Wheel Camber Question

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Wheel Camber Question

Postby RLG-GSG » Thu Nov 17, 2016 5:57 pm

I know camber (set by a bend in the axle) is designed to help with the overall load on the trailer to keep the wheels near vertical, or 0 degrees.

My question is which camber is better, positive or negative?

The axle on my trailer was installed over the leaf springs and I was wondering if there would be any issues if I were to reinstall the axle below the springs?

Thanks,

George
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Re: Wheel Camber Question

Postby Redneck Teepee » Thu Nov 17, 2016 9:54 pm

I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction, the world will have a generation of idiot's.
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Re: Wheel Camber Question

Postby MtnDon » Thu Nov 17, 2016 10:08 pm

[quote="RLG-GSG"

The axle on my trailer was installed over the leaf springs and I was wondering if there would be any issues if I were to reinstall the axle below the springs?
[/quote]

Not all trailer axles have a camber
The axle on my N Tool 5x10 had none. I suppose when used within the rated load limit there was no bending / flexing so no camber was built in. I shifted the axle to above the springs to make it ride lower and be easier to load. It measured the same (zero) before and after.
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Re: Wheel Camber Question

Postby RLG-GSG » Fri Nov 18, 2016 1:54 am

Red neck,

I have found the site you referenced. What I did see was a comment between positive and negative camber. It would seem there might not be any real difference. Most articles I found were about wear issues associated to other
Alignment problem.

1 grand, my axle is bent for camber but was for the pop-up trailer that was original, not a teardrop.

Thanks guys,

George
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Re: Wheel Camber Question

Postby KCStudly » Fri Nov 18, 2016 11:06 am

Another issue is brake orientation, if so equipped. Some brake flange mounting patterns are not symmetrical, and, to me at least, it is not acceptable to invert drum brakes; they have a "top" to their function.

We recently built a new trailer for under the pumpkin ballista using a pair of non-cambered 7k lb axles. The brake flange pattern was asymmetrical and the backing plates could not be rotated, so we had to weld new perches on top to do spring over axle.

Positive and negative camber are far from the same. With positive as you load the trailer it goes towards neutral and tire wear will be less affected. with negative camber as you load the trailer it gets more negative, and tire wear may be more affected.
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Re: Wheel Camber Question

Postby working on it » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:13 pm

KCStudly wrote:...Positive and negative camber are far from the same. With positive as you load the trailer it goes towards neutral and tire wear will be less affected. with negative camber as you load the trailer it gets more negative, and tire wear may be more affected.
A little negative camber doesn't really wear much more than no camber; but with more weight, it can become extreme. The first axle on my TTT was 1.25" square tube, unknown weight rating, and with slight negative camber. It tracked fine, even with the surely overweight condition of my 1600+ lb. TTT. That axle would flex on the road (surely contributing to minor tire wear and eventual tearing-away of the spring hanger), so I replaced it with a no-camber 3500lb. axle. I don't think my TTT axle will have camber problems now. But, when I bought my dove-tail tandem trailer that I used for my drag car, it was previously used for hauling a bobcat or something heavy, which had slightly bent the two 3500lb. axles into negative camber (rear axle moreso than the other). Having little to spend for a trailer, at that time (racing for trophies-not money-is not financially rewarding), I couldn't pass this trailer by for the price asked. When I used it, I tried to compensate for the camber by loading more weight on the tongue, upon which I could measure the negative camber evening out somewhat. Even so, the tires did wear more on the rear axle. Several years and many miles later, after repeatedly using fresher tires on the rear axle, to compensate for accelerated wear, I had no other problems with the negative camber situation, until I used the trailer to pickup round-baled hay for my father-in-law. While I was away from the scene, the guy loading it drove his super-heavy tractor onto the rear of the trailer, and made the slightly-negative camber into a major-negative camber. Later, after racing season started, I had tires wearing at twice the previous rate. After one tire blew out, on a long trip, I changed out both axles with new 3500 lb no-camber Rockwell American axles with electric brakes (previously only the forward axle had brakes). I was then able to load my Chevelle more centered, with less tongue weight, and had no appreciable tire-scrub problems. Now, after I quit racing, I just have my Chinese-made trailer tires rotting from age! From my experience, I believe in using an axle higher weight-rated than you need, with no-camber.
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Re: Wheel Camber Question

Postby RLG-GSG » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:20 pm

KCStudly and 1 Grand,

Thanks, great info here... I will stick to the original axle over springs so as to keep the original positive camber,

Many thanks,

George
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