approaching 2200 lbs, that early choice was correct.
I built/installed a set of shock-absorbing bump stops that eliminated bounce, so even though my TTT was only 1650 lbs at the time, there was never any bounce.*
Points I'm trying to make:
- 1) Dexter is the best/only choice (in my estimation) for leaf-spring-ed axles, at least in Texas
- 2) Ezy-Lube lubricated spindles are great (at least for lighter-duty on/off roading (maybe not for extreme off roading), and really nice for us older guys,
- 3) using the standard 25.25" eye-to-eye springs (and associated hardware) gives you widely available replacement parts everywhere (Northern Tool alone has over 100 locations), and
- 4) if you need to upgrade later, that availability (and lower cost than torsion or Timbren axle parts) is unbeatable, except for the extreme off-roading trailer. IMHO
by ghcoe » Sun Dec 15, 2019 10:00 pm 
