Flexiride Half-Axles

[Alphacarina]

I'm guessing these are 5-on-4.5" hubs, with 5-on-114.3 mm wheels. I would do the same thing with my travel trailer and my Toyota van wheels, but even with 2" of spacer the wheels centre bores won't clear the end of the hub. What car do the wheels fit?

My trailer hubs are 5 on 114.3 and so are my wheels, so I bought 2 inch spacers to match - Got them yesterday . . . . I'll post a picture later

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Wheel-Adapters-5-Lug-Toyota-Mazda-Acura-Spacers-2_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ42614QQihZ019QQitemZ290143233698QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

The centerbores on my BBS wheels (45mm offset) wouldn't come close to clearing the trailer hub either, but the hub is only 2 inches deep so with the spacers on there, the wheel only has to clear the grease cap, which it does easily

The wheels are 6.5 inches wide and the inside edge of the wheel is just in line with the brake mounting flange on the stub axles - It all fits fine and looks like it will work perfectly

Don

[angib]

Here is the 'heavy' type of half-axle used on that trailer, that look more like a US-style full axle, with similar brackets:



And here's a quick sketch of a cross section through that boat trailer - at the top, cut through the keel box
at one of the axles and, at the bottom, behind the keel box:



Colour code: suspension, trailer frame, yacht.

Andrew

[SteveH]

Andrew,

Thanks, that clears it up for me. So, in effect, and even though the cross member is stepped, it is still there to take the tortional load (tires coming together at the top as Brian has explained it) away from the frame outer rails.

[brian_bp]

...The centerbores on my BBS wheels (45mm offset) wouldn't come close to clearing the trailer hub either, but the hub is only 2 inches deep so with the spacers on there, the wheel only has to clear the grease cap, which it does easily

The wheels are 6.5 inches wide and the inside edge of the wheel is just in line with the brake mounting flange on the stub axles - It all fits fine and looks like it will work perfectly

Good news!
The Toyota wheel centre bore is quite small (compared to other brands) so I wouldn't even clear the grease cap. Not a criticism of Toyota, just a relevant bit of trivia...

[brian_bp]

Here is the 'heavy' type of half-axle used on that trailer, that look more like a US-style full axle, with similar brackets:

Better than the common half-axles, but the brackets still are not long enough in the direction toward the hub!

And here's a quick sketch of a cross section through that boat trailer - at the top, cut through the keel box at one of the axles and, at the bottom, behind the keel box:

Thanks, Andrew. Nicely illustrated.

By the way, is that actually a closed keel box with the boat resting on it's keel in the box bottom, or are the bottom of the keel weight and the bottom of the trailer's open-bottomed keel box just the same height? That really has nothing to do with teardrops... I'm just curious!

[angib]

but the brackets still are not long enough in the direction toward the hub!

Which makes it curious that, despite the brackets not being long enough, they work just fine.

Perhaps no-one told the half-axles about the problem.....

By the way, is that actually a closed keel box.....

The keel bulb just sits on an unreinforced flat plate (covered with waterproof carpet) which is fillet-welded under the rectangular tubes that form the sides of the keel box. It's a little surprising, as the plate is maybe only 4mm (3/16") thick and just the keel weighs 1000kg (2200lb), but there's no distortion of the plate on trailers that did tens of thousands of miles.

Andrew

[brian_bp]

but the brackets still are not long enough in the direction toward the hub!

Which makes it curious that, despite the brackets not being long enough, they work just fine.

Perhaps no-one told the half-axles about the problem.....

By "not long enough", I mean that one end of the bracket will still be pulling down on the frame, while the end nearer the hub will be pushing up. A longer bracket would mean support along the whole length, and thus less stress on attachment points to the frame. These designs are like a beam mounted as a cantilever support, unnecessarily.

Of course, as long as none of the frame attachments lets go, and the frame doesn't bend too much, the attachment doesn't matter to the suspension.

I suppose I should stop looking for the optimal design (as desired in any motor vehicle), and accept that this the world of trailers...