as the title suggests, i am looking to replace axles for something suitable for highway and some light offroad. i live in Colorado and will mostly be using for bike trips and some hiking. now while most of the biking trailheads have good access, some hiking trailheads and camping spots are rougher. i will not be doing heavy offroading, my pull vehicle will be Audi Q5, so it is not exactly your heavy duty off roader anyway.
now i am aware of sticky called "Dexter Torsion Axle on Northen Tool 5x8 kit" and from the most part, i am planning to do mimic the mods outlined in the thread and in Zachs x-cubed build thread.
however, i wanted to check with the community if this is the go to mod, as the thread is fairly old and no updates since 2021.
pricewise, even though the price is higher these days, it still pretty reasonable.
should i be considering any other axles instead?
from zachs thread, here is what he listed as what he ordered for the axle:
- Dexter Torflex #9 - de-rated for 1800lbs
- 22.5 degree down start angle
- for 60" outside bracket-to-bracket, 73" hub face-to-face
- 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern, on 6.5" idler hubs (for 12-15" wheels)
will there be anything else needed? i sort of remember seeing that he ordered something else separately (i want to say springs but i am not 100% sure)
also attaching mockup of my design just for fun. the main focus was to be able to fit in 2 mountain bikes inside while being able to still sleep inside.