In an effort to both lower and lighten our Teardrop "Bubbles", I have removed the old, heavy Dayton mobile home axle. Not only was this heavy, but it was also "over-slung", that is, it was in a "spring-over-axle" configuration, apparently to give it more height (I guess the guy who built it intended for it to go off road?) Here is the original arrangement:
But now that's off and this is what I have left:
As you can see, there looks to be maybe 6"-7" between the top of the leaf spring and the frame.
Now my original plan was to put a straight axle in, about a 2000lb round axle, which has a diameter of maybe 2", and in an effort to keep the height down, I was going to "under-sling" it (that is, go to a spring-under-axle configuration.)
But, assuming the axle with the axle seat is maybe 3" max, that leaves at most 3 - 3 1/2 " of upward travel before the axle hits the frame. Does that seem adequate? I have never built a trailer so I don't know. I can say that the trailer is on the heavy side. It was 1100 lbs when I weighed it last, but my guess is that the Dayton axle and wheels accounted for at least 150lb of that and the new axle will be much ligher, but my guess is that it will still be probably 1,000lb. I will also say that the springs are rather stiff, so I'm not sure if I'm worrying unneccessarily or not.
Now, if that wheel travel appears to be inadequate, my other option would be to get a 'drop axle' and mount it under the spring. That would give me the full 6 - 7" of travel and still allow for a lower stance. Are there any specific problems or issues with drop axles?
